A gyulafehérvári hiteleshely levélkeresői (1556-1690)

Author(s): Emőke Gálfi / Language(s): Hungarian

After the secularization of the Catholic ecclesiastical institutions in 1556, a new era had begun in the history of the place of authentication of the Chapter of Transylvania, which resided in Alba Iulia. This period has been characterized by a specific and totally different evolution of this institution, which was no more under the control of the Church. For the purposes of conducting its charter issuing activity, lay letter searchers (requisitors) were appointed by the princes, who were also paying these office holders. The majority of the members of the Chapter have left the country together with the bishop Paul Bornemissza (who’s chair remained vacant for a long time), and those who remained in Alba Iulia were converted to Protestantism. They became the office holders of Queen Isabela and, after a while, of his son, prince Ioan Sigismund of Zápolya. The fact that some earlier members of the Chapter continued their work at the place of authentication proves that the state apparatus of the newly born Principality needed these intellectuals who had been previously educated by the Catholic Church. For almost 20 years, the place of authentication and its archives had been given very limited tasks. The institution didn’t dispose of a very important object used in the authentication process of the documents, namely the seal of the Chapter. This object has been probably taken by one of the canons, who left together with bishop Bornemissza. For this reason, the appointed office holders could only transcribe the documents kept in the archives of the Chapter. That’s why they were called requisitores, which means “letter searcher”. The reorganization of this institution took place in 1575, when the requisitors were granted all the previous tasks: a new seal was given to the place of authentication, which was similar to the earlier; the requisitors among transcribing the documents started to issue different charters and to fulfill external activities on the demand of the princes (entering into possessions, boundary inspections, etc.). Starting with 1556, the requisitors were appointed and paid by the princes and the character of the Chapter’s archive has changed as the time passed: not only the documents created by the place of authentication have been kept here, but also the Libri Regii, tax registers and legislative documents. As a result of these changes, the archive became the institution that preserved the most important documents of the Principality and at the same time the reputation of the office holders grew. So, it was natural that during the period of the Principality, the office holders of the place of authentication were chosen very carefully by the princes from the members of the Transylvanian intelligentsia, which had close ties both with the Unitarian Church and the Reformed Church. The first chapter describes the birth of the requisitorial office and the secularization of the Catholic ecclesiastical institutions. This chapter, based on the consulted documents, proves that the ecclesiastical estates (including the lands owned by the Chapter) were already given to Queen Isabela and his son in 1556, and they haven’t been returned to the Catholic Church, as one could suppose from the contradictory laws issued at the end of that year. The volume continues with the description of the period until 1575, when the appointed requisitors’ single task was to search and transcribe documents. The reorganization that took place in 1575, based on a detailed written instruction dated at the end of that year, made the charter issuing activity of the requisitors of this institution comparable with the activity of the Chapter before the secularization. These characteristics remained unchanged until the end of the period of Principality.The second chapter presents a detailed analysis of a group of intellectuals represented by the requisitors of the Chapter of Alba Iulia. The chapter starts with the presentation of this institution’s structure and also discusses both the way the requisitors were appointed by the princes, and their duties and privileges. This chapter emphasizes the fact that the institution needed well-qualified personnel, and the requisitors needed to be well-trained in matters of paleography, Latin and legal issues. Romanian or German language proficiency often constituted an important advantage. It seems to be proven that the majority of the office holders spoke one of these languages.Due to the fact that the prestige of the Chapters archive constantly grew, the requisitors have been entrusted with multiple new duties and responsibilities. In addition to these responsibilities, they were also granted some privileges.As regards the estates and other properties possessed by the requisitors, it became obvious that many of the office holders were given goods and possessions by the clients of the place of authentication, in return for their services. The charters granted property rights of movable assets and real estates, and these rights represented the evidence of ownership in trials. For the clients who were taking part in actions for the ownership of properties it was of great importance to find these documents in the Chapters archive and to obtain their transcripts. The services of the office holders were rewarded with different donations.It’s well-known that during the Middle Ages, the personnel of the places of authentication consisted of clergy members who studied at Western universities or at the chapter or monastic schools attached to the chapters or convents. After 1556, the place of authentication from Alba Iulia was no longer under the jurisdiction of the church, but the society, in which this institution functioned, still remained religious. During the first period after the secularization, the earlier members of the clergy were appointed as requisitors and they have worked there until the reorganization that took place in 1575. After that, the personnel consisted of lay intellectuals, many of them with theological training. We may say that the majority of them have received higher education and have studied at Western European universi ties. A good example is the carrier of the chronicler of the court Gáspár Bojti and the personal librarian of Gabriel Bethlen, Mihály Barsi.In addition to the above mentioned objectives, our purpose was to characterize the social class from which the requisitors originated, to describe their previous career and the time they served as a clerk at the archives. We concluded that before being appointed to this office, the clerks were often notaries of the princely chancellery and sometimes this office constituted a gift for different services rendered on behalf of the princes. It was also proven that every clerk became a noble at the end of his career as a result of his services rendered at the place of authentication on the request of the princes and other clients.The third, longest chapter presents the biographies of 37 requisitors. Among them there were important figures of the Transylvanian cultural history, such as the chronicler István Szamosközy and Gáspár Bojti.The volume presents the members of a group of intellectuals who worked in the probably most important charter-issuer institution during the period of Principality.To reveal the role and importance of these office holders, it is enough to have in mind the character of the Transylvanian society, based on the possession of estates. Nevertheless, the requisitors were members of an intellectual class that continued the heritage of the Medieval Era, they’ve had close ties with the Church, which supported their activity.

