Loca scribendi. Miejsca i środowiska tworzące kulturę pisma w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej XV-XVIII stulecia
Loca scribendi. Places and environments creating the culture of writing in the former Republic of the 15th-18th centuries
Contributor(s): Agnieszka Bartoszewicz (Editor), Maciej Ptaszyński (Editor), Anna Adamska (Editor)
Subject(s): History, Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: writing community; consistory; notary public; writer; writing; office; books; XV-XVIII century; writing culture
Summary/Abstract: The book includes texts devoted to medieval and modern loca scribendi - places and environments that played an important role in the creation and development of the culture of writing in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 15th to the 18th century. The authors analyze the origins, definitions, circumstances, limitations and effects of the development of the culture of writing through the prism of specific issues, which include: beginnings, organization and products of court, city and church offices: the beginnings of the Krakow city office, functioning of the court office, church and city offices in Old and New Warsaw, activities of a small-town municipal office on the example of Radziejów, organization of a municipal office in Gdańsk in terms of accounting and tax; correspondence of monarchs: correspondence between Elżbieta Habsburżanka and Zygmunt August as a manifestation of the functioning of the court locus scribendi; activities of consistory, as well as notaries and writers employed by them: writing activity of the general consistory in Poznań, the work of notaries and writers in the vicinity of the bishop of Poznań, Andrzej Bniński; preparing documents in parish Protestant churches in the Polish Republic and the German Reich.
- E-ISBN-13: 978-83-235-2772-5
- Print-ISBN-13: 978-83-235-2764-0
- Page Count: 204
- Publication Year: 2017
- Language: Polish
Loca scribendi: geneza pojęcia, definicje i granice użyteczności
Loca scribendi: geneza pojęcia, definicje i granice użyteczności
(Loca scribendi: origins of the term, its definitions and limits of usefulness)
- Author(s):Anna Adamska
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:9-26
- No. of Pages:18
- Keywords:writing environment; consistory; notary; writer; writing; office; books; XV-XVIII centuries; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:Meant to sketch the methodological frame of the volume, this article discusses varieties of spatial approaches to pre-modern written culture, developed independently in medieval history in many scholarly traditions, separated by the languages in which they publish. Concepts such as “cultural landscape”, “scribal region” or “documentary territory” have their origin in 19th century German scholarly discourse, in which they were known as Kulturlandschaft, Schriftprovinz, and Urkundenlandschaft. The detailed analysis of attempts to prove their usefulness for modern scholarship shows marked similarities with the spatial concepts used in French cultural history, with lieux (places) as the key term. The idea of lieux de savoir (places of knowledge), with among them lieux d’écriture (places of writing), has been developed from 2007 onwards by Christian Jacob. Although this French scholar perceived as pre-modern lieux d’écriture only places of ‘re-production’ of written texts (workshops of copyists and printing houses), his appeal to elaborate the ‘map’ of such places nevertheless inspired the main idea of the volume: to draw the map of the centres of written culture in the pre-modern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Important changes in the paradigm of research on medieval literacy and communication from the 1990s onwards, however, urge us to define anew the concept of lieux d’écriture (or rather that of loca scribendi, better suited to the Polish scholarly tradition). The term here signifies not only copyists’ ateliers and printing houses, but all institutional and private places of the creation of various types of texts (belonging to the various segments of literate behaviour), be they the scribal offices of the municipalities and of the State’s administration, monastic houses, parishes, episcopal chanceries, schools, and even private homes. This all-embracing definition of loca scribendi results in the requirement to abandon the traditional division between the ‘medieval’ and ‘early modern’ periods. Drawing the map of places where written texts were created in the territory of the multiethnic and multilingual Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, within its chronological boundaries of 1385 and 1795, provides a chance to investigate the continuous existence of some and the ephemeral character of other loca, as well as the fluidity of the “centres” and “peripheries” of written culture.
