Interview with Prof. Ileana Alexandra Orlich.
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Jan Długosz, in his "Annals", during the first eight months of 1430, the period incredibly important for Poland because of the so called coronation storm at that time, that is the attempt of Witold Kiejstutowicz, a great duke of Lithuania to get the crown, presented the tour of king Władysław Jagiełło over Szeroka Wielkopolska, from April to August, in a very hackneyed way. In the meantime, the data quoted prove that during the monarch’s stay in Łęczyca, there was a convention of the king with the rich and gentry of Szeroka Wielkopolska. Most probably, the events related to the coronation storm happening after the convention in Jedlna (February/March 1430) were summed up. Political consultations in Łęczyca were conducted by the king exclusively in the circle consisting of the archbishop from Gniezno, other bishops from Wielkopolska, a bishop from Chełm, a chancellor (also being a bishop in Włocławek), a vice‑chancellor and high- and low-ranking officials from the territory of Wielkopolska sensu stricte, Kujawy, Łęczyca, Sieradz, Dobrzyń lands, representatives from Mazowsze and few Małopolska confidantes (Jan from Szczekociny, Piotr Szafraniec). Perhaps it resulted in the the lack of the information about the convention in Łęczyca in Jan Długosz, fairly thoroughly describing the political events of 1430 in his chronicle. Thus, a chronicle could have no information about this fact, especially when the sources do not indicate that his political mentor was there: Jan Oleśnicki, a bishop from Kraków. During the tour over Szeroka Wielkopolska, king Władysław also made relatively many new nominations to high land officials of middle Polish hierarchy as a result of death of the previous land possessors. The very nominations introduced relatively young people in majority. As a result, the majority of the nominated remained in the composition of the political elite all over Poland till the beginning of the ruling of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk, Jagiełło’s younger son. They also played an important role during tutelary ruling at the time of minority of Władysław III (1434—1438), his absence in the country (1440—1444) and interregnum after his death. It is not out of the question that the parts of the nominations in question were made just at the convention in Łęczyca, at last after its end.
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Anhand der Halitsch-Wolhynischen Chronik rekonstruiert der Verfasser das Gesamtbild des „polnischen Landes“ und dessen Einwohner, wie sie von den Fürsten aus der Romanowitsch-Familie, Adressaten der genannten Chronik, betrachtet wurden. In der Chronik erscheinen Polen auf zweierlei Weise — je nach der sich verändernden politischen Lage. Einmal werden sie für Verbündete und Verwandte gehalten: man hat mit ihnen Mitleid, wenn Polen von Tataren überfallen wird, man ist von deren Mutigkeit und Geschicklichkeit im Kriegshandwerk begeistert. An anderen Stellen der Chronik erscheinen Polen als öffentliche oder versteckte Feinde der Romanowitsch-Familie, welche nur negative Charakterzüge haben. Alles in Allem: russische Chronisten kennen sich ganz gut in der Geografie, Toponymie, Anthroponymie und sogar im politischen Leben des „polnischen Landes“ aus. Auf solche Weise entsteht die allgemeine Vorstellung von den nächsten Nachbarn, Polen, die für Reußen fremd und zugleich einheimisch sind.