Az aradi káptalan jegyzőkönyvtöredéke (1504-1518)

Author(s): Emőke Gálfi / Language(s): Hungarian

Beginning with the end of the twelfth century, the most important cathedral and collegiate chapters had undertaken the task of compiling charters and diplomas concerning private legal transactions. During the middle ages the collegiate chapter from Arad was an important “place of authentication” in the southern part of the Hungarian kingdom. This institution was destroyed by the Turkish army in 1552.The archives of the chapter, which preserved the copies of diplomas issued usually in the form of volumes (protocolla), had been transported to Transylvania between 1556 and 1563 and were lodged in the archives of the cathedral chapter in Gyulafehérvár (Alba Iulia). Here, it was the task of the requisitors (“letter searchers”) of the secularized chapter to guard the remained registres from Arad. János Laskay, a humanist requisitor from Gyulafehérvár, wrote a preface to one of these volumes in 1580. This text and a few fragments from the register are the only remains of these archives. The volume begins with an introductory study about the life and activity of János Laskay and the charter-issuing activity of the place of authentication from Arad. The introduction is followed by the transcribed latin preface written by Laskay, which focuses on the role of the places of authentication as archives. The volume continues with the Hungarian abstracts (regesta) of the charters preserved in the medieval register and a list of the canons from this period. The Hungarian regesta contains among the juridical transaction all the important historical data, all the names (denomination of places and persons) and other details which could be useful for farther historical research.The index includes every personal name and all the toponyms, but it is also a register of subjects.

