OPEN Repository

Welcome to OPEN - the Repository of Open Scientific Publications, run by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling, University of Warsaw, previously operating as the CeON Repository. The Repository enables Polish researchers from all fields to openly share their articles, books, conference materials, reports, doctoral theses, and other scientific texts.

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The Hungarian Historical Review, 2/4 (2013), Bethlen: the Prince of Transylvania, ed. T. Oborni
(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Semper, 2014) Brzeziński, Szymon; Uniwersytet Warszawski
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Báthory István király alakja a 16.–17. századi lengyel királykatalógusokban
(Móricz Zsigmond Kulturális Egyesület, 2015) Brzeziński, Szymon; Uniwersytet Warszawski
The study analyses the appearance of Stephen Báthory, king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) in popular historiographic genre of so-called kings’ catalogues (icones, imagines). This kind of historical works gained extensive popularity in early modern Europe, in Poland-Lithuania from the mid-16th century even until the end of 18th century. An analyse of several texts (from late 16th c. up to 1660s) allowes to draw an outline of Báthory’s commemoration at the most widespread level. The authors focused on his military successes in wars against Muscovy and Gdańsk, which was apparently influenced by context of permanent wars led by Polish-Lithuanian state in 17th century and can be also considered as a part of broader development of the rulers’ ideology in that time (victorious knight-king). Another characteristic events mentioned in popular historiography were: establishment of main court for nobility (Trybunał), supporting the Catholic Church in recaptured Livonia. Báthory’s international respect and strategic skills contributed to a view of warrior king and his glorious, but short governance. Among intellectual and spiritual advantages the authors stressed a perfect knowledge of Latin language. Together with rulers’ virtues the catalogues presented also his external features, remembering him as a tall, black-haired, white-teeth and hansdome man as well as emphasizing his similarity to images of Attila. This fix set of virtues was only slightly modified in next publications and basically remained the same in the whole period. Almost none of catalogues recalls negative remarks concerning Báthory’s reign, only one of them briefly reminds of internal political conflict with powerful Zborowski family, so controversial in the 1580s and blames the king for dying without confession. Explanation of the phenomenon of so positive remembrance were the numerous panegyric writings and historiography, which praised Báthory and due to his propaganda skills predominated already under his rule and then established a base for more simplified historical literature and iconography. That contributed in decisive way to the development of Báthorys’ image in modern historiography and popular opinion. It was primary nostalgic, but contained also some normative features.
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A 16. - 17. századi lengyel-magyar kapcsolatok Hopp Lajos munkásságában
(Wydawnictwo Neriton, 2010) Brzeziński, Szymon; Uniwersytet Warszawski
The author presents the scholarly achievements of a Hungarian literary historian Lajos Hopp (1927–1996) related to the Polish-Hungarian relations. It is a commentary to the fragment (conclusions) of Hopp’s unedited work published in the present issue of Barok, entitled “Changes of Polish-Hungarian ideas and traditions in the first half of the 17th century”. The study is kept in the Illyés Gyula Archives and Workshop of the Institute of Literary Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. It is an expanded and revised version of a dissertation entitled “Changes of Polish-Hungarian ideas and traditions in Baroque court literature” submitted by Hopp in 1987 to be awarded doctorate by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The presented fragment exemplifies the whole of Hopp research into the Polish-Hungarian relations in which he emphasised the endurance and changes of traditions of: “everlasting friendship”, “friendly relations” and the idea of bulwark in both the cultures from the late Middle Ages to the 18th century. Some of the thoughts were presented in Hopp’s monographs published in print. The discussed text refers to the period from the end of the 16th century (from Stephen Báthory’s death in 1586) to 1648 (the death of Wladyslaw IV Vasa, George [György] I Rákóczi). As he says, at that time the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Transylvania drifted apart politically due to, in his opinion, increasing religious differences and successes of the counterreformation in the Commonwealth, as well as political alliances of Sigismund III Vasa. The change came during the reign of Wladyslaw IV Vasa, when George I Rákóczi devised plans to acquire the Polish crown. The author debate the significance of Hopp’s research. His statements about social conditioning of the sphere of idea (its “social basis”) and Marxising interpretations, although moderated with time, seem to be outdated now. In his reasoning, Hopp departed from the approach characteristic of literary historians (research on topoi, metaphors, rhetoric), and got closer to interdisciplinary understood history of ideas (history of concepts) and “classic” political history. This found its expression in his source base, too, which included also texts related to a political practice. It was valuable that he included the history of ideas into his research on political relations. A reconstruction of Hopp’s methods causes difficulties – his language was complicated and he did not formulate his methodological assumptions or concepts used (for instance, a “historico-cultural form of consciousness” or “consciousness of community”, etc.). A reception of his research outside Hungary was hampered by lack of translations. In the author’s opinion, what is worth to emphasise in Hopp’s achievements related to Polish-Hungarian themes is the subject of his research – comparative studies in the history of political ideas and concepts in Central Eastern Europe. In recent years similar postulates were formulated by Hungarian scholars due to a reception of current trends in Western historiography. Some signs of interest in the language of politics and history of concepts are to be seen also in Poland. It seems sound, therefore, to refer in this context to Lajos Hopp’s research that could prompt us to reflect on possibilities and methodological form of its continuation.

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Subject: Poland Subject: 17th century Author: Brzeziński, Szymon
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