Wojciech Kętrzyński jako historyk prawa
Wojciech Kętrzyński as a Historian of Law

Summary/Abstract: The article concerns Wojciech Kętrzyński (1838–1918), the long-term director of the Ossoliński National Institute in Lviv. He was above all an outstanding historian, a passionate researcher with great methodological background. For the contemporaries, he was undoubtedly a scientific authority, an expert in the Polish Middle Ages, Prussian lands, genealogy and diplomacy, and a publisher of historical sources. Less known are his other merits in the field of research, such as interest in the history of law. There is no doubt that they remained beyond his main scientific interests; nevertheless one may say that Kętrzyński was also a researcher in the history of law. It should also be noted that he received a good education in this respect during his studies in Königsberg, especially in the field of Roman law and German law. Mostly, his research concerned the history of law in the Prussian lands and the original socio-legal system of Polish lands. It should be emphasized, however, that in these disciplines Kętrzyński usually limited himself to searching for sources of law and the system, their analysis and explanation. He rarely made detailed analytical or wider synthetic conclusions. He kept up to date with the historical and legal literature; he also maintained intense contacts with the entourage of Polish and foreign (German-speaking) scholars dealing with the history of law. Kętrzyński’s findings were scarcely maintained, but they undoubtedly constituted a step forward in the development of historical and legal sciences. The source publications and possibly their translations remain valid, as do numerous extracts from archival sources, which are nowadays partly missing.

• Details
• Contents