The Eastern Policy of Friedrich II Hohenstauf with Special Emphasis on His Attitude to the Kingdom of Cyprus (in the Light of the Chronicle of Philip of Novara)

The present article focuses on the eastern policy of Friedrich II Hohenstauf in the years 1221–1250 with special emphasis on his attitude to the problem of the Kingdom of Cyprus. The author draws attention to the emperor’s links with the Orient in the light of his attempts to try and obtain the Jerusalem crown and to subjugate the Kingdom of Cyprus. He also presented Hohenstauf’s conflict with the influential Syrian family of Ibelins which also had a strong political position on Cyprus. The culminating point in the emperor’s plans and ambitions was the expedition to the Holy Land which he set out for in 1228 which was preceded by many years of careful preparations (1215–1228).
When in the year 1215 Friedrich II made his first crusade vows, the expedition to Palestine was not yet an element of his policy, but a part of the papal plans. It was only the possibility of obtaining the Jerusalem crown which was realized in 1225 through the emperor’s marriage to the successor to the Jerusalem throne Jolanta de Brienne that induced the emperor to set out on the crusade to the Orient. What was particularly important for the success of the emperor’s plans was the support of the Palestine and Syrian magnates and the imposition of the control on the Kingdom of Cyprus.
Hohenstauf’s Sicilian state also constituted an excellent starting point for the eastern policy of Friedrich II who showed an interest in making contact with the Muslim rulers of Egypt and Syria. The greatest success of the imperial expedition was the recovery of Jerusalem and the signing of the peace treaty with the sultan of Egypt al-Malik al-Kamil. On 18 March 1229 the emperor was crowned king of Jerusalem in this holy Christian city. Yet, Hohenstauf’s absolutist plans found no understanding among the Cyprian and Palestine magnates. The conflict which broke out between the supporters of Friedrich II and the Ibelin party that was opposed to him, had smouldered in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and on Cyprus for the next dozen or so years (1228–1243). Cyprus which remained in the hands of the French Lusignan dynasty had played an important role in the eastern policy of Friedrich II. The chronicle of Philip of Novara, an eye-witness and participant of those events, is the best testimony to the fierceness  of the fighting which had taken place on Cyprus. The content of the chronicle bears evidence to the emperor’s special interest in Cyprus which found its expression in the emperor’s repeated attempts to impose his rule on the island.
The interference of Friedrich II into the internal affairs of the Latin states in the Middle East and the protracted fighting which had taken place on their territory, had led to huge losses, economic decline and the final disintegration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. This exerted a direct impact on the later loss of Jerusalem and the ultimate end of the Christian presence in the Holy Land.

Career, Social Background and Education of the Episcopate in the Lvov (until 1412 – the Halicz) Archdiocese in the First Half of the 15^th Century

The author of the article tries to characterize the episcopate of the Halicz archdiocese which was subsequently transformed into the Lvov archdiocese, at the time when the capital had been transferred from Halicz to Lvov. The author focuses particularly on the church and lay careers of the members of the episcopate – before they were promoted to the post of bishop, presenting their social background and educational status.
The results of the author’s findings seem to point out that the analysed church dignitaries did not belong to the most important bishops in the Polish-Lithuanian state in the first half of the 15th c. The majority were much more inferior compared to the Gniezno ordinaries. In point of fact, it was only the metropolitan bishop of Przemyśl and the bishop of Chełm Jan Biskupiec who played a more significant role at the king’s court. In the period under discussion, the bishoprics which the majority of the bishops took over were rather poorly endowed; they were often devoid of cathedrals and the chapter houses either did not exist, or else existed in a very rudimentary condition. Hence, some of the bishops in fact did not reside in their own dioceses and only acted as suffragan bishops side by side the ordinaries of the oldest Polish cathedrals.
Before attaining the bishoprics, many of the bishops had been members of different orders and were but rarely heads of cathedral chapter houses. With the exception of the Lvov (Halicz) metropolitans and the Przemyśl bishops, before being consecrated the majority of the bishops did not possess any significant benefices or else did not possess them at all. Not more than 43% of the bishops were of noble origin. In turn, only about 30% of the bishops had a university education. Moreover, none of the above-mentioned were promoted to another bishopric once they had obtained their cathedral. The only exception here was the archbishop of Halicz Mikołaj Trąba who was transferred to Gniezno and in this way became the head of the Church in Poland.

