The history of eastern European is dominated by the story of the rise of the Russian empire, yet Russia only emerged as a major power after 1700. For 300 years the greatest power in Eastern Europe was the union between the kingdom of Poland and the grand duchy of Lithuania, one of the longest-lasting political unions in European history. Yet because it ended in the late-eighteenth century in what are misleadingly termed the Partitions of Poland, it barely features in standard accounts of European history. The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union 1385-1569 tells the story of the formation of a consensual, decentralised, multinational, and religiously plural state built from below as much as above, that was founded by peaceful negotiation, not war and conquest. From its inception in 1385-6, a vision of political union was developed that proved attractive to Poles, Lithuanians, Ruthenians, and Germans, a union which was extended to include Prussia in the 1450s and Livonia in the 1560s. Despite the often bitter disagreements over the nature of the union, these were nevertheless overcome by a republican vision of a union of peoples in one political community of citizens under an elected monarch. Robert Frost challenges interpretations of the union informed by the idea that the emergence of the sovereign nation state represents the essence of political modernity, and presents the Polish-Lithuanian union as a case study of a composite state. The modern history of Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Belarus cannot be understood without an understanding of the legacy of the Polish-Lithuanian union. This volume is the first detailed study of the making of that union ever published in English.

The Making of the Polish-Lithuanian Union 1385-1569

A major new assessment of the "vanished kingdom" of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth--one which recognizes its achievements before its destruction Richard Butterwick tells the compelling story of the last decades of one of Europe's largest and least understood polities: the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Drawing on the latest research, Butterwick vividly portrays the turbulence the Commonwealth experienced. Far from seeing it as a failed state, he shows the ways in which it overcame the stranglehold of Russia and briefly regained its sovereignty, the crowning success of which took place on 3 May 1791--the passing of the first Constitution of modern Europe.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1733-1795

The first academic book concerning the most interesting archaeological discoveries of Medieval date (6th-mid 13th centuries) in Poland. The book is meant mainly for students, archaeologists and historians. It will also interest a wider audience interested in the history and archaeology of central Europe.

The Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland

This book shows that childhood was an essential element in the arguments and purposes of authors in medieval Poland from 1050-1300 CE. This role of childhood in medieval mindsets has salient parallels throughout Europe and this is also explored in this volume.

Childhood in Medieval Poland (1050-1300)

Focused on the formative force of national identity for the Poles the transmission of values the book offers a tour of a huge set of primary sources from the period 966-1138 in search of the traditions of the Piasts the ruling dynasty of Poland.

Domus Bolezlai

Topics examined include not just the personal eating habits of kings, queens, and nobles but also those of the peasants, monks, and other social groups not generally considered in medieval food studies."--BOOK JACKET.

Food and Drink in Medieval Poland

This study examines shared culture in medieval and contemporary Poland. The author argues that shared culture produced by ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse societies—rather than elitist values or institutional, ethnic, and religious differences—was foundational to societal survival in medieval Polish cities.

Common Culture and the Ideology of Difference in Medieval and Contemporary Poland

The history of Poland is a fascinating story of a people struggling to achieve nationhood in the face of internal and external conflict. Poland became a unified Christian state in AD 966 and by the 12th century a knightly class had emerged a force that was integral to the defence of Poland against increasingly frequent foreign invasions. Intent on crushing rival Christian states, the Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights all mounted attacks but were beaten back by the Poles, as were invading Mongols and Turks. This book reveals the organisation, equipment and battle histories of the medieval Polish armies as they developed and modernised to emerge as one of the dominant powers of Eastern Europe.

