POLKAI REIKIA DVIEJŲ
Rec.: Robert Frost, The Oxford History of Poland-Lithuania, Volume I: The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385–1569, Oxford University Press, 2015.
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Rec.: Robert Frost, The Oxford History of Poland-Lithuania, Volume I: The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union, 1385–1569, Oxford University Press, 2015.
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The article concerns the Brunonian scenes from the Deeds of Magdeburg Archbishops, written in the 30s-40s of the 12th century and continued till 1513, and their relationship with St. Bruno’s Work Book (Liber gestorum) mentioned in them, which, however, did not survive. Until the beginning of the 16th century, the Deeds of Magdeburg Archbishops were not only continued but also edited and supplemented in certain places while transcribing the manuscripts.In the 19th century, while publishing the Deeds of Magdeburg Archbishops, Wilhelm Schum used 15 manuscripts which were divided into two –Aand B – wordings.After analyzing the Deeds of Magdeburg Archbishops it was determined that three Brunonian scenes happening in wording A were set as a single story in wording B. Having carried out the analysis of St Bruno’s Liber gestorum, it can be stated that there was a narrative in the A wording next to the Tagino period about St. Bruno Boniface who was a Canon of Magdeburg, was accepted to the King’s court, lived in an erem in Italy with the Saints Benedict and John, who received the pallium from the Pope, was ordained Archbishop of the pagans (tribes) by Tagino, the Archbishop of Magdeburg, and was tortured by them. The question concerning the dependence of the genealogical knowledge to St. Bruno’s Works Book remains open. The narrative about the St Bruno’s mission through Prague of Bohemia to Hungary, presented in the Deeds of Archbishops of Magdeburg, is the interpolation of B3 (out of it B3a) manuscripts of the 50s-60s of the 15th century and is not related to the narrative of liber gestorum. The story of St. Bruno, told in these manuscripts, is the summary based on Life and Martyrdom story found in manuscripts from Dessau (15th century) and Querfurt (16th century), which was already found in Collections of Saints of the 15th century.
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In the end of the 14th–15th c., 250 full private documents written in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were known. In the end of the 14th century, early private documents were approved by the issuer seal, list of witnesses and the scribe direction. However, eventually it was not consistently observed. The research shows obvious differences which confirm not only different types of documents, but also different writing traditions (Latin and Ruthenian). For example, a bigger part of the Latin private documents (donations, sales, testimonies, etc.) were approved by the seal of one issuer, but the Ruthenian practice of sales documents approval was ambivalent. Since their emergence (from the middle of the 15th c.), one part of documents were approved only by the issuer seal and the other part by the issuers’ and witnesses’seals together. Since the 8th decade of the 15th century, the biggest part of Ruthenian sales was approved by issuer and witnesses seals. The Latin sales were stamped only by the issuer, but at the end of the 15th century there several sales which were approved by the seals of the listed witnesses (obviously it was the influence of the Ruthenian practice). Also, the article analyzes the use of the list of witnesses, the recording of clericals and secular officials, the practice of notaries, scribes’ naming, and others.
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In Islamic Egyptian glazed ceramics there are three ceramic types inspired by Chinese pottery, stoneware and porcelain: sancai pottery, celadon stoneware and Blue and White porcelain. Egyptian imitations of Chinese celadon ware, produced in the 14th and 15th centuries mainly by Cairene potters working at the Fustat workshops, are particularly noteworthy and the Kom el-Dikka site in Alexandria, excavated by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw, has yielded a collection of over 300 pieces. The typological analysis was based on 235 distinct fragments of utilitarian wares selected on account of their form, decorative elements, technical quality, possible technological defects and characteristics that qualify them as imitations of Chinese celadon. Two typological ware groups were distinguished: those inspired by Chinese prototypes and those representing indigenous Egyptian ceramics infused with certain features copied from the Chinese celadons.