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Eine — möglichst ausführliche — Detailanalyse des Verlaufes und der Mechanismen von der intensivierten politischen Kommunikation, die im jeden Land ganz natürlich den Prozess der Regierungsübernahme seitens eines neuen, fremden und von außen kommenden Herrscher begleitete, stellt das Zentralproblem der vorgelegten Studie dar. Zur Analyse wurde das konkrete Beispiel des Fürsten Sigismunds (später des Alten) aus der Dynastie der Jagiellonen ausgewählt, welcher an der Wende vom 15. zum 16. Jahrhundert das Angebot seines ältesten Bruders Wladislaus, Königs von Böhmen und Ungarn, nutzte und (obgleich vorübergehend) in die von ihm beherrschten Länder übersiedelte. Das Beispiel des Prinzen Sigismunds ist schon deshalb interessant, weil es ein nicht geringes Vergleichspotential besitzt. Der junge Jagiellone erhielt nämlich dank seines Bruders Gnade die Regierung in zwei Fürstentümern aus dem Staatsverband der Länder der böhmischen Krone. Neben dem niederschlesischen Herzogtum Glogau (seit 1499) war es auch das auf den Grenzen zwischen Mähren und Schlesien situierte Herzogtum Troppau (seit 1501). In den beiden Ländern stieß aber der neu installierte Herrscher auf ein nicht nur umsichtiges, sondern auch selbstbewusstes Auftreten der Lokaleliten und war nolens volens gezwungen den inneren — durch die jüngstvergangene Entwicklung modifizierten — Machtstatus quo zu respektieren. Die Glogauer und Troppauer Ständegemeinden wandelten sich damals allmählich in emanzipierte Ständegesellschaften frühneuzeitlicher Art um. Die Analyse der erhaltenen Quellen, die den Regierungsantritt vom jagiellonischen Prinzen Sigismund in den Herzogtümern Glogau und Troppau dokumentieren, erlaubt, allgemein gesagt, die Hauptachsen der sozialen und politischen Kommunikation zu verfolgen und damit die Konturen der politischen Praxis und der Handlungsfähigkeit zu entdecken.
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The very article is devoted to a description of the court of queen Zofia Holszańska, the fourth and the last wife of Władysław Jagiełło. In contrast to the courts of his remaining three wives, it differed in both the personnel and the way of nominating the clerks. Zofia outlived her husband and did not get married again, which gave her respect in the society other queens had not been given so far, and, above all, the power others had not had. During her sons’ ruling, first in the period of their minority, and later, at the time of interregnum, after the death of Władysław, her first son, it was her who shaped politics in the country to a large extent. Different principles of nominating court positions (particular clerks were often rotated depending on functions ascribed, their competences were not precisely specified either) and a political situation also influenced the functioning of the court. The article shows how the court of the queen functioned in a clash of two realities — during the life of her husband Władysław Jagiełło and after his death, when she became the queen and widow.
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Im vorliegenden Artikel versucht der Verfasser, slawische Stämme zu lokalisieren, in Anlehnung an die aus dem 9.Jh. stammende Quelle, den „Bayerischen Geografen“, slawische Stämme zu lokalisieren. Es werden hier gemäß der J. Herrmanns These internationale Wanderungsrouten von slawischen Stämmen und neue Methoden deren ethnischer Klassifizierung dargestellt.
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In dem Artikel wird frühe Geschichte von Wolhynien, einem der ältesten Zentren von slawischer ethnopolitischer Herkunft untersucht. Seit 6. Jh. gab es auf dem Gebiet einige zehn slawische politische Bünde, die in verschiedenen Perioden führende Stellung in der Region hatten. Aus inneren (wachsende Population, wirtschaftliche Entwicklung) und äußeren (Invasion von Avaren) Gründen umsiedelten die Slawen aus Wolhynien auf benachbarte Nachbargebiete. In der zweiten Hälfte des ersten Jahrhunderts lebten Lachen, Buschanen und andere slawische Stämme friedlich mit Duleben aus Wolhynien. Unzureichende Quellen machen es unmöglich, die Geschichte und die Wechselbeziehungen zwischen den einzelnen Stämmen zu untersuchen.
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The article describes the history of the bourgeois families in the 14th century in Kraków, who derived from Racibórz and cultivated the tradition of their origin by means of systematically spelling their names in the Racibórz way. The source basis includes the local books of Kraków, conducted systematically since 1300, though having the oldest record dating back to 1289, court books from the second half of the 14th century and documents of different provenance. The oldest representative of the inhabitants from Racibórz in Kraków was Herman from Racibórz, fulfilling the function of the town councilor in Kraków many times at the beginning of the 14th century, an opponent of Władysław Łokietek’s ruling, one of the main initiators of rebellion in 1311. The author analyses the history of Herman’s family, considers the possibility of the identification of the family of Aleksy from Racibórz, a town councilor from the second half of the 14th century. He also presents the role of other families from Racibórz, especially the ones deriving from Fryderyk and Fryczek. The author also took a position on a commonly-known opinion in the literature that Herman from Racibórz and others, as well as the majority of the bourgeoisie from Kraków in the 14th century were Germans. Not questioning the fact that they were German‑speaking, he underlines the fact that Polish, German and Czech was used both in Racibórz and Kraków.