- Price: 4.50 €
Uwarunkowania początków rozwoju polskich kancelarii miejskich. Przykład Krakowa (do 1312 r.)
Uwarunkowania początków rozwoju polskich kancelarii miejskich. Przykład Krakowa (do 1312 r.)
(The Pre-conditions of the early stage of the development of Polish urban medieval chanceries. The case of Cracow (before 1312))
- Author(s):Piotr Okniński
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:27-45
- No. of Pages:19
- Keywords:writing environment; consistory; notary; writer; writing; office; books; XV-XVIII centuries; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:The subject of the origins of urban chanceries in medieval Poland is discussed using the example of sources from Cracow dating from before 1312. An early stage in the development of Cracow municipal chancery is put into context of the formation of urban self-governance and transformations of legal and written culture in the Polish lands. This chancery had early origins, going back to the 13th century, to the period of the city’s locatio. Its gradual formation is shown by the introduction of the municipal seal (c. 1283), the employment of the first municipal scribe (the earliest evidence dating from 1288–1290), by the growing numbers of urban charters (the earliest dating maybe already from 1288–1290), and, finally, by the introduction of the book of records (c. 1300). The growing political autonomy of the institutions of urban self-governance in a period of political turbulence (between the death of Duke Boleslas the Bashful in 1279 and the suppression of the urban revolt of mayor Albert in 1312), has been singled out as the main factor stimulating the development of the chancery. The growth in importance of the municipal scribal office was also a result of the vivid contacts of the city and its inhabitants with the monasteries from the area and with the court of Jan Muskata, Bishop of Cracow, which was a centre of pragmatic literacy. An acceleration of the chancery’s development is clearly visible in the period 1290–1306, when Cracow was under the control of the Bohemian kings from the Přemyslid dynasty. The intensive socio-institutional transformation of the city led to the urban revolt against the Duke Wladislas the Short.
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Warszawskie loca scribendi w drugiej połowie XV w.
Warszawskie loca scribendi w drugiej połowie XV w.
(Loca scribendi in Warsaw in the second half of the 15th century)
- Author(s):Agnieszka Bartoszewicz
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:46-62
- No. of Pages:17
- Keywords:writing environment; consistory; notary; writer; writing; office; books; XV-XVIII centuries; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:The article discusses places of production of written records in two late medieval municipalities of Warsaw (Old and New Warsaw) which influenced the literate behaviour of their inhabitants in the domain of pragmatic literacy. A number of scribal offices were active in Warsaw, attached to various institutions but unequally developed. Distinct loca scribendi worked for the municipalities of Old and New Warsaw, for the court of the Mazovian princes, and for the institutions of the Church. The places of production of records situated in New Warsaw were typical for a small town: there were simple urban offices and the parish church with its school. Development of written culture here most probably was stimulated by the direct vicinity of Old Warsaw, much more advanced in the use of written records. The close contacts between both municipalities were more important in generating the need to use the written word on the part of the inhabitants of New Warsaw than their relations with other agents of practical literacy (e.g. the Church or the rulers’ administration). In Old Warsaw, in chronological order the places on the map of written culture were the municipal offices, the collegiate church (which functioned also as urban parish church), the tribunals of the terrestrial law and the magistrate courts (iudicia castriensia), and the ducal court. The same topography of pragmatic literacy can be seen also in other Polish towns of similar size to Old Warsaw (e.g. Lublin, Przemyśl and Płock). Town dwellers, especially urban officials and members of the financial elite, frequented their loca scribendi on various occasions, although sometimes the reasons for visiting scribal offices are not entirely clear to modern scholars. Among the places where written records were created in Old Warsaw, the municipal chancery played an exceptionally important role. Here, the municipality employed clerks who originated from towns and cities known as important trade partners of Warsaw merchants (e.g. from Silesia, Vilnius and Lublin).