Medieval Polish Armies 966–1500

New Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Poland and Prussia: The Impact of Gdańsk draws together the latest reseach conducted by local historians and archaeologists on the city of Gdańsk and its impact on the surrounding region of Pomerania and Poland as a whole. Beginning with Gdańsk’s early political history and extending from the 10th to the 16th century, its twelve chapters explore a range of political, social, and socio-cultural historical questions and explain such phenomena as the establishment and development of the Gdańsk port and city. A prominent theme is a consideration of the interactions between Gdansk and Poland and Prussia, including a look into the city’s links with the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and the Kingdom of Poland under the rule of the Piast and Jagiellonian dynasties. The chapters are placed in the historical context of medieval Poland as well as the broader themes of religion, the matrimonial policy of noble families or their contacts with the papacy. This book is an exciting new study of medieval Poland and unparalleled in the English-speaking world, making it an ideal text for those wanting to deepen their knowledge in this subject area.

New Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Gdańsk, Poland and Prussia

A valuable contribution to our knowledge of European institutional growth.

Economy, Society, and Lordship in Medieval Poland, 1100-1250

Poland's first native chronicler and a proud contributor to the twelfth century renaissance placed his people's history on a continuum with the classical world. This work brings to light the importance of Poland in the making of Europe. This volume presents an in-depth analysis of the 'Chronica Polonorum', one of the greatest works of the twelfth-century renaissance which profoundly influenced history writing in Central Europe. The 'Chronica Polonorum' was written by Poland's first native historian Vincentius of Cracow. Educated in Paris and Bologna, he was the first canonically elected bishop of Cracow and a participant of the Fourth Lateran Council. The eyewitness accounts given in the 'Chronica Polonorum' offer insights into the development of twelfth-century Poland, the ambitions of its dynasty, the country's integration into Christendom, and the interaction between the Polish and Western elites. Vincentius's work is considered a masterpiece in literary erudition grounded in classical training. The historical evidence it presents illuminates the socio-cultural interaction between Poland and the West during the period. Vincentius's chronicle demonstrates the strong, enduring influence of the history, law, and traditions of ancient Rome in twelfth-century Europe.

Writing History in Medieval Poland

In 1226, Pope Honorius III resolved a conflict between the Duke of Silesia, Henry I the Bearded, & Bishop Lawrence of Wroclaw, the see of that duchy. Henry alleged that the bishop had subjected the inhabitants of his duchy to unowed exactions levied as tithes. Henry alleged a devastating impact of Lawrence's demands on settlement in his duchy, on his authority over its inhabitants, and implicitly on the entire social, economic, and political order over which he presided.

Parishes, Tithes, and Society in Earlier Medieval Poland, C. 1100-c. 1250

This volume examines mutual ethnic and national perceptions and stereotypes in the Middle Ages by analysing a range of historical sources, with a particular focus on the mutual history of Germany and Poland.

Germans and Poles in the Middle Ages

From the end of the thirteenth century onwards, European towns exhibited a significant increase in the use of writing as a tool for administrative and economic purposes, as well as for social communication. The medieval towns of Poland are no exception to this pattern. This book surveys the development of the literacy of Polish burghers in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, revealing socio-economic and cultural processes that changed the life of Polish urban society. Polish urban literacy is examined according to the reception of Western European urban culture more generally. Town networks in medieval Poland are explained, and the literacy skills of the producers and users of the written word are discussed. Literacy skills differed greatly from one social group to another, it is shown, due to the variety of town dwellers (clerics and lay people, professionals of the written word, occasional users of writing, and illiterates). Other issues that are discussed include the cooperation between agents of lay and church literacy, the relationship between literacy and orality, and the difference between developing literacies in Latin and in the vernacular languages.

Urban Literacy in Late Medieval Poland

This study charts the evolution of the ideology of holy war and crusading in medieval Poland through Polish incursions into the Baltic, the last bastion of paganism in Europe. It traces the transmission of the idea of holy war and crusade to north central Europe, explaining its impact on political and religious life in Poland, and Polish missionary and crusading activity in Prussia, Pomerelia, and Pomerania. Holy war and crusade helped influence state formation, politics, and dynastic succession. Key mechanisms by which the idea of holy war was transmitted to Poland are examined and compelling evidence is provided that the Polish elites were highly familiar with, and receptive to, the idea of crusade. The Polish elites were deliberate participants in Christian holy wars and undertook various crusading activities during the twelfth century. The influence of the idea of holy war on the actions of the Polish dynasts and the central role of women in the establishment of family traditions of participating in crusading are examined in some detail. Furthermore, this book explores the conditions that enabled the cause of the Christianization of Prussia to be taken up by the Teutonic Order by tracing the divergence of the idea of holy war in the Piast realm away from the norms of Latin Christendom in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. This work offers new perspectives for international studies of warfare sanctioned by religion.