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"A diplomatic code of the monastery in Tyniec" covers a diploma of Władysław, a prince of Oświęcim, dated "MCCL pleno". An exhibitor, in presence of his brother, Janusz, a prince of Racibórz, in view of Tyniec profession of his son Włodzimierz, used him to bequeath a few countries in Zator to Tyniec Benedictines. Because Władysław of Opole (1246—1281) was not entitled a prince of Oświęcim, did not have either the brother Janusz or the son Włodzimierz, whereas the receiver of nomination, an abbot Daniel, is not known from the 13th century sources, the researchers regarded the document to be a falsification. They did not pay attention to the record in the obituary notice in Lubiń, which, dated back to 21 May, noted down the death of Włodzimierz, a brother of Tyniec and prince of Oświęcim, and Sczygielski’s complement that Włodzimierz was the son of the prince of Zator. A disputable document is not about Władysław of Opole, but Władysław (Włodek) of Zator. His brother was Janusz of Zator, sometimes confused with Janusz of Racibórz, which was reflected in a diploma coming in fact from the end of the 15th century, most probably from 1477—1494 when Włodek and Janusz co-ruled the duchy of Zator. At this time Andrzej Ożga and Jan Sułowski ruled the Tyniec abbey, from 9 January 1486 and 7 October 1486 respectively. A few-month-gap (from 9 January to 7 October 1486) was probably filled in the ruling by an abbot Daniel, unknown to the sources, whose death was noted down by obituary notices in Lubiń and Tyniec on 6 June.
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Melsztyński family played an important role in the history of Poland. The scientific literature devotes much room to the outstanding representatives of this family. A detailed image of the family who faded in the first half of the 16th century, was outlined by Włodzimierz Dworzaczek in his Leliwici Tarnowscy, published in 1971. One should realize that the knowledge included in this book is not exhaustive. Thanks to the studies conducted recently, a load of new information on people from the family circle was gathered, allowing for, among others, moving the dates of the appearance of many figures and completing biographies by the facts unknown so far. At the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries the family in question started to clearly lose its significance. The reason for that was the activity of two lords from Melsztyn at that time, Jan and Wincenty, who lost the whole estate in a mindless way. In addition to that, Wincenty was pronounced an exile for unruliness and debauchery. The last generation of Melsztyński family, represented by Wincenty’s children, Jan and Katarzyna, did not have either the estate or the connections with the family residence, that is the Melsztyn castle. Many factors contributed to the collapse of one of the most magnate’s families in Poland in the Middle‑Ages. The most important included improper upbringing of children, too strict and conservative, which was the source of extreme and unpredictable behaviours of Jan and Wincenty, and, unquestionably, the lack of outstanding personalities in the last generations of this family.
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In dem Artikel wird die kirchlich-politische Tätigkeit des aus Galizien — Wolhynischen Russland kommenden Kiewer Metropoliten, Peter (Rateński) untersucht. Die meiste Aufmerksamkeit wird dabei den kontroversesten, mit seinem Leben und Bischofsdienst verbundenen Geschehnissen geschenkt: der vom galizischen Fürsten Jurij I. Lwowicz initiierten Ernennung des Peters für den Amt des Galizischen Metropoliten; dem Grund für seine Ernennung zum Kiewer Wojewoden; seinem Konflikt mit dem Großen Fürsten Wlodzimierz Michail Jaroslawowicz (Tscherskoj) und seiner Annäherung mit dem Moskauer Fürsten Iwan Danilowicz (Kalita). Einige Elemente von den Biografien des Metropoliten Peter und des zweiten galizisch-wohlynischen Kandidaten von Kiril II. miteinander vergleichend zeigt die Verfasserin politische Voraussetzungen deren Allianz mit dem Fürsten Wlodzimierz-Suzdal. Sofern Kiril II. trotz langen Aufenthaltes in Zalesie seine Jurisdiktionskontakte mit Kiew aufrechterhalten hatte, hatte sie Peter abgebrochen. Auf solche Weise trug er zur künftigen Teilung der Kiewer Kirche bei. Die Verfasserin stellt politische Umstände der Heiligsprechung von dem Metropoliten dar — Peter war zwar nicht der erste heiliggesprochene russische Hierarch, aber der erste Heilige von Moskau. Die kirchliche Tradition verursachte, dass er zum Gründer der russischen Metropole wurde, der nur Interesse Moskaus vertrat. Seitdem erlangte Moskau den Status einer heiligen Stadt, des Zentrums von der orientalischen Orthodoxie und des Nachfolgers der Kiewer-russischen Geschichte. Kirchlich-politische Tätigkeit des Metropoliten Peter war durch schwierige politische Lage der Kiewer Kirche in der zweiten Hälfte des 13.Jhs und zu Beginn des 14.Jhs gekennzeichnet. Das waren der Zerfall von dem alten Kiewer Russland und die Gründung von dem neuen Russland, in dem zentrifugale Tendenzen zur Entstehung von individuellen Ständen mit autonomen Religionsabsichten beigetragen haben.