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Małomiasteczkowy locus scribendi w późnym średniowieczu. Przykład Radziejowa
Małomiasteczkowy locus scribendi w późnym średniowieczu. Przykład Radziejowa
(A small town as locus scribendi in the Late Middle Ages. The example of Radziejów)
- Author(s):Katarzyna Warda
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:63-99
- No. of Pages:38
- Keywords:writing environment; consistory; notary; writer; writing; office; books; XV-XVIII centuries; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:The topic of the article is the organisation of work in the municipal chancery of Radziejów, a very small town in Cuyavia, in the northern part of late medieval Poland. The records of the local bench and the council registers from 1445–1455 were carefully investigated to this end. As creators of the urban locus scribendi, first the municipal officials and scribes should be mentioned. In the short period of ten years investigated here, 26 persons were connected to the council, while 49 others were involved in work for the urban bench. Palaeographical analysis shows that most entries into both series of town books were made by a single person; accidental hands are scarce. The bench and the council of Radziejów employed the same scribe, and maybe even employed a shared chancery. It is impossible, however, to say where such a joint scribal office might have been situated. The quality of the Latin in the records, the way the records were kept, and the correctness of the legal formulary allows us to judge the professional skills of Radziejów scribes favourably. The types of matter recorded in the town books, their number and frequency, shows that most cases recorded in the council’s registers concerned debts. The bench tried more varied legal matters; yet its records register mainly trade in real estate and regulations concerning ownership. Comparison with other towns shows that the contents of the urban books was hardly extraordinary for late medieval Poland. Prosopographical analysis of the chancery’s clients (their gender, social status, dignities, profession, their role in the cases as described in the town books, and the frequency of their appearances before the council and the bench), shows the profile of a typical client of a small town’s locus scribendi. The average client was a male, usually in possession of the citizenship. Most often he appeared before the bench court on his own, arranging simple matters. He did not belong to the local elites but was a ‘normal’ town-dweller. In ten years, in a settlement of c. 1,000 inhabitants, almost 450 persons came in touch with the chancery. Considering that 75 other persons served as councillors or aldermen, we must conclude that the number of people using the municipal scribal office was really large. Although in Radziejów other loca scribendi were active as well (the magistrate, the terrestrial court, a monastery, and the parish church), for town-dwellers the chancery was most important.
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Podatki miejskie a księgowość w Głównym Mieście Gdańsku w późnym średniowieczu
Podatki miejskie a księgowość w Głównym Mieście Gdańsku w późnym średniowieczu
(Urban taxes and bookkeeping in the Main City of Gdańsk in the late Middle Ages)
- Author(s):Marcin Grulkowski
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:100-125
- No. of Pages:26
- Keywords:writing environment; consistory; notary; writer; writing; office; books; XV-XVIII centuries; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:The article analyses the multistage procedures of tax collection in the Main City of Gdańsk during the 14th and 15th centuries. The complex character of these procedures is illustrated by three examples of urban taxes: the predial rent, the property tax (the so-called szos), and ‘pound duty’. The first two taxes were typical for urban settlements, although the szos was imposed only occasionally (in 1377/1378, 1416 and 1443). The ‘pound duty’ was originally collected for the needs of the Hanse, but later became a local tax. At the turn of the 14th and the 15th century, the Order of the Teutonic Knights took over control of this tax. A by-product of the collection procedures was the complex and vast documentation that was produced in the subsequent stages. Various kinds of tax records, such as primary registers, intermediary notes on wax tablets, lists of debtors, and financial statements, have been analysed.
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Miejsca działalności konsystorza generalnego w Poznaniu i jego pisarzy w pierwszej ćwierci XV w.
Miejsca działalności konsystorza generalnego w Poznaniu i jego pisarzy w pierwszej ćwierci XV w.
