Letopisecké záznamy z Litoměřic z první poloviny 17. století

Author(s): Marie Tošnerová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 44/2014

The study deals with preserved historiographical works by several Litoměřice citizens, and especially with a little collection of texts dating from the 17th century which contains also annalistic records dating from the years 1589-1615. The author of these annalistic records might have been Viktorín Šermer. Besides the annalistic records the collection also contains other texts, first of all various medical recipes and economic advice. Their contents allow the reader to obtain a picture of mentality of a city family at the beginning of the baroque period.

Rodinná kronika Herbersteinů ve Vatikánské knihovně (Reg. lat. 1690)

Author(s): Lenka Veselá / Language(s): Czech Issue: 49/1/2019

The article deals with the manuscript of the Vatican Library Reg. lat. 1690, which contains the chronicle and book of coat of arms of the Austrian Herberstein family and has not been associated with the Swedish war booty of books from the Czech lands until now. Nevertheless, its analysis has revealed that it was written in 1584 at the instigation of the Austrian knight Hieronymus Beck von Leopoldsdorf, whose library later became part of the book collection of the Moravian Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein. Along with his book collection, also this manuscript became part of the Swedish book booty.

Kardinál Ditrichštejn a jeho vztahy k římské kurii ve světle dopisů tří papežských nunciů (1621–1634)

Author(s): Zdeňka Horáčková / Language(s): Czech Issue: 1/2021

This text addresses the issue of the communication and relations of three papal nuncios, who were sent to the imperial court in Vienna between 1621 and 1634, with the cardinal and bishop of Olomouc, Franz von Dietrichstein. The work is based on extant Italian letters sent by the nuncios to the cardinal in Moravia and outlines the areas of their mutual cooperation. It also assesses Dietrichstein’s attitude towards the papal curia in the given time period, taking into account the issue of the cardinal’s multiple loyalties.

Lázadó tartomány? Az erdélyi szászok politikai útkeresése a 17. század elején

Author(s): Zsuzsanna Cziráki / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 08/2022

The Transylvanian Saxons are generally believed to have pursued a pro-German, pro-Habsburg policy over the past centuries, but this simplistic approach is not appropriate in this case either. During the first decades of the 17th century, one of the most active periods of Saxon politics, this particular Transylvanian community carried out remarkable diplomatic manoeuvres in two world empires – the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire – in order to preserve the special religious privileges they had inherited from their ancestors in Transylvania. Using the example of the 1610s, the study draws attention to the fact that the strategy of the Saxon University in the era of the Transylvanian Principality was not always uniform, and that it was never tied to a single power, but was flexible and adapted to the possibilities, considering the realities of the situation. The extraordinary circumstances of Gabriel Bethlen’s accession to the throne have been known for a long time, but it has been less widely known that the Saxons’ opposition to Gabriel Báthory played a major role in his success. They wanted to remove the prince because of the curtailment of the autonomy of the Saxons, and to achieve this goal, intensive diplomatic activity was carried out both in Constantinople and in Vienna. At the centre of events in the land of Saxons was Johannes Benkner, Bethlen’s confidant in Brassó, long considered to be of unshakeable loyalty, who used his network of contacts in Transylvania and across the borders of the principality with remarkable virtuosity, first for Bethlen and then against Bethlen.

Előremenekülés. A harmincéves háború mint megoldás az Erdélyi Fejedelemség hatalmi válságára

Author(s): Gábor Kármán / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 08/2022

With the resignation of Sigismund Báthory from the princely title in 1597, a long-lasting crisis started in Transylvania. During the Long Ottoman War of the turn of the 17th century, practically each year new candidates surfaced to win the throne for themselves with Habsburg, Ottoman, or Polish support. This trend did not stop with the Peace of Zsitvatorok in 1606: the position of the Transylvanian princes was threatened by armed competitors on an almost biannual basis. Gabriel Bethlen (1613-1629) was the prince who managed to stop the trend, although in the first years of his rule he also had to endure an attempt for deposition from the direction of the Kingdom of Hungary and was in a weak position to resist Ottoman pressure because he had earned the throne with military support of the sultan’s army. This paper argues that Bethlen managed to escape from these dire straits by fleeing forward and entering the war which started with the Bohemian uprising in 1618. His successes (despite the uprising’s collapse in 1620) and the ensuing Thirty Years’ War made sure that Bethlen did not have to worry about threats coming from the Habsburg Empire. More surprisingly, this also brought him relief in the sultan’s realm: the fact that he brought to the Sublime Porte representatives of the confederated lands gave him so much credit that in the 1620s he could enjoy a position in the Ottoman world of politics which lacks any parallel among the princes of Transylvania.