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Keywords: tertiary education; e-learning; virtual learning environment; WebCT; folklore teaching methods
There are three types of online folklore courses available at the University of Tartu: e-publications of open access study materials (subject web sites, e-lectures, and e-textbooks), video lectures (e.g., on DVD), virtual e-learning environment with limited access (three main e-learning platforms are used in Estonia: WebCT, Moodle, IVA). In this article I focus on my eight years of experience with WebCT, having worked as a learner, course compiler (including designer) as well as the lecturer. The need for web-based courses increased together with the growth and the broadened opportunities in the use of WWW. The fact that the web site of Estonian Folklore (www.folklore.ee) already featured a number of electronic databases as well as e-publications introduced the need for the use of these materials in educational work. WebCT enables the user to present material in written and audio format, present lore texts as audio or video recordings or images and thus present web lore in an entirely natural context. Present-day students have grown up in the computer era, which is why searching the Web for material is as natural to them as searching for information in books once was.
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Eesti Põllumajandusmuuseumi aastaraamat I. Edited by Ell Vahtramäe. Ülenurme: Eesti Põllumajandusmuuseum 2007, 224 pp. In summer 2007, the first volume of the Annals of Estonian Agricultural Museum was published. The annals publishes articles on various aspects of agriculture and land cultivation, research and education in agriculture, also articles introducing the museum. Articles included in the first volume focus mainly on rural life and culture during the socialist and post-socialist period. Review of the book by Gerd Raassalu, researcher at the Estonian Agricultural Museum
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Keywords: Bronze Soldier memorial; Estonians in Siberia; migration; stereotypes; identity; adaptation
The article discusses the adaptation process of repatriates, the practical value of ethnic stereotyping and its relation with everyday communication. The paper seeks to answer the question to which extent is the stereotyping process related with biography and the actualisation of stereotypes in specific situations? The analysis is based on interviews with two Estonian repatriates from Siberia following the public unrest related to the relocation of the bronze statue of a Soviet soldier in Tallinn in April 2007. The author concludes that reciprocal ethnic stereotypes are directly linked to biographical situations, and also to the idea that ethnic stereotypes might be of huge importance in the orientation and identification of a person in a specific biographical situation, while being quite marginal or non-existent in another. Stereotypes are never isolated and are closely related to other cognitive schemes, while shaping people’s attitudes and behaviour. In recent years several studies on the Russian population’s loyalty to Estonia, their willingness to learn the official language, adjust themselves to the cultural and political values in Estonia, and apply for Estonian citizenship have been undertaken. While learning about the population’s orientation, individual self-identification conditioned by a specific biographical situation has to be seriously considered. The author claims that the use of ethnological methods (dense description, in-depth interviews) may contribute greatly to the study of national stereotypes and, in turn, to the study of national conflicts and xenophobia.
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On August 28, 2007 Anu Korb defended her PhD thesis on Estonian communities in Siberia as a source for folkloristic research (Siberi eesti kogukonnad folkloristliku uurimisallikana. Dissertationes folkloristicae universitatis Tartuensis, 8. Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus) in the Senate Hall of the University of Tartu. Overview of the thesis defence by Aivar Jürgenson is available in English in volume 37 of Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore (http://www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol37/news.pdf).