Az erdélyi Csákyak

Author(s): Klára Papp / Language(s): Hungarian

The monograph gives an overview of the Transylvanian branch of the Csáky family from the mid-seventeenth century up to 1742, the extinction of the male line and examines the efforts of the female line, until the Csákys’ possibilities to preserve their name, rank and landed estates are traceable, that is, the middle of the nineteenth century. The first chapters of the volume discuss the great seventeenth-century predecessors of the Csáky, who moved from Transylvania to the Kingdom of Hungary and established, then strengthened their landed possessions and political authority. Especially, István Csáky, remembered as „Great” in family tradition, who was a General of the Principality of Transylvania and Captainin-Chief of Prince István Bocskai, as well as his sons, two talented politicians, István Csáky, Lord Chief Treasurer and László Csáky, Lord Chief Justice, both belonging to the circle of Lord Palatine Esterházy, who based the prestige of the Kingdom of Hungary branch.The family correspondence describes the relationship of Lord Chief Treasurer as contradictory with his children, of whom he had a good opinion of only the middle son of the same name, István, the elder son, Francis, and the younger, László turned against him. Concerning their political views and relations all the three young gentlemen went off the path set by their father, the two older ones maintained good relations with Miklós Zrínyi, the younger held together with the opponent of the father, György Rákóczi II.The Transylvanian branch marks the third son of István Csáky, Lord Chief Treasurer, László and his descendants, who returned to the Transylvanian lands, and wished to found their future upon farming and their estate revenues. One of the basic tasks of the research was to explore the history of the Transylvanian branch. Historical literature has so far much neglected the denominator László Csáky and his political and military role, furthermore, the fate of the descendants, their functions in Transylvanian political life, and the situation of the family holdings has almost never been seen in historical scholarship. László Csáky could not administer his Transylvanian estates for long since he lost a good part of his holdings because of his role in the Béldiconspiracy against Prince Apafi, and was only able to return from his Turkish captivity through Poland and Vienna during the great anti-Ottoman war of the end of the century, taking on a military task on the side of the Habsburgs. Contemporary diary entries show how deeply he was resented by the Transylvanians, which he was only able to change working hard for long years. István, the son of the Transylvanian László Csáky was appointed Főispán (sheriff) of County Kolozs in 1699, after the death of his father.Together with his younger brother, László he was striving to regain their Transylvanian holdings. It is now unanimous that in the War of Independence led by Francis II Rákóczi the sons of the Transylvanian László Csáky both László (who died in 1708) and István – who had formerly been a follower of Imre Thököly – supported Prince-Governor Rákóczi, from whom they hoped for and did in fact receive landed donations.Of the two Csáky brothers taking part in the War of Independence it was the elder, István who was to strengthen the influence and possessions of the family. The lord, who retained his power and authority even after the War of Independence, had really substantial properties.Beyond the lordships of Almás and Buza in County Doboka he obtained that of Szurdok, moreover, regarding the Bihar County holdings (Köröszszeg and Adorján) ha could come to an agreement with László Csáky of Tata from the Kingdom of Hungary branch.The fate of the two sons of the főispán of Kolozs, Zsigmond and Imre Csáky largely affected the eighteenth-century history of the family. While the son of the late seventeenth-century Lord Chief Justice, István Csáky, Cardinal Imre Csáky was addressed by Ödön Málnási as „Széchenyi of the 18th century”, his name-sake nephew, Imre of the Transylvanian branch was suffering in the captivity of the Gubernium.It is justified by the correspondence and litigation record that Zsigmond Csáky was to made all effort to gain the estates of his brother imprisoned by the Gubernium. The younger Csáky, keeping his household in Szurdok himself gave a handle to take an action against him since he did not administer his estates in a way that could be expected at the time but treated his villein tenants ill which created a general uproar throughout Transylvania. He was condemned by the Gubernium and had him taken into home custody in Kolozsvár as well as had his estates put under the control of Zsigmond Csáky. It was definitely the elder Csáky brother that was concerned to keep the whole of the holdings, of which he also wished to give his two daughters a share. However, in 1735 he unexpectedly died, therefore the Mikola-kindred was able to achieve to set Imre Csáky free.Imre, who died at the 1742 plague, was naturally to make contacts and come on to good terms with the Kingdom of Hungary branch against his own Transylvanian relatives pushing him to the background. He corresponded with Lord Chief Treasurer Zsigmond Csáky and György Csáky, and finally in his will bequeathed all his goods and chattels to them. After the extinction of the male line of the Transylvanian Csákys (1742) the members of the Hungarian branch entered into a long lawsuit – lasting up until the third decade of the nineteenth century – to regain the Transylvanian possessions, which resulted in a total victory of the Transylvanian kindred, and they managed to preserve their estate holdings for their own descendants only. In investigating the reasons for the quarrel and the process of the litigation it was not only the motives of the descendants of Lord Chief Justice István Csáky that were important but also the interest relations of the Transylvanian family members. For the female off springs wedded from aristocratic families, having a decisive role in eighteenth-century Transylvanian history – Bornemissza, Haller, Bethlen, Jósika – who gave them a most explicit backing so as to preserve the familiar holdings.After the death of Zsigmond Csáky it was in the first place his widow, Kata Haller and his elder daughter, Mrs. György Haller who managed family affairs. It seems justified that the widow favoured Borbála Csáky, holding the Gorbó lordship, thus the couple gained a considerable influence. After the death of Imre Csáky, upon the order of György Haller his grain and livestock were carried to Kaplony and Oláhfenes, his money and jewelry chests to their Kolozsvár house. In 1759 the Haller couple also obtained the mortgage rights of the Bihar Csáky estates. Lease contracts justify that they took up smaller-bigger loans from many persons at many different places in Transylvania, thus they were consciously striving to regain their Bihar possessions, the reason for which being their high productivity.The sources made it possible to examine the ways of farming efforts of the two sisters, Borbála and Kata to manage, gain and preserve estates. The Transylvanian Csákys successfully kept on maintaining their estates along their seventeenth-century patterns. István Csáky, Főispán of Kolozs took a primary part in regaining lands and reorganizing the estate management. Zsigmond Csáky and his wife had great results in the administration of the substantial Transylvanian and Bihar County lands. His elder daughter, Borbála relied in the first place on his husband’s help in estate management, but the younger one, Kata did it on her own. She endeavoured to have her fully powered commissioners and court judges under close control as well as demanded and did in this way receive regular reports from them. She made inquests upon any complaints into any possible abuse, and rightfully recovered the amounts missing in the accounts embezzled by her bailiffs.The basis for Kata Csáky’s independent management was the landed property inherited from his father, Zsigmond Csáky, which guaranteed to make a