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Apie Tomos Zarankaitės-Margienės disertaciją „Medžioklės fenomenas Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje XV–XVI a. (1572 m.): socioekonominis, sociopolitinis, mentalinis aspektai“ ir jos gynimą
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This article is dedicated to investigating the problems regarding the existence of Lithuanian cavalry in the 13th century as well as the identification of its type and its ability to counter the heavy cavalry of the West. Firstly, we analyze the validity of different opinions about the date when Lithuanians began to fight on horseback that are revealed in our historiography – that this had happened on the junction of the 13th and 14th centuries, on the second half of the 13th century, or long before the beginning of the Baltic crusade. We come to a conclusion that there is enough evidence to support the third opinion, oriented at pre-crusader times. Furthermore, we agree with the idea, soundly based in the description of the source, that these forces were light cavalry. In the second part of our article, we address attention to the peculiarity of the tactics employed by the previously mention cavalry forces: even being able to fight on horseback, these units would get out of their saddles and because of that were often mistaken for infantry. Even more, they would intentionally seek out areas unfavorable for cavalry forces (forests, for example), fighting on foot in these environments, because in those places the enemy was not capable of using anything to their advantage: big war horses, better armor, a close battle order, or lances. The article suggests that this battle method lets us determine, with more precision, the type of Lithuanian light cavalry, equating it to the better-known Irish hobelars who had served in England’s army. In the Teutonic Order’s state in Prussia, the equivalent of hobelars were the native “free” Prussians. Both these types of units rode small horses, fought equally well on horseback as well as on foot, and used javelins. In the last part, we argue on the possibilities of such light cavalry overcoming its heavier counterparts. According to the author of this paper, such possibilities would arise only occasionally – when knights were trapped in swamps in the forests or did some sort of tactical mistake. Eliminating this backwardness, the Lithuanian state had begun using heavy cavalry forces by the early 15th century.
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Pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės (LDK) istoriografijoje gerokai ūgtelėjo dėmesys ir žymių, ir mažiau žinomų giminių genealogijoms ir šeimų istorijoms. Iš tokių tyrimų – ir neseniai Baltarusijos istorikų publikuotos solidžios kolektyvinės monografijos, parengtos mokslinių konferencijų, skirtų pagarsėjusios gausios Valavičių giminės istorijai XV–XVIII a., pagrindu.
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The discussion on the legal power of documents generated by the researchers exploring the written culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries invites for a more detailed analysis of the usage of a written document in the legal process, the chronology of its legal regulation, the document’s place in the system of evidence as well as its meaning in the legal consciousness of the nobles. The legal proceedings and rulings recorded in the judicial affairs books incorporated into the Lithuanian Metrica reveal the process when, with the development of the written culture and the increase of the demand for documents in the state’s internal affairs, the written document evolved into an independent and sound legal evidence in the judicial process. In the civil cases, primarily concerning the land ownership, the legal power of a written document was recognized already in the middle of the fifteenth century (although there was no peremptory requirement to present written documents in the judicial process), and approved by the extended edition of the First Statute of Lithuania. In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the long-lived “colorful robes of justice” (the oath, the gesture, the placing of one’s cap) were replaced in the system of legal evidence by written documents which, from then on, were considered as more reliable evidence than a personal oath, and, in some cases, even a testimony. Eventually, this view found its place in the consciousness of the nobles who documented their transactions and used documents to solve legal conflicts. Moreover, in Lithuania, unlike in the Kingdom of Poland, the judges considered not only the public, but also the legitimate private documents as legal evidence of equal importance. Although, the hierarchy of legal evidence, that prioritized the documents was embedded only in the Second Statute of Lithuania (chapter IV article 52, entitled “On evidence and defense” (O dovodech i otvodech), the analysis of sources allows to decisively affirm that the main source of the aforementioned article was the practice of the courts in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
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This article presents an analysis of an occurring phrase and practice “auf die Hand” (to one’s hand) and its meaning in the end of the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries. The main sources for such a study were correspondence between the Teutonic Order’s officers and Lithuania’s rulers, issued documents, and other contemporary written evidence. The “auf die Hand” custom was not just a practice to release captives on parole solely on their own oath, but also on the guarantee of a ruler, officer or another trustworthy person. The captive released on parole or the guarantee promises to return whenever the captor summons him. Also, the guarantor vows that the captive will safely return on a given time. This research shows that the captives with questionable honour may not have been interceded merely for the risk of escaping, because the guarantor, who had also sworn in his honour, would have to compensate for the escaped captive. No doubt such practice was adopted through contact with the Teutonic Order and knights from Western Europe, since we can observe specific features of chivalry: surrender, honour, oaths. Also, it is evident that the meaning behind “auf die Hand” had a semantic connotation – raising a hand to give an oath and giving the captive “to guarantor’s hands.”
