Problem granic trzynastowiecznych kasztelanii górnośląskich na przykładzie księstwa opolskiego. Próba bilansu
The problem of borders of 13th-century Upper Silesian castellanies on an example of the Duchy of Opole. A summary attempt

Summary/Abstract: The article is an analysis of the attempts undertook by historians to describe the borders of medieval castellanies within the Duchy of Opole. Contemporary research is influenced by the work of Marek Cetwiński and Jerzy Horwat, and by publications of other medievalists being a reaction to the theses of the two abovementioned scholars. Together these works form an axis for the presentation of the current state of knowledge on this problem. Apart from referring the scholar’s opinions, an attempt has been made to analyze the respective research models and evaluate which of them retain their research value. The conclusions reached by Marek Cetwiński historian were critically recapitulated by Tomasz Burek, while the methods employed by Jerzy Horwat were negatively assessed by Idzi Panic and Jerzy Rajman. Because the reconstruction of borders of the early territorial division units in Lower Silesia is still assumed by some researchers, the sources utilized by Jerzy Horwat were juxtaposed. As a result, the authors managed to confirm that the description of the aforementioned borders based on Registrum Wyasdense, a part of Liber fundationis episcopatus Vratislaviensis, and on a list of late-medieval archpresbyterates, is erroneous. Later attempts of using modern urbaria undertook by Jerzy Rajman have also been proven misguided. To sum up the discussed issue, an earlier stance of this researcher has been considered valid – that delineating the borders of 13th-century Upper Silesian castellanies is practically impossible.

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