The Split Elections of Land Officials at the Regional Diet of the Nowogród Province on 5 February 1777

On 3 February 1777 the Nowogród Candlemas diet began its sessions. The sessions were to take place in accordance with the legal norms established at the convocation diet of 1764, according to which election diets to land offices on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were to take place immediately after the local Candlemas diets, without the need to issue any additional proclamations for their organisation. The elective land offices included, among others, the office of marshal, chamberlain, standard-bearer, land judges, as well as the land scribe. The candidates to the above posts were to be elected by the majority of votes. Moreover, the old law which bade electors to choose from among four candidates to a single office had been done away with. From now on, the constitution introduced the law whereby only one candidate to an office was to be presented and subsequently after his election, confirmed by the royal prerogative. The above legal norms had been confirmed by the coronation diet of 1764 as well as by the Warsaw diet of 1768.
At the Nowogród diet, the main struggle had taken place between the supporters of court treasurer Antoni Tyzenhauz, and the Nowogród voivode Józef Niesiołowski. It was judge Michał Krzyszyłowski who stood at the helm of the Tyzenhauz party in the Nowogród province; the latter had supporters among land officials as well as the “Radziwiłł” gentry. Contrary to its opponents, Józef Niesiołowski’s faction did not enjoy a widespread popularity and was supported mainly by urban officials. The voivode was also supported by the Lithuanian deputy chancellor of the treasury Joachim Litawor Chreptowicz. The split in the diet had occurred on 5 February, that is on the third day of sessions, during the election of the following land officials: chamberlain, land judge and land  scribe. Each of the sides was interested, above all, in the election of its own candidate thanks to which one of the parties would become considerably stronger in a given province.
During the election diet of 5 February, at which the opening address was delivered by Józef Niesiołowski, it was Józef Obuchowicz who became elected chamberlain, whereas Adam Wojniłowicz who up until now had held the office of equerry, was elected land judge. Kazimierz Haraburda who earlier on had held the post of treasurer and city judge, now became the land scribe. During this election Krzyszyłowski’s supporters decided to separate from the main diet and set up a separate diet in order to elect their own candidates to the vacant land offices. The main explanation of this decision was that, contrary to earlier arrangements, the Nowogród voivode began the diet sessions earlier than originally planned, which according to his opponents, allowed him to elect his own candidates to the vacant posts. At the other diet, organized by the supporters of Tyzenhauz, it was Jan Niezabitowski who was elected chamberlain, whereas his former post of standard-bearer was to be taken over by Chryzostom Rdułtowski. Former cup-bearer Franciszek Jabłoński was elected to the post of land judge, whereas Michał Rejtan who was formerly city judge in Smoleńsk was now elected land scribe.
In the effect of the split elections, the opposing factions issued manifestos and letters addressed to Antoni Tyzenhauz and king Stanisław August Poniatowski who supported the activity of the Lithuanian court treasurer. In the above letters, their authors pleaded with Antoni Tyzenhauz and the king to approve of their candidate to the vacant land offices. Each of the opposing parties stated that it had secured the support of a greater number of electors in the Nowogród province. In the letters, their authors had quoted the right to elect officials with the majority of votes which – as I had stated earlier, had been passed by the Act introduced by the coronation diet in 1764, only to be confirmed by the constitutions of the 1768 diet. At the same time, in a series of mutual accusations, the authors of the letters had stated that in the lauds, there were signatures of persons who did not belong to the nobility.
Because the methods which were resorted to by the supporters of the Lithuanian court treasurer seemed to be contrary to the existing law, king Stanisław August strove to appease the conflict in a conciliatory way. What contributed directly to such a solution was the death of Michał Krzyszłowski in February 1777. The office of land judge which had been vacated by him, contributed to the break-up of unity in the camp of the Nowogród voivode; the post had ultimately been offered to the equerry Adam Wojniłowicz who decided to resign from further struggle. In time, the policy of exerting pressure and offering promises to the other candidates to the offices from the Niesiołowski party began to bring about positive results. Whereas the town judge, Kazimierz Ignacy Harabuda who strove to obtain the office of land scribe, also agreed to resign from this office in favour of his brother-in-law Michał Rejtan. In March, the only remaining provincial candidate who refused to agree to the above-presented
conditions, was Józef Obuchowicz; yet seeing no point in continuing further struggle, he had to come to terms with the defeat. The resignation of the other candidates from further struggle led to divisions within the party of the Nowogród voivode and consequently to putting an end to the issue of split elections. The court resigned from
conducting a second round of election diets in the Nowogród province. The king decided to grant privileges to the offices for candidates representing the camp of the Lithuanian court treasurer.
One of the reasons of the victory of Antoni Tyzenhauz was the support which was granted to him by the Vilnius voivode Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł “Panie Kochanku”. In this situation, the gentry from the former Radziwiłł camp also began to support the court. Among the most important representatives of this camp, we find the following families: the Rdułtowski, the Niezabitowski, the Jabłoński, the Korsak, the Siemiradzki and the Płaskowicki family; it was the above families that formed the main kernel of the pro-royalist faction. Although it was contrary to the existing legislation, during the diet sessions, Antoni Tyzenhauz also relied on the votes of the
gentry inhabiting the lands in the Nieświerz region. He was also very well acquainted with the moves and decisions of the Nowogród voivode and of his supporters as the letters and documents sent by the latter to Stanisław August and his supporters were copied and sent to the Lithuanian court treasurer. On the other hand, the Lithuanian court treasurer acted in a similar way, as he informed the chief leaders of Krzyszyłowski’s party about the actions and activities undertaken by Józef Niesiołowski.
The newly appointed chamberlain Jan Niezabitowski, as well as standard-bearer Chryzostom Rdułtowski, land judge Franciszek Jabłoński and land scribe Michał Rejtan had strengthened the position of the court treasurer in the Nowogród province even more. It gave the latter an even bigger chance to promote the election of pro-royalist candidates for deputies to the Chief Lithuanian Tribunal, as well as deputies to the general diets of the Polish Commonwealth of Nations.

