Pojęcia notoryjności i famy w protokole procesu polsko-krzyżackiego z lat 1320–1321
The Notions of Notoriousness and Fama in the Minutes from the Trial between Poland and the Teutonic Order of 1320–1321

Summary/Abstract: In the years 1320–1321 a canonical trial took place between the Polish king La- dislaus ‘Elbow-high’ and the representatives of the Teutonic Order authorities over the possession of Pomeranian lands, seized by the Teutonic Knights in the years 1308–1309. The research that has been carried out on the legal documents from the trial so far has inadequately accounted for their legal layer. The purpose of this article is to partially fill these gaps by addressing the issue of how legal concepts functioned in the context of witness testimony. When comparing the proceedings of 1320–1321 with the trial between Poland and the Teutonic Order of 1339, which was similar in many aspects, attention was drawn to the difference in the understanding of the concept of fama in both cases. Next, the paper discusses the issue of the testifiers elaborating on the answers to the question of the existence of notorium and publica vox et fama re- garding the events presented in intenciones. The analysis of selected legal and juridical texts, which functioned at that time both in the educational process and in the court practice, and then comparing them with some testimonies, showed that at least some witness statements were adapted to the concepts and phrases typical of the legal lan- guage of the era. This influences the need to revise the older historiography, as it has hitherto been emphasized that the language of testimony reflects the individual style of the original statement. The article concludes that the studies of the minutes from the testimony, in addition to taking the usual critical steps, should include an analysis of the language with regard to the presence of concepts and phrases characteristic of legal language.

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