living on her own even when she was not provided for by his husband. The survived suit records, agreements and commissions however prove that beyond the estates of Szurdok, Almás and Buza the noblewoman did herself wish to increase her wealth. She got hold of Sajókeresztúr and took steps to redeem a part of Sárfalva, near Branyicska in County Hunyad owned by her grandmother. She bought a house in Kolozsvár in 1775, to which she had the neighbouring merchant house owned by Ábrahám Ábrahám attached, what is more, in the spring of 1780 did even purchase another town house on the northern side of the outer Magyar street. She used the mortgaged vineyards between the Bihar County Lüki and Kohány, near the Érmellék wine-district. The composition of the acquired possessions demonstrate that the countess either added to the ancestral lands raising its value in this way (for instance, taking in pledge and appending and smaller part of another estate and its tenant holders to it), or, bought vineyards particularly in good wine-growing regions producing quality wine, which could increase the profitability of the estates. The profits were thus occasionally much greater, especially in years to come, for the descendants than the amounts paid out for the holdings or put out on loan. Kata Csáky’s efforts to make her own living was strengthened by the fact that her second daughter, Rozália Bethlen was born, and her husband, after their first years of marriage tried to keep her under control even more strictly and rudely. In this situation it seems natural that the young noblewoman – relying on her own landed revenues – did all her best to be able to stand on her own legs, and grounding upon her relations secure good education and envisage favorable marriage for her daughter. The husband became also worn out by the 1773 visit of the Emperor in Szeben, and since Joseph did not form a good opinion of the mental capacities and achievement of Miklós Bethlen. It was to be expected that he would be put out of the way, which did occur in a few years.The couple stayed together mainly because of their common interests. The fate of their daughter, Rozália, the scheme, then the realization of her marriage, serving family concerns, with János Csáky of the Kingdom of Hungary branch brought forward a long-lasting community of interests. Rozália Bethlen had three children, and could rightfully hope that she would be able to preserve the Bethlen and Csáky wealth in Transylvania.The family correspondence makes it clear that both branches wished to make use of the marriage to improve their property positions. The Transylvanian branch, with the aid of the father of Rozália, Miklós Bethlen earned a főispán position in County Kolozs for János Csáky, who took up a – according to the Vienna Court disputable – role in suppressing the Horea-revolt. The deterioration of the marriage however put an end to the hopes of Countess Kata Csáky to bring the suit between the two branches into a standstill by way of her daughter’s marriage.Since Borbála’s son, János Haller died childless, his widow’s, Zsuzsanna Nemes’ inheritance, for the most part after her death, passed on to Kata Csáky’s daughters. The seigneurial and villein tenure farming of the lordships, the conflicts in the practice of service and the possibilities of peasant labour are discussed until the death of the younger daughter of Kata Csáky, Rozália Bethlen, or, the division of landed estates that followed it. It is important to see how women were able to take over the management of farming and administer lordships on their own. It is primarily the efforts of the resolute woman of reason, the grandmother, Kata Csáky and Rozália Csáky Mrs. Jósika following her path that can be traced upon, considering them as very peculiar women.Kata Csáky took responsibility for the running of her lordships and had sound economic programs, which went far beyond contemporary conceptions. She did not only make her stewards aware that she found it important to sow wheat in the seigneurial economy and have a most profoundly designed, purposeful production, providing a survey of wholesale marketing opportunities, but also had an active role in running the economy in a utilitarian way, taking into account productivity.The countess took great responsibility in farming, and did even receive new ideas. Her manor houses everywhere had appurtenant kitchen-gardens and orchards, where she had from time to time planted seeds bought from Vienna or Szeben, and employed several (Romanian, German, Hungarian) gardeners, who raised plants in hotbed. However, the progressivism of her economic methods are not only shown by the orange and lemon trees or the fishponds dug near to her manor houses, but also the rich, high quality wheat crops in Almás, but the so called Turkish wheat of Branyicska reserved for wholesale markets, and the number of cattle, sheep and pig recorded in the „Red Book” inventory for sale.After the 1826–1827 land division the Csáky holdings gradually became incorporated into the lordships of the two branches of the Jósika family, and only a small proportion, that of Nagyalmás remained in the hand of the squandering József Csáky, entangled in loan transactions.Of the descendants of Countess Csáky it was Rozália who unanimously became a landholder woman prepared for economic tasks and capable of running farming in a utilitarian way, who, after 1820 wished to initiate reasonable and progressive changes in her Búza estate. Differently from her brother, József Csáky, who traveled to Paris, Rozália got aware of the reforms that could be utilized for her estates, and what she could, she did put into practice. The social position of the countess was a favorable starting point regarding the establishment of the sugar manufacture and the several other initiatives. The wife of the Transylvanian governing body could discover the possibilities of enterprise so much the more than the majority of her contemporaries, if she had enough openness, common sense, initiative and resilience. It seems the concordance of chances and capabilities furthered the successes of the countess. Her letters also reveal the obstacles of the newly launched enterprise: the lack of credit possibilities, the use of loans traditionally available only from Jewish merchants, the setbacks of Transylvanian conditions like the aversion and incomprehension of the villeins of the lordships, the forces taking effect against cooperation, the difficulties of marketing etc.The efforts to regain, increase and run family estates elevate Borbála, but so much the more Kata Csáky, urging utilitarian economy next to the significant estate-managers of the eighteenth century (István Csáky, főispán of Kolozs, Zsigmond Csáky, Gubernium Councillor). The daughter of Rozália Bethlen, Rozália Csáky, brought up by her grandmother, Kata Csáky followed the traditions of the family. Her education, intelligence and ambitions for reform, mainly through the sugar manufacture ranks her amongst the greatest reformer figures of Transylvania. The noblewoman is rightfully seen as the initiator of social policy in Kolozsvár, since she organized an „Association for Noblewomen” that maintained a nursery school for the poor as well as established a hospital at her Gorbó estate. She had her grandmother’s breviaries, and bequeathed a significant botanical collection and library to her descendants. Despite the fact that the contemporaries did not judge Rozália Bethlen well, yet she left behind much less concrete results and personal achievements than her strict but very active and self-ironical mother, Kata Csáky, who was all her life working hard to regain the family holdings, or, her younger daughter, Rozália Csáky, who acknowledged the guiding role of masculine society but was always constantly aspiring for reform and at the same time wishing to change the role of women.The volume devotes a separate chapter to the villein farming of Transylvanian estates and the changes in villein services. Appendices of source excerpts, lists of measurements, sources and bibliography as well as an index are also provided at the end.

