In the 13th century Pruszcz was probably one of the places near Gdańsk which belonged to immigrants from Prussia. In the 14th century its area was extended to almost 90 lans (probably by combining a few smaller villages) and it adopted Culmic law (the privilege was renewed in 1367). The place became the local centre of craft and trade (the baker’s, the tailor’s, the stall, the butchery, taverns, the mill), which provided services to adjacent villages. Due to its location near Gdańsk and at the Radunia Canal, in Pruszcz during the Thirteen Years’ War there took place frequent fights between the Teutonic army and the armies of Poland and the Prussian Confederation, which built there two bastilles: one near the lock regulating the [ ow of water, and the other around the parish church. After 1454 Pruszcz became the property of Gdańsk. In 1472 the council gave the village and the right to its revenues to a few burghers for the period of 20 years in return for the debt of 1000 small grzywna (marks). The outline of the history of Pruszcz in the Middle Ages presented here is a polemic with the findings given by Beata Możejko and Błażej Śliwiński. They were based on the arbitrary attitude towards the sources (accepting the word Pruszcz as Puck in the document of 1328), and on their free translations and interpretations in reference to the foundation privilege, rent books, Gdańsk chronicles and others.
In the 14th century, thanks to the Teutonic Order, colonisation of Żuławy Wiślane (the alluvial delta area of the Vistula River) and the lower Vistula valley was carried out and a flood control and drainage system was built. The social and economic effectiveness of these activities depended on a rational division of labour between its maintenance and agricultural exploitation of land. The legal principle kein Land ohne Deich was fundamental. It meant that every owner of land protected by dikes, regardless of its condition, had a dike obligation. This gave rise to a controversy between the flood protection community of the Żulawy Wielkie and the parsonages. This long-running dispute was ended in 1387 by the redemption of all obligations resting on church land, except for work inside the village boundaries.
PL
W XIV w. za sprawą zakonu krzyżackiego na Żuławach Wiślanych i w dolinie dolnej Wisły przeprowadzono akcje kolonizacyjną i zbudowano system przeciwpowodziowo-odwadniający. Społeczno-ekonomiczna efektywność tych działań uzależniona była od racjonalnego podziału pracy między jego utrzymaniem w należytym stanie a rolniczo-hodowlaną eksploatacją gruntów. Podstawowe znaczenie miała zasada prawna kein Land ohne Deich. Oznaczała ona, że na każdym właścicielu ziemi chronionej przez wały, bez względu na jego stan, spoczywał obowiązek wałowy. Wywołało to kontrowersje między wspólnotą przeciwpowodziową Żuław Wielkich a plebanami. Ten długoletni spór został zakończony w 1387 r. wykupieniem wszystkich zobowiązań spoczywających na ziemi kościelnej, z wyjątkiem prac wewnątrz granic wsi.
Late medieval last wills of burghers have aroused a growing interest among researchers in the last few decades as they constitute a source of information about economic, social and religious life, the family and mentality also in the Hanseatic zone. Last wills from Cologne,Hamburg,Stralsund and Lübeck have already been examined. Thus, Beata Możejko’s research on the last wills of Gdansk burghers was a justified initiative. However, the research turned out to be unsuccessful. Insufficient linguistic and palaeographic knowledge resulted in incorrect translations of many testaments. Some relevant fragments failed to be included in the translation. | e construction assumptions of the research raise objections as the social status of the majority of testators was not analyzed, nor the legal aspects of the last wills. That is why this important field in the history of Gdansk is still open to competent and in-depth research.
In the Middle Ages and in the Early Modern period the north-eastern part of Żuławy Wielkie belonging to Elbląg, situated between the Stobienska Sandbar [German: Stubsche Lache] and the Nogat below the village of Półmieście [German: Halbstadt], also referred to as “Einlage”, played a function of a retarding basin for the rising waters of the Nogat. The role of “Einlage” became even more significant when in the mid-16th century the hitherto swampy and neglected economically area of the so called Ellerwald, located on the opposite bank of the Nogat, was dehydrated and provided with ramparts. For this reason, in the first half of the 17th century when permanent settlements appeared in “Einlage”, the inhabitants of Ellerwald insisted that the authorities allowed the construction of exclusively low ramparts with fire-bridges (the so called Reie) so that “Einlage” continued to serve as a container for excess water from the Nogat. In the meantime Fabian Horn, the external treasure administrator and later the mayor of the city (in the second half of the 17th century) showed in “Observationes ueber die Elbingsche Einlage und des Nogahtstroms” that providing ramparts to Einlage should not constitute any threat to Ellerwald. He argued that ice blockages causing the accumulation of water, the destruction of ramparts and flood took place in the middle course of the Nogat since the current of the river was too weak. The construction of ramparts along “Einlage” on the one hand was to make the riverbed narrower allowing the faster pace of the water flow; on the other hand, it was to develop the area, which would increase Elbląg’s revenue.
Żuławy Wielkie (the alluvial delta area of the Vistula River) in Middle Ages was not only most advanced in agriculture, self-government as well as the level of prosperity of its inhabitants, but it was also the territory with strong parish system. An average parish consisted of two villages. Only two exceptions are noticed, in Nowy Staw and Lichnowy, the latter being probably the oldest, established in the 13th Century and consisted of 6 – 7 villages. It is visible that inhabitants preferred the erection of single-village parishes or at least filial chapels. The right of patronage of all churches belonged to the Teutonic Order. The patron provided the parish with a benefice (usually 4 lans – 120 morgs of land). Moreover, the inhabitants had to pay a special contribution in corn (called meszne), while their representatives (vitrici) interfered with parish finances. Parochial schools were established, supported by the inhabitants and designed both to provide most talented children with basic education and to secure liturgical servants for the church. Some parish priests from the area of Żuławy Wielkie, particularly persons with university education, served at the courts of Pogesanian bishops and the Teutonic Order.
PL
Żuławy Wielkie były nie tylko regionem przodującym pod względem rozwoju rolnictwa, samorządności i zamożności mieszkańców, ale także organizacji parafialnej. Przeciętna parafia obejmowała dwie wsie. Jedynie nowostawska i lichnowska, najpewniej najstarsza, bo erygowana jeszcze w XIII w., liczyła 6 – 7 wsi. Daje się zauważyć dążenie mieszkańców do tworzenia parafii jednowioskowych lub przynajmniej budowy kaplic filialnych. Patronem wszystkich kościołów był zakon krzyżacki, który we wsiach wydzielał beneficjum – z reguły 4 łany ziemi. Mieszkańcy na utrzymanie parafii płacili tzw. meszne (świadczenie w zbożu), a przez witryków wpływali na jej finanse. Przy kościołach czynne były utrzymywane przez parafian szkoły, zapewniające najzdolniejszym dzieciom wiejskim elementarne wykształcenie i służbę liturgiczną w świątyniach. Niektórzy plebani wielkożuławscy, posiadający wykształcenie uniwersyteckie, pozostawali w służbie Zakonu krzyżackiego i biskupów pomezańskich.
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