Poland, Holy War, and the Piast Monarchy, 1100-1230

The first major study of the early Reformation and the Polish monarchy for over a century, this volume asks why Crown and church in the reign of King Sigismund I (1506-1548) did not persecute Lutherans. It offers a new narrative of Luther's dramatic impact on this monarchy — which saw violent urban Reformations and the creation of Christendom's first Lutheran principality by 1525 — placing these events in their comparative European context. King Sigismund's realm appears to offer a major example of sixteenth-century religious toleration: the king tacitly allowed his Hanseatic ports to enact local Reformations, enjoyed excellent relations with his Lutheran vassal duke in Prussia, allied with pro-Luther princes across Europe, and declined to enforce his own heresy edicts. Polish church courts allowed dozens of suspected Lutherans to walk free. Examining these episodes in turn, this study does not treat toleration purely as the product of political calculation or pragmatism. Instead, through close analysis of language, it reconstructs the underlying cultural beliefs about religion and church (ecclesiology) held by the king, bishops, courtiers, literati, and clergy — asking what, at heart, did these elites understood 'Lutheranism' and 'catholicism' to be? It argues that the ruling elites of the Polish monarchy did not persecute Lutheranism because they did not perceive it as a dangerous Other — but as a variant form of catholic Christianity within an already variegated late medieval church, where social unity was much more important than doctrinal differences between Christians. Building on John Bossy and borrowing from J.G.A. Pocock, it proposes a broader hypothesis on the Reformation as a shift in the languages and concept of orthodoxy.

King Sigismund of Poland and Martin Luther

The Christian Community of Medieval Poland

An evaluation of the work of Yitzhak (Ignacy) Schipper (1884-1943), the Polish Jewish historian. Working at a time of acute Polish hostility towards the Jews, much of Schipper's work (written in Polish and Yiddish) was directed towards disproving antisemitic claims and showing the Jewish contribution to medieval Polish life. Schipper challenged Sombart's thesis that capitalism reflects the Jews' racial psyche, and gave a historical explanation of the origin of Jewish capital and usury. State exploitation of Jewish usury in the Middle Ages resulted in popular antisemitism and pogroms.

The Economic Role of Jews in Medieval Poland

First Published in 1992. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Medieval Literature of Poland

This volume makes the research of Jozef Dobosz, one of Poland's leading historians of the Middle Ages, accessible in English for the first time. It brings together nineteen studies focused on the role of the Church in the history of the Piast realm from which Poland emerged. The essays in this volume examine the foundation of Poland's leading Cistercian monasteries and place these within the broader contexts of the Piast dynasty's economic, political and social policies. The volume also offers a detailed examination of medieval charters, scriptoria and the wider historical record, as well as of the identities of leading prelates of the Polish Church.

The Church in Medieval Poland

Economy, Society and Lordship in Early Medieval Poland

The Kingdom of Poland, historically known as a prominent European monarchy, is a region with a rich and diverse cultural heritage. Situated in the heart of Eastern Europe, it boasts a fascinating history, encompassing its medieval origins, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's influential era, and subsequent partitions by neighboring powers. Today, modern Poland stands as a sovereign nation within the European Union, characterized by its vibrant cities, picturesque landscapes, and a resilient spirit that continues to shape its evolving identity. Explore Poland's captivating past and dynamic present, where tradition meets innovation, offering a remarkable travel destination and a compelling study in European history.