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The Ruthenian translation of the medieval treatise Secretum Secretorum (“The Secret of Secrets”) was made in Kiev during the second half of the 15th century from a Hebrew version that dates back to late 13th‒early 14th centuries, when it was translated from the Arabic original, which probably originated in its final form during the 10th century. The Ruthenian translation contains certain interpolations that had been already present in the Hebrew version before it was translated into Ruthenian. They had been extracted from several Arabic and Hebrew sources, such as the treatise Al-Mansuri by Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyā al-Rāzī (865‒925) and the treatises On Poisons, On Coitus, and On Asthma by Maimonides (1135/1138‒1204). The author argues that the same Ruthenian translation also contains a minor (one-page long) interpolation that through Hebrew mediation goes back to The Canon of Medicine written in Arabic by Avicenna (980‒1037). It is still to be established which of the seven known Medieval Hebrew translations and/or the around 30 commentaries on it (all unpublished) was used as the immediate source for the Kievan translation. Nevertheless, the newly identified Arabic origin of this particular interpolation to the Ruthenian version of the treatise The Secret of Secrets sheds some light on the prehistory of this particular text’s portion and compliments the list of sources used by the Hebrew-to-Ruthenian translators in Kiev during the second half of the 15th century.
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The aim of the study is to present the potential of the surviving register of revenue and expenditure of the King of Hungary from 1494–1495 in relation to research on the personal composition of the royal court of Hungary and Bohemia. At the same time, emphasis was placed on the circle of persons from outside the Kingdom of Hungary. Analysis of the account material shows that after 1490, a group of people from the Czech Lands formed a group at the court in Buda that could not be overlooked. If we add to them identified courtiers of Polish – Lithuanian origin or with roots in the German regions of the Holy Roman Empire, they make up more than 60% of the people of noble origin, who gave colour to the court of King Vladislav Jagiello in Buda. A detailed prosopographical analysis of Vladislav’s court in the period 1490–1516 is still lacking. However, the partial analysis of the situation in in the mid 1490s shows that it was not just the Hungarian court with a not very important Bohemian appendix, but an institution fully representing both the Hungarian and Bohemian parts of Vladislav’s realms.
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This article presents an analysis of the issue of how Lithuanians, namely, their ethno-social elite – the nobility – became more Russian in the 14th–16th centuries. The study reveals that social, political and cultural relations at the top levels of government in the GDL and in the privileged estate did not encourage the Lithuanian nobility to “turn Russian”. The ethnocentric vision of language equality nurtured by representatives of Lithuanian culture and writing is highlighted, which in turn established a fertile ground in which the nationalist ideas of the early modern period’s Lithuanian nation could germinate.
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Review of: Lovorka Čoralić - Milorad Pavić, Vještina plovidbe: navigacija svjetskim morima u doba velikih geografskih otkrića, Zadar: Sveučilište u Zadru, 2021, 195 stranica
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An unusual shape of a laccolith in the southern coastal part of the Crimea, which, when seen from a distance, resembles a huge beast bending its muzzle to the water, could well determine its name, i. e. Ayu-Dag (Crimean Tatar — Ayuv Dağ, i. e. the Bear Mount). The legend about this toponym allegorically tells about a catastrophic earthquake, which the Crimean peninsula was exposed to in the Middle Ages. This natural phenomenon was reflected in three other local legends about the Castel Mount, Yalta and Sunen-Kaya. Most likely, this calamity took place during the first war between Kaffa and Theodoro, in October-November of 1423. In many ways, it can be compared with the notorious Yalta earthquake of 1927. The archaeological works on a number of medieval sites in the region can give a good idea of the consequences of the 15th-century seismic event, which embodied the wrath of the Lord: a monastery on the south-eastern slope of the Ayu-Dag, Funa’s fort, Kalamita and Cembalo, and Basilica in Eski-Kermen.
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The mint marks on medieval Hungarian coins can be used to determine the chronological order in which the coins were minted. It is necessary though, to start with the years of reigns of the monarchs, the iconography of the coins, as well as written sources referring to the Chamber Counts administering the Royal Mining and Coin Chambers. This is important for economic history, numismatic research, and the dating of archaeological finds. One of the medieval Chamber Counts of Kremnica was Konrád Rolner. He held this position not only between 1440 and 1443, as stated in most professional literature sources, but also between 1444 and 1446, as indicated by several documents. There are also references to the Chamber Count Konrád Polner, which are based on the misreading of his surname. Its correct form is Rolner. Chamber Count Konrád Polner is therefore identical with the Count Konrád Rolner. Gold florins bearing the mint mark K - R + can thus be assigned to Konrád Rolner.