(The places of work of the general consistory court in Poznań and its scribes in the first quarter of the 15th century)
- Author(s):Adam Kozak
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:126-151
- No. of Pages:26
- Keywords:writing environment; consistory; notary; writer; writing; office; books; XV-XVIII centuries; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:An important aspect of the organisation of the general consistory court in Poznań in the first quarter of the 15th century is that of the places where the court sessions were held, where the legal actions were performed (e.g. so-called ‘obligations’ and appointing of legal plenipotentiaries), and where the records of the proceedings were made. To establish these places the eight oldest registers of the consistory court (dating from 1404–1425) have been analysed, as well as almost 80 charters issued by the vicarii in spiritualibus and the officials of the bishopric of Poznań. Altogether, these records offer us more than 2,500 notices about the topography of legal actions. It can be shown that the activities mentioned before found place not only in houses on the centrally located island of Ostrów Tumski (belonging to the bishopric of Poznań), where the officials and vicarii in spiritualibus resided. Legal and notarial actions were also performed in the lodgings of notaries, in the curiae of canons, at the episcopal court, in the cathedral, and in St. Mary’s ‘in Summo’ church. Many other places both on Ostrów Tumski (the cathedral school and the houses of eternal vicars) and in other parts of the city can be added to this list. In 1425 the consistory court left Poznań and settled for some time in Dolsk (more than 50 kilometres south of Poznań). Generally, however, the places of the activities of the consistory court became ever more stable over time: the number of cases treated at the curia of the official and the vicar in spiritualibus grew from 77% of all cases presented to the bishop in 1404 to more than 99% in 1424. This change is clearly connected to the more than fourfold growth in litigious cases (the number of so-called obligations was grew twice as fast in this period). Another factor was the reform of the episcopal chancery’s organisation by bishop Andrzej Łaskarz (1414–1426), who was a remarkable intellectual. The loca agendi and loca scribendi of the Poznań consistory court were usually identical. A separate space for the notaries was created in the curia of the officials (and probably also at the office of the vicarii in spiritualibus). This provided the judges with the permanent assistance of chancery clerks.
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„Nietypowe” miejsca aktów prawnych rejestrowanych w księgach czynności biskupa poznańskiego Andrzeja Bnińskiego (1438–1479)
„Nietypowe” miejsca aktów prawnych rejestrowanych w księgach czynności biskupa poznańskiego Andrzeja Bnińskiego (1438–1479)
(‘Atypical’ places of legal action, recorded in the registers of Andrzej Bniński, Bishop of Poznań (1438–1479))
- Author(s):Paweł Dembiński
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:152-170
- No. of Pages:19
- Keywords:writing community; consistory; notary public; writer; writing; office; books; 15th-18th century; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:This article investigates ‘atypical’ places of legal action and of the production of legal records, registered in the Acta episcopalia produced under the rule of Andrzej Bniński, Bishop of Poznań (1438–1479). Three volumes of these acta (altogether 815 folios), embracing almost all of the bishop’s pontificate, have been investigated. Only a minute part of the notes recording legal actions have been edited by modern scholars, and many entries contain substantial omissions. The specific characteristics of the source’s materials are discussed, a.o. the general absence of information about administering the sacraments, the dedication of churches and chapels, etc. Next, the organisation of the episcopal chancery and the government of the diocese is explained. The daily routine of administration consisted of constant tours of the large diocese, which in the 15th century embraced the western frontier areas of the Polish kingdom (i.e. the western part of Greater Poland) and a big enclave in Mazovia. The places are analysed where the bishop (or the notaries working under his authority) used to work. These were halls (called pallacium), large rooms on the first floor of episcopal buildings (sala superior), ‘white chambers’ (stuba alba), ‘large chambers’ (stuba maior), rooms with a chimney (caminata) as well as alcoves (cubiculum) and ‘black chambers’ (stuba nigra). All these places were located in the episcopal residences, and also in monasteries and residences of local nobles who received the bishop on his travels. Episcopal notaries also acted in the chambers of the rectories in villages situated on episcopal estates