Epistolae Ordinis Teutonici Sanctae Mariae quae ad res gestas Poloniae spectant

Aim:

To produce traditional and digital editions of Poland-related documents from the archive of Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order currently housed in Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin-Dahlem.

Description:

The gradual growth in the frequency of letter writing in the Late Middle Ages in the Kingdom of Poland was not mirrored, unfortunately, by adequate care in preserving or cataloguing correspondence in chancery registers, even in the case of the Polish Crown Chancery. However, vast collections of late-medieval Polish epistolography, including royal correspondence, are held in the archives of great Prussian cities (in the State Archives in Gdańsk and Toruń). However, the largest set of Polish and Poland-related letters from this period are held in Geheimes Staastarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin-Dahlem (GSPK). This correspondence is an exceptionally important component of Polish cultural heritage which has not yet been edited  carefully. It is a set of phenomenal sources regarding political, economic and cultural relations between Poland and the Teutonic Order and its Prussian state. The contents of the correspondence are of tremendous value. They may serve as the basis for discussion regarding the language (medieval Latin and German) and format of letters, sigillography, social history and the history of law in Poland and broader areas of Central and Eastern Europe.

Epistolary and other documentary sources from the archive of Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order, are held currently in the XX. HA collection. The letters from Poland are in two smaller GSPK collections. The first is Ordensbriefarchiv (OBA). Some of the material it holds includes original letters sent to the Teutonic Order (the Grand Master, high officers and regional leaders) by Poles: Polish monarchs, Mazovian dukes, land officers, starostas and Polish churchmen until the secularisation of West Prussia in 1525. There are currently 29 070 items in OBA, the majority of which is correspondence. An initial survey shows that from the reign of Władysław Jagiełło alone, 485 items fall into the category of letters from Poland. It is to be expected that with the rise of letter writing as a means of communication in the late fifteenth century that number will grow. Apart from OBA, copies of late-medieval letters from Poles are to be found in Ordensfolianten (OF) – a post-Teutonic archive which includes copies of letters according to the early tradition of the Chancery of the Grand Master in Marienburg.

The far-reaching aim of this Centre for Medieval Studies project is a complete critical edition of letters from Poland and correspondence related to Polish matters held in GSPK. The initial task will be to edit letters sent from Poland to the Teutonic Order. A multi-volume critical edition will be published in a printed form and as a digital database. During the first stage of the project, letters dating from the reign of Władysław Jagiełło (1386-1434) will be published.