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The Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century does not appear ex nihilo, but it will stand out on an upward flow of Church reform, a flow in which the Hussite movement also has a significant role to play. Unfortunately, Jan Hus did not know any of the writings of the Eastern Holy Fathers, did not come into direct contact with Orthodox spirituality, and historical conditions were of such a nature, as a rapprochement (union) of the Bohemian Brothers with the Orthodox Church could not be realized. A significant number of Hussites sought refuge in Romanian countries, being persecuted for their faith in neighboring states. In Moldavia they lived in the colonies and were not considered a danger to the native population of Orthodox faith with whom they came in contact. The Moldavian rulers Alexandru cel Bun (Alexander the Kind), Stefan cel Mare (Stephen the Great) and Bogdan cel Orb (Bogdan the Blind), Romanian Orthodox believers, showing tolerance and acceptance towards another religion, welcomed the Hussite and allowed them to settle and live in the cities of their country.
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Article deals with a variety of ways by which Orthodox believers of the GrandDuchy of Lithuania were present in diplomatic rhetoric in the end of the 14thbeginning 16th centuries. After the conversion of the Lithuanians in 1386,Teutonic Order tried to prove that Grand Duchy is not a good Christian countryby pointing to the Orthodox majority in Lithuania. Knights depicted OrthodoxRuthenians as enemies of the Roman church and heretics, who enjoyed thebenevolence of Lithuanian rulers. Polish-Lithuanian side fi rstly also accusedthe knights of favoring Eastern Christians, but later at the Council of Constancein 1414–1418 presented their Orthodox subjects as ones, who are ready toreunite with the Western church. In 1430-s the same tropes were reproducedby diff erent actors. There were Polish representatives, who drew the picture ofthe Orthodox threat in Lithuania in front of the Council of Basel and Teutonicdiplomacy, which assisted grand duke Svidtrigaila in attempts of reunitingOrthodox Ruthenians with Rome. Wars with Moscow in the end of the 16thcentury. brought another dimension in diplomatic rhetoric: the question offreedom of faith for the Ruthenians in Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the ideaof Christian unity in facing the Ottoman threat. The main way to overcome thecontradiction between the religious situation in Grand Duchy of Lithuania andthe western Christian ideal of unity in orthodoxy in diplomatic rhetoric wasthe perspective of achieving this ideal in the near future. On the other side,the confrontation of this situation with similar demands from the East lead tothe articulation of the ideas of freedom of conscience and the importance ofpeace between the two branches of Christianity.
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The article deals with economic and social relations between Lviv, as the largest Ukrainian cities in the Medieval Ages, and the towns of Moldavian principality. They were established primarily on economic grounds, as trade routes to the East passed through the principality. Lviv officials supported the political and diplomatic steps of the Kingdom of Poland towards rapprochement with the Principality of Moldavia. Economic relations developed especially intensively under Stephen the Great, prince of Moldavia in the second half of the 15th century, when the Turks captured the northern Black Sea coast with the main trading ports of Kaffa, Kilia, and Cetatea-Alba.In addition to the important function of ensuring the transit of oriental goods to the West, Moldavian merchants supplied the Lviv market with local goods. Lviv city books note large consignments of oxen and beluga fish among the main products of Moldavian exports. In exchange, Lviv merchants supplied the Moldavian market with large quantities of Western cloth, iron products, and dyes. The organization of trade processes was facilitated by the protectionist policy of the Moldavian prince, who granted a number of privileges to the city of Lviv. Strong trade and economic contacts arose due to the large diasporas of Armenian and German merchants that existed in Lviv and Suceava, Seret, and other Moldavian towns. Merchants’ groups and companies arose among Armenians, Germans, Wallachians, and Ruthenians on both mononational and multinational grounds. Immigrants from the Moldavian principality settled in Lviv and the region; on the one hand, they provided stronger economic contacts, and on the other hand, they avoided the threatening Turkish expansion into Moldavian lands.
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In 1472 Matthias, king of Hungary, as patronus universalis of all the churches in the kingdom, granted to the community of Bistrița the right of patronage over the parish churches from Dipșa, Dumitra and Lechința. As royal possessions, these settlements located in the Bistrița district already had the privilege to elect their parish priest and to manage the revenues of their own churches. The deed of King Matthias suppressed this right in favour of Bistrița, a town that managed to impose itself as an administrative centre of the “province”. The action also involved the bishop of Transylvania, as the city and district of Bistrița were part of the diocesan authority. This is the only case in the Transylvanian area, in which an urban community acquired the right of patronage over the parishes in the seat or district it represents. Extended in 1526 over all parishes in the district, this authority will be exercised by the urban community of Bistrița until the beginning of the 19th century.
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