A kolozsmonostori konvent a fejedelemség korában

Author(s): Zsolt Bogdándi / Language(s): Hungarian

On the territory of the developing Transylvanian principality there were three ecclesiastical institutions which took part in the issuance of authentic charters: the Chapter of Transylvania residing in Gyulafehérvár, the Convent of Kolozsmonostor and the Chapter of Várad. Their medieval history has been already partially studied, but in neither of these cases the research did not cover their activity during the Transylvanian principality. Only in the case of Várad we could refer to the lack of sources because, after the capture of the fortress, the Chapter’s archives perished, but even so someone could attempt, on the basis of the issued charters to reconstruct its activity (we already have such an example for the Convent of Szekszárd). Although truncated, the archives of the other two loca credibilia are reserved in the collections of the National Archives of Hungary, so any other scientific investigations are possible. The research of their early modern activity and the publication of a major part of the protocols remains an urgent and possible task of the historians. The publication of these sources would largely extend our knowledge of Transylvanian law and history of institutions, and they would generate a basic collection of sources for further research.The main aim of this book is to present the characteristics of the charter-issuing activity accomplished by the early-modern Transylvanian loca credibilia by examining the case of the authentication place of the Convent of Kolozsmonostor, where the majority of the protocols have been preserved. We attempt to answer the following questions: whether the reorganized and secularized Convent, which has preserved its designation and has been moved together with the archives to Kolozsvár, has met the expectations of the society in terms of preservation of the documents and issuing of charters? How did it work and what was its role in the Transylvanian society?After the establishment of the Transylvanian state, the loca credibilia that entered under its jurisdiction, underwent a peculiar transformation. On the same grounds as similar institutions from Hungary, a specific Transylvanian institution, the office of the requisitors came to life to satisfy the needs of the society for authentic charters and to ensure the conservation of the archives. After twenty years of uncertainty, during which the secularized institution issued copies from the Convent’s archives under the seal of the city, the time for reorganization has arrived. The appointed requisitors had the right to complete all the activities made earlier by the places of authentication, but because there number was small, other institutions (envoys of the voivodes, counties) have gradually taken their place in the external authentication activity. In this process, the articles of Approbatae presumably constituted a turning point. From the second half of the 1650s, the external authentication activity (inspection of boundaries, seisin of estates to new owners, inquiry, etc.) was likely to disappear.At the same time, the disasters that occurred in 1658, and the subsequent long term instability, caused such a break in the activity of the Convent that we could consider it as the end of the institution’s early-modern history. Thereafter the charter-issuing activity was more and more casual, the place of authentication became mere depository of charters and produced copies of the documents in his custody.One could say that it was the moment which marked the end of the institution’s history of and the beginning of the archive’s history. In the age of principality the archives of the Convent together with the sacristia of the Chapter from Gyulafehérvár and probable Várad as a result of the measures taken by the princes and the Orders have played the role of the state’s “National Archives”. Finally, in order to reflect on the activity of the Convent from Kolozsmonostor during the age of principality, we should compare László Papp’s point of view, based on the previous literature and law-articles, and the impedimentums listed in 1655 by one of the requisitors, István Pálfi with the “products” of the Convent’s activity: the registers (protocolla) and the charters. Both the quantity and the quality of the preserved archive materials prove that the reorganized Convent remained for a long time one of the major charter-issuing institutions of Transylvania.

Rīgas Doma viduslaiku arhitektūra un būvplastika eiropeisko analoģiju kontekstā

Author(s): Agnese Bergholde / Language(s): Latvian

Riga Dom Cathedral and its monastery is an outstanding example of medieval architecture in Latvia and the oldest brick architecture ensemble in the Baltic region. It was the first major artistic achievement of ancient Livonia. For the first time the rich 13th century architectural sculpture of the Dom Cathedral is extensively and thoroughly examined as an indispensable part of the ensemble in the context of construction history of church and monastery. An attempt has been made to establish the regional specificity of Riga Dom ensemble in comparison with Europe’s other sacred buildings. The publication contains annotated catalogue of Dom Cathedral’s architectural sculpture in Latvian and German as well as an extensive summary in German. Agnese Bergholde’s monograph is based on her PhD work defended at the Latvian Academy of Art in 2011.

Educaţia istorică între discursul politic şi identitar în Republica Moldova

Author(s): Sergiu Musteaţă / Language(s): Romanian

The work is the result of the project Geschichtslehrbücher zwischen politischer Propaganda, nationalistischen Konstruktionen und Wissenschaft. Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung des Schulfaches Geschichte in den posttotalitären Staaten Südosteuropas am Beispiel der Republik Moldau, der Ukraine und Rumänien started in 2005 and completed in 2008, implemented in partnership with „Georg Eckert” Institute for International Analysis of Textbooks and due to the financial support of „Gerda Henkel” Foundation, Germany.The work comprises the following parts: introduction, the role of history in society development, teaching history in the Republic of Moldova – between ideology and propaganda, conclusions and recommendations, sources and bibliography, summary in English and index of names, the main text being enriched with tables, annexes, and pictures.In Chapter I, The Role of History in Society Development, the author approaches several aspects regarding history as science, the relations between history and politics, the right of every citizen for access to authentic history, relations between history education and national identity, the role and importance of history in the system of education, the place of history curriculum in the national system of education and the importance of the school textbook in achievement of the educational objectives.In Chapter II, History Teaching in the Republic of Moldova: Between ideology and political propaganda, the following issues are discussed: the policy of the Communist Party in the Soviet times – pollution of history science, from the national idea to the national curriculum (1988/89-2001), development and publishing of the school history textbooks (1991-2009), history between reform and counter-reform (2001-2009) and history teaching in Transnistria separatist region.The author comes with the list of conclusions and recommendations. In the Republic of Moldova there is no unity and continuity in history teaching. Frequent interventions in history teaching have not allowed forming qualitative history education in citizens. For reconciliation in history teaching and historical content in the Republic of Moldova, some specific steps are to be taken in the following fields: politics, finance, and administration; publishing, curriculum design, and textbook development, as well as printing and dissemination of textbooks. Thus, the author recommends the Government of the Republic of Moldova: to carry out a series of actions through which they will ensure that education is a national priority; to provide a legal and legislative background for qualitative education; to develop mechanisms of public debates on educational policies; to bring contribution to the development of national publishing industry based on the principles of competition; to support research referring to textbook development and assessment; to promote and facilitate exchange of information regarding research in the field of curriculum and educational materials; to develop partnerships among governmental and non-governmental institutions expressed in partnership agreements, as well as agreements between two or more parties in the field of educational policies; to establish forms of regional cooperation in the field of history teaching in order to educate young generations for better understanding between neighbors; to promote mutual understanding among nations that would help understand everybody and fight prejudice and mutual outcast; to facilitate and encourage contacts among professional associations of historians and teachers at both the national and international level in order to allow exchange of experience, ideas, and suggestions on curricula, textbooks, teaching methods, and research in history.

