Od chodaków do sandałów – kilka słów o ewolucji średniowiecznych kronikarskich opowieści
From Clogs to Sandals – on the Evolution of Medieval Chronicle Stories

Summary/Abstract: In Medieval texts, footwear plays a practical, symbolic and symbolic-ritual role. This thesis is supported by a mention of Piast’s footwear coming from Annales by Jan Długosz. The canon from Cracow, not paying attention to former Polish tradition of chronicle writing, which gives no information in this area, described the dynasty progenitor as a figure wearing sandals made of oak bast (oak bark). Thus, he applied a method of modernising the legend of the dynasty. He followed the example of a Czech chronicle by Kosmas, namely the clogs of Přemysl the Ploughman, but, in my opinion, he deliberately replaced clogs with sandals. A very conscious choice of a given attribute and its symbolic relation to the protagonist demonstrate the value of these attributes in the mental heritage of the epoch. A seemingly insignificant procedure, well-known to the writers of this period, consisting in changing a footwear type was implemented to elevate the dynasty progenitor revered by Długosz. Mediaeval faith in inheriting one’s predecessors’ features made the chronicler depict the history of Piast differently from the way it was done by Gallus and his followers.

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