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The article reports on the on the 20th General Convention of Polish Historians that focuses on historical science and integration of the scholarly milieu.

The Polish Biographical Dictionary (Polski Słownik Biografi czny, abbr. PSB) is one of the most prestigious publications in Polish historiography. Published since 1935, with the editorial board domiciled in Cracow, at 17 Sławkowska St.; from 1935 to 1949, under the patronage of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences [PAU], 1958–99 – Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences [IH PAN]; since 1999 – both PAN and PAU, with IH PAN acting as the publisher. During the eighty-five years of its existence (temporarily discontinued during the Second World War and the Stalinist period, 1949–58), fifty-two volumes with almost 28,000 biographical entries were published, arranged alphabetically – from ‘Abakanowicz’ to ‘Taube’, and chronologically spanning from the legendary King Popiel until persons who died in 2000. The Dictionary was founded by Władysław Konopczyński, a professor of the Jagiellonian University of Cracow, who was its first editor-in-chief (in 1935–49). Professor Emanuel Rostworowski, his former student and editor-in-chief in 1964–89, heavily contributed to bringing the project up to top standard, which was maintained by his successors, literary historians Professor Henryk Markiewicz (1989–2002) and, from 2003 onwards, Professor Andrzej Romanowski. Between December 2014 and 2019, more than 8,500 entries were digitalised and made available at: www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the ways episcopal milieus on the north-eastern peripheries of Europe created and renewed their identities and symbols of episcopal authority by domesticating their immigrant saints during the high Middle Ages. By comparing the examples of holy bishops arriving to Poland and Sweden (St Adalbert, St Sigfrid, St Henry), it studies the episcopal mythopoesis, that is, the creation of foundational myths and mythologies as well as their adaptation to specifi c local needs and changing historical circumstances. The article further probes to what extent these mythopoetic efforts were original or imitative in comparison to the Western European episcopal centres and other peripheries. How similarly or differently did the bishops in the "old" and "young" Europe respond to the question: What beginnings do we need today? And what role did the appropriation, commodifi cation, and domestication of holy bishops' images and body parts play in building the institutional identities of bishoprics? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the social function of the cult of Isidore the Ploughman in 17th-century Poland written by Polish historian Janusz Tazbir.

The article reports on the social function of the cult of Isidore the Ploughman in 17th-century Poland penned by Janusz Tazbir.

In 1969 an interdisciplinary committee for long-term forecasting was created at the Polish Academy of Sciences. Together with the central planning authorities, statistical offices and every branch of government it constituted a system of prognostication which remained legally in place between 1971 and 1976. This article regards prognostication as an institutionalized experiment based on one of the key myths of modernity - that future events can be known and shaped. The genealogy of long-term forecasts in Poland dates back to pre-war experiences with state planning and transnational transfers of knowledge since 1956. After an outline of its pre-history, this article describes the construction and programmatic ideas of the prognostic system and asks how its functioning affected participants' understandings of the future as a political category. Finally, this article makes the case that this state-run prognostication venture resulted in an amplitude of euphoria followed by frustration regarding future knowledge, which can be understood as an indirect but significant cultural symptom of the emerging political and economic crisis in the Polish People's Republic beginning in 1976. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the attitudes toward the Armenian Diaspora in early modern Polish society through a close examination of the issues viewed as burning by the contemporaries. The paper is focused on three such burning topics - a) the 'price revolution' and, in connection therewith, mercantilism; b) the growing level of consumption ("redundant luxury" - zbytek nierozmyślny) and the fears of social disorder aroused by it; and c) the Ottoman threat (real and imagined). The paper argues that there were a variety of discourses on the Armenians because the discourses were influenced by the different answers to the challenging issues presented by the representatives of various social estates - noblemen (szlachta), clergymen (duchowieństwo) and burghers (mieszczaństwo). Therefore, the attitudes to the Monophysite Armenians in Polish society were mostly shaped not as part of the Counter-Reformation agenda (as was the case with respect to Protestants and the Greek-Orthodox), but rather within the framework of economic (mercantilism), social (consumption), and psychological/political (fears of the Ottoman threat) issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the conference "Dritte Tagung Deutsche Polenforschung ‘Wissen, Verstehen, Übersetzen: Nachbarn im Dialog’," held in Gießen, Germany from March 20-22, 2014. Topics discussed include the history of science in Poland and Germany, Polish trade unions, and political conditions in Ukraine.

A translation is presented of the article "Zagadnienia więzi regionalnej i więzi narodowej na Śląsku Opolskim" originally published in a 1947 issue of the journal "Przegląd Socjologiczny." It discusses regionalism and national identity in the Opole Silesia region of Poland. Other topics include life under German occupation, the religious aspects of regional identity, and bilingualism.

The article discusses the spread of European civilization into the borderlands of Easter Europe beginning with the year 800 during the Carolingian empire to the 21st century, focusing particularly on the development of Poland. The historiography of Eastern Europe, including the writings of historians Jenó Szúcs, Oskar Halecki, and Samsonowicz, is explored. Topics considered include the influences of both the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches on the region, the impact of the black plague of the fourteenth century, and the sixteenth-century formation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

This article examines the internal political situation within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1769-1771, a period critical to precipitating Poland's first partition by Austria, Prussia and Russia in 1772. The author does not downplay the impact the Confederacy of Bar and its accepted cause-and-effect linkage(s) with the First Partition. Using previously under-utilized Russian sources, however, he examines other international aspects (French, Prussian, Russian) that also contributed to Poland's eventual partition. Although these factors do not greatly alter accepted historical opinion with respect to the Confederacy of Bar and its impact upon the fate of Poland in 1772, this article further broadens the understanding of the events leading up to the nation's partition. [ABSTRACT FROM CONTRIBUTOR]