Section for the History of Pomerania and the Baltic Countries
Dr Janusz Dargacz
Professor Bogusław Dybaś
Professor Jerzy Dygdała
Associate professor Paweł A. Jeziorski – Section Secretary
Associate professor Andrzej Kamieński
Associate professor Tomasz Łaszkiewicz
Contact:
Szeroka 36
87-100 Toruń
phone/fax: 056 622 28 79
e-mail: zhpomtorun@ihpan.edu.pl
Description
The research conducted in the Section for the History of Pomerania and the Baltic Countries in Toruń focuses on editorial and source-critical projects on the one hand, and on monographic studies based on newly undertaken source-based research on the other.
I. Among the source editions – after the publication of 6 volumes of Lustracje województw Prus Królewskich 1765 [Inventories of the voivodeships of Royal Prussia in 1765], the works on the edition of the inventory of the crown lands of the Kalisz voivodeship from 1789 (Professor Jerzy Dygdała), the volume of which was published by the Wydawnictwo Towarzystwa Naukowego w Toruniu (Publishing House of the Scientific Society in Toruń), deserve attention. Professor Jerzy Dygdała is preparing indexes for this volume, as well as for the three already published volumes of Lustracja województw wielkopolskich 1789 [Inventories of the Greater Poland Voivodeships 1789], edited by Andrzej Tomczak. He also published a two-volume source edition entitled Przy boku króla Stanisława Leszczyńskiego (1706–1709) [By the Side of King Stanisław Leszczyński (1706–1709)], containing lists of royal secretaries and a detailed record of the ruler’s activities (vol. 1: Od Saksonii do Litwy 1706–1708 [From Saxony to Lithuania 1706–1708], Warszawa 2018; vol. 2: W podróżach po Polsce między Gdańskiem a Lwowem w latach 1708–1709 [Travels Around Poland Between Gdańsk and Lviv from 1708 to 1709], Warszawa 2019).
Finalizing the NPRH grant for 2015–2018 at the Institute of History of the Polish Academy of Sciences Professor Bogusław Dybaś together with Professor Paweł A. Jeziorski, published the source materials Szlachta polsko-inflancka wobec przełomu. Materiały z dyneburskich akt grodzkich i ziemskich z lat 1764–1775 [Polish-Livonian Noblemen in the Face of the Braekthrough: Materials from the Files of the Castle and Landed Estate of Daugavpils [Dyneburg] of the Years 1764–1775] (Toruń 2018). Professor Dybaś has now started working on the edition of the records the Livonian voivodeship parliament in Daugavpils [Dyneburg] in the years 1661–1763. Professor Andrzej Kamieński – also in the scope of the NPRH grant – was the co-publisher of two volumes of Akta sejmikowe województw poznańskiego i kaliskiego [Parliament Records of the Poznań and Kalisz Voivodeships] for the 1668–1675 and 1676–1695 periods (Poznań 2018). The volume concerning the years from 1632 to 1668 is awaiting print.
The history of the 20th century is addressed in the collection of sources that is currently under development: Rok 1920 na Pomorzu w świetle dokumentów polskich władz cywilnych i wojskowych oraz ówczesnej prasy i memuarystyki [The Year 1920 in Pomerania in the Light of the Documents of the Polish Civil and Military Authorities, and the Press and Journals of the Period] (Professor Przemysław Olstowski; Professor Tomasz Łaszkiewicz; Professor Tomasz Krzemiński). Another source edition under development is: Wybór korespondencji i pamiętników ziemian z Pomorza i Kujaw z 1. poł. XX w. [Selection of Correspondence and Diaries of Landowners from Pomerania and Kujawy from the First Half of the 20th Century] (Professor Tomasz Łaszkiewicz).
II. The activities related to documentation and source criticism include the following topics:
- A Historical and Geographical dictionary of Polish Livonia (until 1772) (Professor Paweł A. Jeziorski).
- A catalogue of the current and retrospective bibliography on the history of Kujawy (Professor Tomasz Łaszkiewicz, Professor Tomasz Krzemiński).
If we receive external funding (from NCN or NPRH), we shall begin the project consisting in the preparation of Atlas podziałów administracyjnych, struktur władz politycznych i samorządowych Pomorza Nadwiślańskiego i Kujaw w XIX–XX w. [The Atlas of Administrative Divisions and the Political and Local Government Structures of Eastern Pomerania and Kujawy in the 19th–20th Century] (Professor Przemysław Olstowski, Professor Tomasz Łaszkiewicz, Professor Tomasz Krzemiński, Dr Janusz Dargacz).