Basilejské kontakty pobělohorského exulanta Jana Maconia ve světle jeho památníku

Author(s): Marie Ryantová / Language(s): Czech Issue: 51/2/2021

Based on an analysis of the album amicorum of Iohannes Maconius, a Bohemian exile after the Battle of White Mountain, the paper provides information on his contacts between November 1626 and March 1627 and between April and October 1633. The personalities who wrote their entry in the album included figures associated with the University of Basel, especially distinguished theologians and Reformed clergymen, but also physicians and representatives of Basel municipal administration.

UPAMIĘTNIENIE RADZIWIŁŁÓW: BOGUSŁAWPOL I JANUSZPOL

Author(s): Aliaksandr Prudnikau / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2022

The first half of the 17th century was the time of the Radziwiłł domination in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The towns of Bogusławpol and Januszpol, which were to become important craft and trade centers, were settled in the estates of their cousins Bogusław and Janusz on the border of the 1630s and 1640s. When the towns were founded, there was a period of wars and uprisings, which led to their collapse. With the deaths of Janusz (1655) and Bogusław (1669) the Protestant line of the Radziwiłłs broke, and Bogusławpol and Januszpol lost their names.

Poselstwa województw kujawskich do pierwszych królów rodaków (1669–1690)

Author(s): Leszek A. Wierzbicki / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2022

The subject of legations sent by Kuyavian voivodeships to the royal court has not yet been discussed in historical literature. This work constitutes a supplement to the monograph by Adolf Pawiński devoted to the Kuyavian sejmik in Radziejów, in which these issues were completely ignored. The article makes use of the sejmik records of the Kuyavian voivodeships published by Pawiński, as well as other sources relating to this sejmik found in manuscripts. These include resolutions, instructions and cre- dentials for the deputies, royal responses, letters of advice, and correspondence. This work gives an insight into the legations sent to the first compatriot kings, Michael I and John III Sobieski, through a critical analysis of the sources. Based on the pre- served sources, it was possible to determine 12 legations sent to the royal court in the years 1669–1690. Initially, the legations consisted of four, and from 1672, of two per- sons. Twenty-three names were included among those who were sent to these rulers. They were land officials and representatives of the local nobility who had no offices or dignities. These legations were selected during relational, pre-sejm and mobilization sejmiks.

Mieszczańska kariera w szlacheckiej Rzeczypospolitej? Francesco De Gratta i jego social network

Author(s): Dorota Gregorowicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2022

Michał Salamonik published his doctoral dissertation in 2017. The book addresses an important topic of the presence of the bourgeois in the early modern Polish-Lithua- nian state. This is a biographical account and a study of the career of Francesco De Gratta, a citizen of Gdańsk of Italian origin. The purpose of the article is to present the subject matter from the perspective of original methodology used by the author: social network analysis, evaluation of the narrative based on it and the effectiveness of its use in historiography. It also contains reflections on the legitimacy of using studies of relationship and networks (family, work, financial) and broadly understood quan- titative methods for biographical research. The article also poses a question of the ex- tent to which one can speak of planning or deliberately constructing the bourgeois career within the social and political structures of the seventeenth-century Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth. The presented analysis has shown that the application of the SNA methodology for creating biographies should be considered interesting and useful, especially when the social connections of the main character are closely con- nected with other spheres of his activity. It seems that a study from the social network perspective gives the entitlement to studying characters that are understood as integral elements of social processes and relations, which adds a great research value of this approach.

Skomplikowane początki nowego miasta Radziwiłłowski Bogusławpol w województwie mińskim

Author(s): Aliaksandr Prudnikau / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2022

The business activities of Bogusław Radziwiłł, the Equerry of Lithuania (1620–1669), for a long time remained on the peripheries of historians’ interest, despite the fact that the magnate introduced new management and governance methods in his vast estates. Radziwiłł had great personal and political ambitions. To commemorate Prince Bogusław Radziwiłł, a new town was established in his Smalyavichi estate in Mińsk voivodeship (present day Belarus) in the early 1740s, named Bogusławpol after the owner. It was to become an important trade and craft hub on the route from Poland to Moscow. Based on the inventories of the Smalyavichi estate and the correspondence of the Prince with officials, the author of this article demonstrates how this town devel- oped in the years 1643–1669. There are many indications that Bogusław Radziwiłł was personally involved in the settlement and development of Bogusławpol. He managed it through his stewards in the Smalyavichy estate. By virtue of its name, Bogusławpol was to become a monument to honour Bogusław Radziwiłł. However, after Radziwiłł’s death (the last male representative of the Calvinist branch of the family) at the end of the 17th century, the name of the town was eventually changed to Zhodzina, under which it is known today.