Cetatea Soroca – istorie, memorie și tradiții seculare

Author(s): Sergiu Iosipescu,Raluca Iosipescu,Sergiu Musteaţă,Ion Tentiuc,Ion Ursu,Andrei Asăndulesei,Felix-Adrian Tencariu,Radu-Ștefan Balaur,Mihaela Asăndulesei,Virgil Apostol,Ștefan Bâlici,Ana Boldureanu,Adelaida Chiroșca,Luminiţa Bejenaru,Cristian Secu,Radu Pîrnău,Bogdan Roșca,Manuela Filip,Vitalie Josanu,Andrei Eșanu,Valentina Eșanu,Mariana Şlapac,Tamara Nesterov,Sergius Ciocanu,Alina Felea,Viorel Bolduma,Sergiu Bacalov,Virgil Pâslariuc,Elena Ploșniță,Ion Berghea,Nicolae Bulat,Ludmila Coadă,Angela Mușenco,Silviu Andrieş-Tabac,Cătălin Botoșineanu,Adrian Andrei Rusu / Language(s): Romanian

The book is a collection of contribution on medieval fortress Soroca archaeology, history, cultural heritage, architecture.

Basarabia, România şi Geopolitica Marilor Puteri

Author(s): Gabriel Micu / Language(s): Romanian

The book on Bessarabian problem, Romania and Geopolitics of the Great Powers

Biserica Ortodoxa din Basarabia şi Transnistria (1940-2011)

Author(s): / Language(s): Romanian

The on history of Church of Bessarabia and Transnistria (1940-2011)

Jugoslovensko ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protivvazdušna odbrana

Author(s): Bojan B. Dimitrijević / Language(s): Serbian

Фигура гуслара

Author(s): Smiljana Đorđević Belić / Language(s): Serbian

Województwo mińskie i Jeleńscy w życiu publicznym Rzeczypospolitej w latach 1764–1795 w świetle ich korespondencji

Author(s): Dariusz Rolnik / Language(s): Polish

The Jeleński family of the Korczak coat of arms had been a well-known family in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth since the second half of the 16th century. During the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, however, the family rose to prominence in the Lithuania, holding the Senate seat of the Castellan of Nowogród, which was passed down to the members of the family. It was, in fact, thanks to Stanisław August that Rafał, as well as his brother Gedeon, were raised to the senatorial seat as the first among the Jeleński family. The family was also, or maybe first and foremost, extremely influential in the Minsk Voivodeship, particularly in the Mazyr County, where the various members of the family as well as their relatives and kinsmen held almost absolute power in the local administration. Nonetheless, little has been written about this family’s influence in this area and in the Commonwealth in general — except for biographical notes in the Polish Biographical Dictionary and mentions in books of heraldry. The only mentions included singular instances regarding historic events in the Commonwealth. It should, however, come as no surprise, since the representatives of the family never amounted to anything more than — however influential — supernumeraries on the political stage of the Commonwealth. Nonetheless, due to their mutual interests with the Radziwiłł and Sapieha families, as well as their close ties with many old Lithuanian noble families, such as the Medeksza, Obuchowicz, Kościałkowski, Lenkiewicz, Rdłutowski, Romer, or Wolbek families, in addition to remaining in Stanisław August’s sphere of influence, the Jeleński family aspired to count among the elite of the Lithuanian province, one whose opinion should be taken into consideration.The study is founded upon the analysis of the Jeleński Family Archive, stored at the NationalHistorical Archives of Belarus (NGAB) in Minsk. Thanks to that archive, it has been possible to reconstruct the genealogy of the family as well as indicate its role and influence in the public life of the Minsk Voivodeship during the reign of Stanisław August. The monograph discusses the political engagement of the two most important representatives of the family: Gedeon and Konstanty Ludwik, counted among the elite of their times. They were not only skilled politicians, but also initiators of cultural and scientific development in Lithuania. Both of them betrayed deep interest in the issues of governance and broadly understood political thought — a topic which has been discussed in the first part of this monograph.The monograph consists of five chapters. The first chapter, entitled The Jeleński Family, ItsGenealogy, Multiplication, Connections — A Biographical Perspective, introduces the Jeleński family and provides a biographical perspective. According to all sources, the Jeleński family is descended from the Tatars, and Teodor, the progenitor of the family, came from Lithuania to Poland in 1549 as a knight in the service of Zygmunt August, fighting to defend the Commonwealth, which is probable but impossible to verify. Three important figures were supposed to be descended from Teodor: Paweł, who held the office of the Lithuanian Field Guard, as well as Maciej and Adam, commanders of infantry regiments who made names for themselves in the Livonia, Moscow and Prussia war expeditions. From these three descend the next generations of the Jeleński family, who founded the Jeleński Family Archive and who settled in Dunajczyce and Tucha, which can be regarded as the family nests of the Jeleński family (both were bestowed upon them by Zygmunt III). Moreover, the chapter touches upon the career paths of the selected members of the family and delineates the network of family relationships in the form of longer biographical notes constructed on the basis of the primary sources available in the archive which have been cross-referenced with other studies, books of heraldry and primary sources.The research findings are presented in a graphic form in chapter two, which includes thegenealogy of the Jeleński family. Chapter three: Between the Familia and the King’s Party; Between the Radziwiłł and the Sapieha Families and subsequent Between Politics and the Household serve as an introductory section while at the same time discussing the two most important factors which influenced the family’s position in the public life. The latter issue constitutes the subject of the fifth chapter: The Public Life of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — From the Convocation Sejm (1764) to the Fall of the Polish Statehood (1795). During that time, many members of the Jeleński family remained active in the political sphere, while Gedeon, the most ambitious of the politicians in his family, became the most influential. The members of the family were chosen to be deputies and representatives for more powerful parties; nonetheless, they held no autonomous political power. In 1772, they aligned themselves with Stanisław August. During election sejmiks which elected county and voivodeship officials, the Jeleński family always invoked the good of the Commonwealth, under the motto “for the good of the motherland”. The common good, however, was often perceived by the Jeleński family from the perspective of the prosperity of their own province — both on a smaller scale, i.e. the Mazyr County, and on a grander scale, i.e. the Minsk Voivodeship and the entire Lithuania. That is why their efforts were mostly concentrated on bringing prosperity to the Mazyr County first, followed by the Minsk and Nowogród Voivodeships, and finally the Grand Duchy of Lithuania itself. Sometimes, however, the good of their province and the good of the entire Commonwealthdid not completely align, complicated by the private affairs of the Jeleński family, which bothremained at the forefront of their minds and influenced their subservient political nature. Moreover, all members of the Jeleński family — and Gedeon most of all — were uniquely talented with regard to securing their “rewards.”