or in other settlements in which the bishop happened to stay. ‘Atypical’ seem the recordings of the performance of his administrative duties by the bishop (or his officials) which had a public character, or at least occurred in places accessible to everybody. The most clear cases concern situations in which episcopal power had to be manifest, e.g. judging Hussites in church buildings, solemnly confirming pious donations, or introducing someone into ecclesiastical office. Some legal actions were performed in public to gather as large a number of witnesses as possible at court sessions. Large audiences were welcome to avoid accusations of secret (and therefore suspicious) activities. Finally, the practice of making legal actions public might result from the personal preferences of the bishop. In spring and summer, he clearly preferred to receive visitors in the garden, over a meal, and maybe also to entertain his entourage. The sources also mention occasions when the bishop was troubled by petitioners just as he and his cortege were leaving. Episcopal notaries, who had to be permanently on standby and worked around the clock, could also be besieged by petitioners when they were on the move. The choice of the place of legal action might also be influenced by the social status of the petitioners. Although the places of legal actions (loca actandi) were carefully identified in the sources, sometimes it is difficult to establish when exactly the entries in the episcopal registers were made: on the spot, at the place of the legal action, or rather later on, in a quiet room, on the basis of minutes taken earlier.
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Dwór królowej jako locus scribendi. Analiza wybranych aspektów funkcjonowania na przykładzie korespondencji Elżbiety Habsburżanki z Zygmuntem Augustem
Dwór królowej jako locus scribendi. Analiza wybranych aspektów funkcjonowania na przykładzie korespondencji Elżbiety Habsburżanki z Zygmuntem Augustem
(The Court of the Queen as a locus scribendi. The analysis of some aspects of its role using the example of the correspondence of Elisabeth of Habsburg with King Sigismund August)
- Author(s):Urszula Zachara-Związek
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:171-182
- No. of Pages:12
- Keywords:writing community; consistory; notary public; writer; writing; office; books; 15th-18th century; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:Can the entourage of the 16th century spouses of Polish rulers be defined as a locus scribendi and, if so, what were its main characteristics? The detailed analysis of the correspondence between Elisabeth of Habsburg and her royal consort Sigismund August Jagiellon allows one to answer this question in the affirmative. Only nine letters of the queen have been preserved, including four from the period before 1543, when the young bride came to Poland from Austria and the marriage was concluded. Despite this modest amount, Elisabeth can be shown to be involved in acts of written communication. She manages to give a personal touch to the ‘standard’ letters to her husband, breaking with epistolary conventions.
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Protestancka parafia jako miejsce pisma: Rzesza i Rzeczpospolita na przełomie XVI i XVII w.
Protestancka parafia jako miejsce pisma: Rzesza i Rzeczpospolita na przełomie XVI i XVII w.
(The Protestant parish as a place of the creation of written texts: the German Reich and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th and 17th Centuries)
- Author(s):Maciej Ptaszyński
- Language:Polish
- Subject(s):Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century
- Page Range:183-201
- No. of Pages:19
- Keywords:writing community; consistory; notary public; writer; writing; office; books; 15th-18th century; writing culture
- Summary/Abstract:The article discusses the role of the written word in the life of Protestant clergymen and their parishes, sketching the connection between the Protestant (especially Lutheran) confession and written culture by comparing the daily functioning of parishes in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and in the German lands, especially in the Lutheran principalities of Pomerania. The possessing of vernacular translations of the Bible has been compared, attitudes towards a university culture which expressed the essence of literacy, and the presence of symbols and gestures referring to the written word in the daily life of ministers of the Church. Contrary to ‘official’ declarations, the use of the vernacular Bible was very limited. Nevertheless, devotion to the Gospel can be seen in the area of theological references and values. Written culture, in its humanist and academic dimensions, became part of the professional ethos of Protestant ministers. This paradoxically led to many conflicts with the community of believers.
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