Negocjacje brandenbursko-polsko-saskie w trakcie wizyty Augusta II w Gdańsku wiosną 1698 roku

Author(s): Marcin Swobodziński / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2022

Polish King Augustus II’s stay in Gdańsk in 1698 provided an excellent opportu- nity to strengthen his existing friendly relations with Elector Frederick III. To this end, representatives of the Elector of Brandenburg, Gottfried Werner and Adam Bogislav Rubach, the former staying in Gdańsk temporarily and the latter residing there perma- nently, established a network with key members of the Saxon-Polish court. During the talks, a number of issues were addressed, not only those that arose in Brandenburg- Prussian-Polish, but also Brandenburg-Saxon relations. These included the Courland issue, the sale of Saxon estates, issues with postal organization, and above all, arranging the meeting of the two aforementioned rulers. Although the latter was not successfully concluded (something that Augustus II particularly cared about), intensified contacts between the monarchs resulted in a meeting in June 1698 in Pisz. In addition, the Elec- tor’s representatives took to Berlin information relating to matters of internal impor- tance to August II at the time, such as the campaign against the Ottoman state and the conflict in Lithuania, as well as the course of action in the Sejmiks before the April Sejm. A detailed insight into the negotiations between the diplomats is possible thanks to a careful analysis of the correspondence between the deputies and Frederick III, which is kept at the Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin-Dahlem.

Zvídavý jezuita o Horní Lužici. Drobný příspěvek k cestovním zprávám a obrazům druhého

Author(s): Jan Zdichynec / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2022

Based on a passage from Manuscript No. 9350 of the Austrian National Library, which, to the author’s knowledge, has not yet attracted scholarly attention, the paper deals with an interesting description of Upper Lusatia, which probably originated in the second half of the 17th century and offers some remarkable insights into the religious and cultural situation in this region.

Antonio Santa Croce and Giovanni Battista Pallotta – Cooperation between the Warsaw and Vienna Nunciatures in 1629. A Contribution to the Study of Horizontal Communication within the Structures of the Papal Diplomatic Service

Author(s): Paweł Duda,Henryk Litwin / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2022

The article deals with communication and interaction between papal diplomatic missions in the early modern era. Mainly due to a lack of extant source materials, it remains the white spot in the research into the history of Polish and foreign nuncios. However, thanks to materials from Archivio di Stato di Roma, namely the section of Archivio Santa Croce containing the originals of letters received by Nuncio Antonio Santa Croce in 1629, it is possible to attempt at least a partial reconstruction of the collaboration between the papal diplomat residing at the Court of Warsaw and his counterpart at the Court of Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg in Vienna, Giovanni Battista Pallotta. The correspondence analysis allows us to conclude that the contacts between the papal diplomats residing in Warsaw and Vienna in 1629, and probably earlier and later, were regular and intensive. We can assume that the routine products of the information and analytical work carried out for the Secretariat of State by both papal missions were shared in the correspondence, and the Nunciatures of Vienna and Warsaw were thus well informed about the course of affairs related to the pan-European conflict in several theatres of war. However, they also communicated and cooperated on strictly ecclesiastical matters, such as the ongoing reform of religious congregations in the 1620s.

From the Palace of Ryswick to the Sultan’s Seraglio: The Ottoman Translation and Interpretation of a Christian European Peace Treaty

Author(s): Konstantinos Poulios / Language(s): English Issue: 6/2022

The inclusion of peace treaty articles between Christian powers in an Ottoman historical work of the late seventeenth century is unquestionably distinctive. The article presents an Ottoman translation of the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) concluded between the French king and the German emperor. This translation is included by the late seventeenth – early eighteenth-century Ottoman historian and palace official Silāḥdār Fındıklılı Meḥmed Aġa in his historical work called ‘The Book of Victory’ (Nuṣretnāme). With this unique text as its basis, the article will first attempt to place the translation in its historical context and explain the possible reasons for its inclusion by Silahdar in his history. Secondly, to morphologically evaluate the text to bring to the fore the translation strategies adopted and to explore the reception and the degree of understanding by the Ottoman side of the basic terms and linguistic topoi of a Christian European peace treaty. And lastly, to analyse the specific interpretation ascribed to the Ryswick agreement by the Ottoman leadership.