Italians in the Dąbrowski Legion in Italy

In the agreement of 1797 signed between general Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and the government of Lombardy concerning the creation of the Polish Legion, there was no mention of the possibility of Italian citizens joining the Legion. In spite of this, in the years 1797–1807, 53 Italians obtained an officer status in the Legion; among them, there were 31 physicians, and military surgeons, 9 quartermasters, 9 junior officers, 4 chaplains, and 1 officer whose function had not been specified. A small group of Italians who were recruited mainly from among the dissolved Piedmont divisions, also served as non-commissioned officers and private soldiers. As regards the geographical origin of the Italians, the majority of the officers and army officials came from Milan and Lombardy, as well as from Piedmont and Bologna. The majority of the Italians obtained the above posts in the effect of being nominated by the authorities of the Republic of Lombardy which was subsequently transformed into a Cisalpine Republic and finally into the Italian Republic The above decisions were due to the lack of suitable specialists in the Polish Legions, as well as a lack of posts for Italian volunteers in the Cisalpine army.The most valuable group consisted of army physicians who were highly praised for their professional knowledge, intelligence as well as their dedication to the sick and wounded soldiers in their care. The Poles did not have an equally high opinion of the junior officers, as they considered them to be inferior with regard to training and moreover, they thought that the Italians blocked the possibility of promotion for the Polish soldiers. The group which had the worst opinion among the Poles, were the quartermasters, among whom there were many adventurers and careerists. The majority of them had left the Legions following a series of defeats in the II coalition war.
4 Italian officers had remained in the Polish army after the liquidation of the legions and they participated in the next Napoleonic campaigns. In spite of the many years of common service in the Legions, no closer ties between the Poles and the Italians had been formed. This fact was largely due to the differences in the social standing of the officers representing the two nations (the Poles represented mainly the nobility, while the Italians chiefly the middle classes), as well as the linguistic and cultural differences, and last but not least different political aspirations. The idea of the common struggle for independence of the Poles and the Italians originated only in the thirties of the 19th century.

