One of the tasks of historians (at least those who have learned the principles of modern scientific techniques) is to search for sources, and to subject those already found to critical appraisal. However, won’t the resources of unknown documents be exhausted one day? Fortunately, not only is the number of documents increasing (and archives make…
This set of three essays is meant for the broader public and was prepared during a Humboldt Research Fellowship at the University of Regensburg. Those who prefer academic prose are advised to consult the scholarly article: “Medieval Liturgy and the Making of Poland. A Study in Early Medieval Political Identification (c. 960s–c.1030s)”. I share in…
Mieszko was not the first in the Vistula basin to attempt something memorable. Long before him, in the Lesser Poland region, around Kraków, something big was about to happen… by Paweł Figurski We start our journey in Mazovia, particularly in Płońsk, about 40 miles from the current Polish capital of Warsaw, to encounter only…
We all know the poem by Władysław Bełza, “The Catechism of a Polish Child,” written in 1900, and we will all reply without a second thought: the white eagle. Still, it would not come amiss to wonder: why the eagle? by Beata Wolszczak The legendary Lech had resolved to settle in the flatlands, where…
The question posed in the title is provocative, but it also refers to a special episode in history. Two states, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Electorate of Saxony, whose history, traditions, political systems, and social relations had been different until 1697, and which did not even share a common border, became united in a personal…
‘And Poland will exist! What am I saying? Poland already exists!’ the final words of the speech delivered on 28 June 1812 by Treasury Minister Tadeusz Matuszewicz evoked the enthusiasm of MPs gathered at an extraordinary session of the Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw. As the 8th Regiment of Polish uhlans marching in the…