III. Synthesis concerns the work on the Historia Pomorza [History of Pomerania]. This monumental synthesis, prepared at the Zakład Historii Pomorza (Department of the History of Pomerania) over several decades, is published in stages in the form of two- or three part volumes (vol. I–III ed. by Gerard Labuda, Poznań 1969–2003; vol. IV ed. Stanisław Salmonowicz, Toruń 2000–2002). In the recent years work on the first two parts of volume V (1918–1939) was completed, it included the history of Vistula Pomerania during the inter-war period (part 1: Województwo pomorskie i Wolne Miasto Gdańsk. Ustrój, społeczeństwo i gospodarka [The Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Free City of Gdańsk. Their Political System, Society and Economy], eds. Szczepan Wierzchosławski and Przemysław Olstowski, Toruń 2015; part 2: Województwo pomorskie i Wolne Miasto Gdańsk. Polityka i kultura [The Pomeranian Voivodeship and the Free City of Gdańsk. Politics and Culture], eds. Szczepan Wierzchosławski and Przemysław Olstowski, Toruń 2018). Further parts of volume V are planned in the future, dedicated to inter-war history of the Prussian provinces of Western Pomearnia (Pommern) and East Prussia (Ostpreußen). At the same time initial assumptions concerning part 1 of volume VI are prepared, it will be dedicated to the history of Vistula Pomerania during World War II.
Professor Andrzej Kamieński is the co-author of the last, fourth volume of Historia Prus [History of Prussia], entitled Prusy w Rzeszy Niemieckiej (1871–1947) [Prussia in the German Reich (1871–1947)], ed. by Grzegorz Kucharczyk (Warsaw 2019). This work completes the synthesis developed since 1992 by the former Section for the History of Prussia and Germany of The Tadeusz Manteuffel Institute of History Polish Academy of Sciences in Poznań (Pracownia Historii Prus i Niemiec IH PAN w Poznaniu).
IV. The monographic works focus on the following issues, covering the history of Pomerania and Livonia from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century:
The Livonian issues are addressed by two projects conducted by Dr hab. Paweł A. Jeziorski: “Mitava (modern Jelgava) from the second half of the 16th century to the end of the 18th century. Social structure. The role in the political and economic life of Kurland” and “The development of land ownership in Polish Livonia from the late Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century”.
Professor Paweł A. Jeziorski has completed his research project entitled “Proscription and Banishment in the Cities of Late Medieval Prussia” (an NCN grant carried out in IH PAN in 2014–2017) with a monograph under the same title [Proskrypcja i banicja w miastach pruskich późnego średniowiecza], Warszawa, 2017, which forms the basis for his habilitation procedure (completed).
Professor Andrzej Kamieński is working on the biography of Johann von Hoverbeck (1606–1682), a Brandenburg diplomat and long-standing representative of the Hohenzollern court in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. All other monographic works concern the history of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Professor Bogusław Dybaś prepares a monograph on the Livonian nobility in 16th–18th centuries while Professor Jerzy Dygdała a monograph titled Król Stanisław Leszczyński w Prusach Królewskich w 1708 roku. W oczekiwaniu na pieniądze, miłość i szwedzkie posiłki [King Stanisław Leszczynski in Royal Prussia in 1708. Waiting for Money, Love and Swedish Reinforcements].
Other monographic works concern the history of the 19th and mainly 20th centuries.
Professor Przemysław Olstowski is preparing his study Starostowie na Pomorzu w latach II Rzeczypospolitej (1920–1939) [The Starosts of Pomerania during the Second Polish Republic (1920–1939)].
Professor Tomasz Krzemiński published his dissertation entitled Codzienność mniejszych miast Pomorze Nadwiślańskiego końca XIX i pierwszych dziesięcioleci XX wieku. Zmiany warunków materialnych i przeobrażenia obyczajowości [Everyday Life in the Small Cities of Eastern Pomerania in the late 19th and early 20th century. Changes in material conditions and transformations of customs], Warszawa, 2017, which forms the basis of his habilitation procedure (completed).
Dr Janusz Dargacz is conducting research for his monograph Urzędy domenalne i domenalno-rentowe w Prusach Zachodnich w latach 1772–1872 [Domain and Domain-Tax Offices in West Prussia in 1772–1872], which will also be the basis for his habilitation procedure. His doctoral thesis will soon be published: Od Sopotu po Stogi. Początki kąpielisk morskich w okolicach Gdańska (1800–1870) [From Sopot to Stogi. The Beginnings of Beach Resorts Around Gdańsk (1800–1870)], Gdańsk 2020.