Wydarzenia – od traumy do euforii

Author(s): / Language(s): Russian,Polish,Ukrainian,Belarusian

This multi-author monograph looks at the 20th century from the perspective of its role in self-identification of individuals and/or communities as well as – in the latter case – of the place occupied by events of the 20th century in the structure of concepts that are key for the self-identification of Slavs. At the heart of each of the presented papers is the premise that the past, seen as a chain of events, is one of the factors determining identity and defining the system of national values which find their reflection in culture. Drawing on the tools of literary studies, semiotics, historiography and cultural studies, the authors undertake to put 20th century events on the map of contemporary European memory. They examine both the events that left a dreadful mark on contemporary history, causing a national (or global) trauma (like the February Revolution or outbreak of World War II) and those seen as positive (like the end of World War II, fall of the Berlin Wall or John Paul II’s pilgrimages) and evoking the feeling of pride. At the centre of attention are not only events defining the image of Europe in terms of political geography. Also clearly present is the mental perspective, which fosters recognizing the sources of national fascinations and national traumas, helps understand the mechanisms of myth-making, and points to the tools for reading myths that are constituted by, often seemingly hidden, references to the past.

ULJE NA VODI. Ogledi iz istorije sadašnjosti Srbije

Author(s): Dubravka Stojanović / Language(s): Serbian

The history of Branicki Palace until 1809. The influence of “Versailles of Podlasie” on the development of Białystok

Author(s): Karol Łopatecki,Wojciech Walczak / Language(s): Polish

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BOSZNIACKI NACJONALIZM. Strategie budowania narodu po 1995 roku

Author(s): Tomasz Rawski,Tomasz Rawski / Language(s): Polish

Książka poświęcona jest zagadnieniu budowania narodów w Europie Południowo-Wschodniej. Autor na przykładzie nacjonalizmu boszniackiego w Bośni i Hercegowinie pokazuje, że naród powstaje w trakcie nieustannej walki politycznej o treści symboliczne, które stanowią o jego istocie. Na podstawie reinterpretacji historycznego procesu wyłaniania się boszniackiego nacjonalizmu oraz systematycznej analizy współczesnej polityki pamięci odnoszącej się do wojny lat 1992–1995 Tomasz Rawski przedstawia specyfikę procesu budowania narodu – jego złożoną, wielowątkową dynamikę, pełną wewnętrznych napięć, tarć i sprzeczności.***Praca jest bogatym w warstwie empirycznej, oryginalnym teoretycznie wkładem w dyskusję o procesach narodowotwórczych i polityce pamięci na terenie byłej Jugosławii. (...) To dzieło dojrzałe, spójne, wciągające i bardzo potrzebne na polskim rynku wydawniczym.dr hab. Marcin Lubaś, prof. UJKsiążka Tomasza Rawskiego to nie tylko wąskie studium przypadku przeznaczone dla niewielkiego grona specjalistów; ze względu na teoretyczne zaplecze powinna zainteresować szersze grono czytelników – wszystkich, którzy chcieliby pogłębić swoją wiedzę na temat współczesnej teorii narodu i nacjonalizmu.dr hab. Krzysztof Jaskułowski, prof. SWPSTomasz Rawski – socjolog, bałkanista, adiunkt w Instytucie Socjologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, stypendysta m.in. University College London, University of Uppsala i University of Sarajevo. Zajmuje się problematyką nacjonalizmu, polityki symbolicznej, polityki pamięci oraz budowania państw i narodów w Europie Wschodniej. Zobacz więcej na: http://trawski.net.