W kręgu mitów, czyli o tym, co nie zadecydowało o wyborze Augusta II na tron polski w 1697 roku

Author(s): Urszula Kosińska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2022

Polish royal elections still arouse interest; that of 1697 stands out for the number of accounts and studies devoted to it. These accounts are generally marked by highly negative views of the customs of Polish-Lithuanian nobles and their political sophistication. These negative views affect perceptions of royal elections as a key element of the Commonwealth’s political system. The article aims to challenge pre- vious historiography, which claims that, in 1697, the election of the future Polish King August II Wettin was effectively determined by a particular form of bribery: a drunken feast organised on the election field on the night of 26–27 June 1697.

Decydująca noc z 26 na 27 czerwca 1697 roku, czyli co przesądziło o wyborze Augusta II na tron polski

Author(s): Urszula Kosińska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2023

The text continues the reflec- tions (“In the Realm of Myth, or What Did Not Determine the 1697 Election of Augus- tus II to the Polish Throne” [KH 129, 2022, 4, pp. 797–821]). Its purpose is to establish what really decided in the last days of the 1697 Election Sejm that, in a split elec- tion, the Polish nobility chose, alongside French Prince François Louis de Conti, the least expected candidate — a convert from Lutheranism, the Saxon Elector Friedrich August I Wettin (August II). The author reconstructs the last days of the Sejm, con- fronting diplomatic and diary relations with the records of the Sejm proceedings.

Adalékok I. Rákóczi György egy felső-magyarországi szervitorának feladataihoz. Fáy IV. István levelezése (1633 1639)

Author(s): Mónika Horváth / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2021

Egyháziak a magyar országgyűlések alsótábláján, 1608–1688

Author(s): Zsófia Kádár / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2022

The paper explores the churchmen who sat on the lower table of the Hungarian diet between 1608–1688. It is organised into seven major parts. 1. Sixteenth-century preliminaries 2. Delegates sent by the cathedral and collegiate chapters: alongside the (arch)provosts with no episcopal title, mostly the major canons were commissioned 3. Titular abbots and provosts invited individually (15-25 persons). 4. The number of lower clergy on the lower table 5. Their place and activity at the diets, participation in the work of the Royal Table, of the compilers, committees and delegations, as well as in legislation and backroom negotiations 6. The presence at the diets of Pauline, Benedictine and Jesuit monastic leaders 7. The churchmen on the lower table as a representative group of the Hungarian middle clergy.

Erdély és a váradi vilajet határkonfliktusa 1671−1672-ben

Author(s): Ágnes Szalai / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2023

After the loss of Várad and much of the region known as the Partium to the Ottomans in 1660, the exact course of the border between the Principality of Transylvania and the newly established Vilayet of Várad remained undefined. As a result, both sides tried to define their own taxing districts as best suited their interests, and underpinned and legitimated their presumed rights with „official documents”. In determining the border, the Ottomans used the defter of Pírí Pasha, which covered much of the Principality, while the Transylvanian government based its claims on the charter given by Köse Ali Pasha at the time when Várad was handed over. This latter, however, would have only conceded to the Ottomans those villages that had previously been taxed to the castle of Várad. Due to their mutually contradicting interests, the conflicts between the Ottomans of Várad and the Transylvanians flamed up at regular intervals. The aim of the present case study is accordingly to present the ways in which, during the border conflict between the Vilayet of Várad and the Principality of Transylvania in 1671–1672, the Transylvanian government was able to react to the emerging challenges through diplomatic negotiations at the Sublime Porte and the despatch of deputations to the disputed area.

A láthatatlan asszony. Salgai Kata házasságai

Author(s): Angelika, T. Orgona / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2023

In the early modern period, those “invisible women” are common, whose fate and character unfold only in the mirror of their husbands’ letters to them. The analysis of the letters makes it possible to examine the dynamics of the marital relationship. The fate of Kata Salgai is remarkable because, as the only child of her parents, she not only received the daughter’s quarter according to customary inheritance law, but also had a respectable dowry. The sources prove how his wealth expanded his scope of action. Both of his marriages can be modeled as economic enterprises in which the wife invested money and the husband social prestige, and from which, through the conjugal union, both parties profited.