O meandrach polskiego bronioznawstwa słów kilka
Some words on meanders of Polish studies of arms and armour

Summary/Abstract: This paper deals with the past, the present and the future of Polish studies of arms and armour. As one of students of Professor Andrzej Nadolski, I perfectly remember the birth of the research centre in Łódź in the 1960s. It specialised in studies of weaponry, armament and military costume and in this field it was the most interesting research centre in Poland at that time. In those days, our research mainly focused on the Middle Ages. At the same time, in our activities we referred to the term of “arms and uniforms,” which was used by historians of army and military affairs in the interwar period. Present-day Polish studies of arms and armour, done by historians, archaeologists and art historians, are a significant element of the totality of processes of learning about the peculiarity of our history. Studies of arms and armour are now carried out not only in main academic centres, but also in several museums and in local environments. This field of research requires considerable knowledge and firm specialisation; on the other hand, sometimes it goes into areas with poor cognitive perspectives. In this paper I discuss two such cases. In the first one, the failure resulted from a simple lack of knowledge and historical reflection. In the other one, the fiasco of research results was determined by a preponderance of an idée fixe over calm reflection and over a need for source criticism with its necessary skills. Today, the group of researchers who define themselves as students of arms and armour are aware that the origin of this field as academic study is related to Professor Andrzej Nadolski, who died twenty years ago. The knowledge of this, however, must be continuously maintained.

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