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Keywords: Internet; deaf; deaf folklore; hearing devices; hearing impairment; sign language; visual technologies
The article discusses the specific devices for the deaf people, and sign language and deaf lore in the new technological situation. There are different types of hearing aids supporting the concept of the deaf as the disabled who must be cured from their deafness and taught to communicate orally with the hearing world. Today there are many modern devices that support the visual aid, which is more comfortable for the deaf. In fact, for the deaf who are more cultured there is nothing to be cured or healed. They are sceptical about the emergence of any new medical device (e.g., cochlear implant), which aim seems to be turning a deaf into a hearing person. The deaf have become adapted to new technologies for their community’s needs and use their language, culture and folklore in new environments, such as the Internet. Various telecommunication devices have made the direct translation of sign language possible. The deaf have become used to communicating on cell phones, videophones, web cameras, etc. Sign language communities have discovered the virtual space to share their culture and folklore among the community members and with the hearing world. There are many examples of deaf lore available on the Internet, mostly from among American deaf folklore. Many stories have been translated from sign language into verbal language, but one can also encounter authentic sign language texts in the form of video clips, sometimes with voiceover or subtitles. Virtual space is a wonderful place to present deaf people’s own folklore, which has also been called sign lore. Fine examples of sign lore are ABC stories and number stories, also some popular signs like ‘I Love You’ sign. Deaf comics are also part of deaf lore and culture. Deaf comics characterise the cultural side of deafness from a humorous viewpoint. New technologies offer the deaf good opportunities for expressing their culture and promoting sign language and also for being in touch with other community members and with the hearing people.
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Ergo-Hart Västrik. Vadjalaste ja isurite usundi kirjeldamine keskajast 20. sajandi esimese pooleni. Alliktekstid, representatsioonid ja tõlgendused. [Description of Votian and Izhorian Religion from the Middle Ages to the First Half of the 20th Century. Sources, Representations and Interpretations] Dissertationes folkloristicae Universitatis Tartuensis 9. Tartu: Tartu Ülikooli Kirjastus 2007, 232 pp. Overview of the thesis by Enn Ernits is available in English in volume 38 of Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore (www.folklore.ee/folklore/vol38/news.pdf).
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Keywords: aggressive nicknames; aggression; ethnic slur; dysphemisms; web lore; ethnic humour
Ethnic, religious or other group-based dysphemisms are the most obvious manifestations of prejudice, ethnocentrism, sometimes even indicating actual feelings of xenophobia. But they also mirror the present and past on interethnic relationships, as slurs and dysphemisms are part of a nation’s or a group’s reactions to culture contacts, for example to the ethnic diversification of society. Nicknames are affected by quite objective factors like the amount and density of population, migration, etc., becoming more aggressive in the context of insecurity, fast and unanticipated changes, or perceived/actual threat on the welfare of the group. The present study focuses on the use of aggressive nicknames in the Estonian web from the sociological and folkloristic perspective. The material covers the years 2000–2007 and features news comments posted on the Estonian online news portal www.delfi.ee from a selection of one-week periods from each year. The study describes the main objects of online flaming and the social background of target choice. The results show that online commenters play with the concepts of normal and abnormal, right and wrong, good and bad, while naming the “other”. They display their (sometimes radical) nationalism through juxtaposing themselves to “abnormal groups”. Temporal dynamics of ethnic and other hate speech in news comments show that the highest relative amount of slurs were used in 2003, regardless of the rise in national consciousness following the public disturbances in Estonia in April 2007. This trend is supported by the rise in other categories and by a sharp and direct confrontation to the “other” in Internet comments (but also the news themselves) during 2003. In the last years, commenters appear to use much less aggressive and straightforwardly offensive language to characterise groups other than their own. The trends show higher sensitivity and sense of responsibility, and the use of argument for the need of political correctness, possible censorship or even fear of punishment. The biggest number of instances of offensive slang are directed against Russians, while homosexualism and religion are also targets of dysphemisms. At the same time, ethnic slurs against Russians are proportionally much lower than those used against Gypsies, the Black or gays. Thus, as the number of comments in the case of a news story about Gypsys, for example, is much smaller than in the case of (very often provocative and emotional) news featuring Russians, the relative amount is somewhat distracting. The use and intensity of flaming also depends on many contextual cues: the news story and its construction, its main subjects, the identity or attitudes of the commenting persons, the social context of the news, etc.
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