Defence Possibilities of the German Colonies on the Gulf of Guinea on the Eve of the Outbreak of World War I

The main goal of the paper is to try and present the defence possibilities of the German colonies: Togo and Cameroon on the eve of the outbreak of the I World War. Following the disappearance of the hopes for the preservation of neutrality in the overseas territories, both colonies found themselves in a difficult situation, due to a lack of suitable preparation to conducting military operations.
The author characterizes the geographical situation of both colonies with respect to the future military opponents, the occurrence of natural borders and the geological structure of both countries. He draws attention to the climatic conditions, the division into seasons of the year as well as the average rainfall and temperature range.
The author also describes the road infrastructure of both colonies including the number and range of railway lines as well as traditional highways. He presents the telecommunications network, the distribution of the transmitting stations as well as the fortification system of the ports, cities and army bases.
Special attention was devoted to the presentation of the number of army units, as well as their training and equipment. Attention was also drawn to the army provision potential and the degree of assistance offered by the local population. Defence plans in the event of armed conflict as well as the placement of the individual army units after the declaration of mobilisation was discussed.
The number of white population in both colonies exerted an influence on the recruitment possibilities. The author also presented the different vocational make-up of the colonists which no doubt exerted an influence on the future war campaign. Special attention was drawn to the sanitary conditions, the number of physicians and hospitals as well as those tropical diseases which were most dangerous to the soldiers.

Karolina Lanckorońska’s „“Energetic Pedagogy”. The Setting-up of University Courses for the Soldiers of the 2^nd Corps in Italy in the Years 1945–1947

Karolina Lanckorońska, who came from an old aristocratic family, owed her “energetic pedagogy” and her fascination with Italian art to her father Karol Lanckoroński, the Grand Steward at the Habsburg court, and a renowned patron of the arts. It was not a coincidence that Italy was a permanent element of her biography. She came here many a time before the II World War to pursue her academic interests and to gather materials to her doctoral dissertation on the art of Michelangelo and later to her post-doctoral thesis. At that time, she was a frequent visitor to the Roman salon of her very distant relation Roffredo Caetani, grandson to the renowned “Emir” Wacław Rzewuski. It was to Roffredo Caetani and his close friends that she owed the saving of her life in Stanisławów and later in Ravensbrück. Following the dramatic war experiences and her subsequent short stay in Switzerland, she came to Italy in 1945 where in the summer of this year she joined the II Polish Corps. At that time, she was 47. In view of the uncertain future, and after consulting general Władysław Anders, she decided to make it possible for Polish soldiers to study at Italian universities, among others in Rome, Bologna and Turin. Thanks to a favourable attitude of the Italian Ministry of Education as well as that of the local university  professors, and the strenuous efforts of Karolina Lanckorońska, in February 1946 a record number of 1280 student-soldiers from the II Corps enrolled in Italian universities (the register with the personal details of the  students is currently available in the Archives of the Polish Institute and in the General Sikorski Museum in London). Together with Prof. Henryk Paszkiewicz, Karolina Lanckorońska acted as the academic supervisor to the Polish soldier-students. Together, they had to overcome numerous hurdles, associated among others with a lack of high school leaving certificates. In these difficult moments, it was Prof. Enrico Damiani, an expert on Polish literature, who had played an immense role and had helped to solve problems. On 22 May 1946, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs Ernest Bevin declared in the House of Commons that the II Corps which constituted a part of the British army, would be transferred to Great Britain and transformed into the Polish Adjustment and Placement Corps. A week later, general Anders informed the soldiers of the decision of the British government. In the autumn of 1946, the II Corps had left Italy, but thanks to the efforts of the command of the II Corps, as well as of the academic supervisors, the most advanced group of near-graduates (180 students) were allowed to remain in Italy. On 31 July 1947, a farewell ceremony organised on the occasion of the graduation of the first Polish studentsoldiers had been organised.
In the year 1996, there appeared a book entitled The Polish Soldier Students in Italy. 1945–1947 (London) written by Roman Lewicki, one of the soldier-graduates of the Faculty of Law at the University of Rome; the publication had been supported by Karolina Lanckorońska.