Licht um Mitternacht.Fünf Jahre in der Welt der Verfemten

Author(s): Erica Wallach / Language(s): English,German

In this autobiographical book, Erica Wallach gives us a deep and personal insight into the experience of her five-year imprisonment. She was suspected of espionage and was sent to prisons in 1950 in the GDR and the Soviet Union as well as to the Workuta Soviet labor camp. Her husband, Robert R. Wallach, a soldier in the U.S. Army, and the their two children, waited in vain for her return to Paris, the Wallach family's place of residence at that time. They had no information about the reasons for her sudden disappearance and about Erica's whereabouts. The author describes the methods of totalitarian systems that are used to break prisoners in solitary confinement in order to obtain the desired confession from them. And she tells how she still managed to survive those years. This new, expanded edition has a German-English bilingual epilogue, written by Erica Wallach in the late 1970s and appearing here for the first time. <p> Erica Wallach gewährt uns in diesem autobiographischen Bericht einen tiefen und persönlichen Einblick in ihr Erleben jener fünf Jahre Inhaftierung, die Sie, der Spionage verdächtigt, ihrer Familie entrissen in Gefängnissen der DDR und der Sowjetunion sowie im sowjetischen Arbeitslager Workuta verbringen mußte, weil sie ihren Pflegeeltern Noel und Herta Field, die im damaligen Ostblock in Schwierigkeiten geraten waren, im August 1950 zur Hilfe eilen wollte und sich zu diesem Zweck nach Ost-Berlin begeben hatte. Ihr Ehemann, Robert R. Wallach, ein GI der U.S. Army, und die beiden gemeinsamen Kinder, warteten vergebens auf ihre Rückkehr nach Paris, dem Wohnort der Familie Wallach zu jener Zeit. Sie hatten keine Informationen über die Gründe des plötzlichen Verschwindens und erhielten keine Auskunft über den Aufenthaltsort von Erica Wallach. Die Autorin schildert jene Methoden totalitärer Systeme, mit deren Hilfe Gefangene in der Isolationshaft gebrochen werden, um von ihnen das gewünschte Geständnis zu erhalten. Und sie erzählt darüber wie es ihr trotzdem gelungen ist, jene Jahre zu überstehen. </p>

Stan badań nad wielokulturowym dziedzictwem dawnej Rzeczypospolitej

Author(s): / Language(s): Polish

Słownik architektów, inżynierów i budowniczych związanych z Katowicami w okresie międzywojennym. Wyd. 2

Author(s): Aneta Borowik / Language(s): Polish

The book consists of three parts. The introduction synthetically presents the environment being the subject-matter of this publication. The main part of the work is devoted to a dictionary alphabetically presenting profiles of an architecture-building staff of the town in the inter-war period. The appendices include selected biographies of the people in question. The biogram, apart from data concerning a professional path and personal life of selected authors, contains information on the author’s building realizations. The source basis constituted the literature of the subject and documents stored in The State Archive in Katowice and Archive of The Town Hall in Katowice. The biographical entries, wherever possible, included photographies of a given person and his/her selected realizations. The aim of the Dictionary was to present the profiles of architects, engineers and builders connected with Katowice in the inter-war period. It covered people who inscribed in a cultural and material picture of the town thanks to their presence or work achievements. Some of them, after arriving in Katowice in the 1920s, were connected with the town for ever. These were among others Tadeusz Michejda, Tadeusz Łobos, Lucjan Sikorski, Zbigniew Rzepecki, Leon Dietz d’Arma, Kazimierz Sołtykowski, Stanisław Gruszka, Stefan Kaufman, Witold Kłębkowski, Karol Schayer, Eugeniusz Pogoda, Henryk Schmidtke, Stanisław Tabeński, Karol Tchórzewski and Henryk Zawadowski. Others lived in Silesia only temporarily and contributed to a few or Just one realization. What has to be remarked on here is that the current state of research does not allow for ascribing a bigger importance to them. However, one can assume the research findings in the future will make it possible to present the total output of these authors too. They are Jan Bieńkowski, Eustachy Chmielewski, Witold Eyssmont, Odo Litawski, Józef Rybicki or Władysław Schwarcenberg-Czerny. The third group of workers was not connected with Silesia either because of work or living place. Their achievements in Katowice and nearby area allow for taking them into account in the Dictionary. Often, as was the case with edifices in Katowice such as a Voivodship Council and the Silesian Sejm, a cathedral, a covered market or a building of Silesian Technical Scientific Schools they were the milestones in the process of the architecture development of the town and region. To this group belong Kazimierz Wyczyński, Ludwik Wojtyczka, Stefan Żeleński, Piotr Jurkiewicz, Franciszek Mączyński, Zygmunt Gawlik, Franciszek Krzywda-Polkowski, Marian Lalewicz, Jadwiga Dobrzyńska, Zygmunt Łoboda, Wacław Nowakowski, Prot Komornicki, Stanisław Brukalski, Kazimierz Wędrowski, Alfred Wiedermann, Stefan Bryła, Adam Kuryłło. The least-known is the group of builders in Katowice in the inter-war period. Some of them continued their activity before 1922. These were among others Hugo Grünfeld, Karol Krompiec, Henryk Firla, Emanuel Witt, Józef Wuzik or Rudolf Fischer.The information collected in the dictionary should be an initiative for further and complex research on the environment of architects, engineers and builders in Silesia. Many of the authors under examination deserve a monographic work.

Władysław Kowalenko (1884–1966). Badacz dziejów dawnej Słowiańszczyzny na lądzie i na morzu

Author(s): Wojciech Mądry / Language(s): Polish

The aim of this work is to present the role of Władysław Kowalenko as an initiator and advocate of research on early Piast strongholds with the use of interdisciplinary methods and of studies on connections between the early medieval Slavdom and the sea, as well as his contribution to the "Słownik starożytności słowiańskich" [Dictionary of Slavic Antiquities] – a unique compendium of knowledge about the history and culture of the early Slavs – where the editorial work of Kowalenko resulted in the publishing of an eight-volume encyclopaedia instead of the originally planned two-volume dictionary for the general public.