Teodoryk Strabon

The article is the first monograph devoted to Theodoric Strabo, one of the most important Goth chieftains who lived in the 5th century C. E. At fi rst the author tries to provide answers to three fundamental queries: firstly, whether Theodoric was an Amal? The author comes to the conclusion that he was a representative of another ruling family which had led the Goths in Thrace, whereas he was only related to the Amals. Contrary to the opinion of the majority of contemporary historians, the author comes to the conclusion that Theodoric Strabo became the ruler of the Goths only in the 70’s of the 5th century. The question regarding the background of his father remains unanswered. In the subsequent part of the article, the author tries to present the history of Theodoric Strabo’s struggle
with Emperor Leo whose aim was to recognize the former one’s authority over the Thracian Goths in 473. In the effect of the struggle, Strabo had for the first time become magister militum praesentalis. After Leo’s death it was emperor Zeno who seized power in Constantinople; as the latter had been rather adverse to the Goths, Strabo gave his support to usurper Basiliscus who had seized power for a year and a half in Constantinople. The years 478–479 brought about Strabo’s victory in the struggle with Theodoric Amal for the position of the empire’s chiefally. In the year 481 Theodoric Strabo died in a tragic accident. After his death, the majority of the Balkan Goths became united under the rule of Theodoric Amal.

„Règner sur les coeurs”: Frederick II in the Age of Sensibility

The article focuses on the Prussian king Frederick II and analyzes his “emotional policies”. Although, like most of his contemporaries, he considered himself to be an homme sensible, in direct reference to the Age of Sensibility, his policies spoke a different language: he acted ruthlessly by embarking on war whenever it suited his interests while his people felt the ensuing financial squeeze. Why, then, did he write so fervently about political emotions in his manifestos and testaments? Why did he praise monarchs whose aim was to be loved rather than feared by their subjects? What did the fact that he spoke of his own love for his people mean? How did this love materialize, and how did the people receive it? The article argues that Frederick was indeed keen on presenting himself as a loving and beloved king because he had developed an interest in his people as productive and imaginative as well as obedient but not necessarily oppositional subjects. He thus engaged in policies that aimed at reaching out to the people by fashioning himself as an approachable king: he invited them to write petitions and complaints and always staged his returns from expeditions or wars with ceremonious displays of loyalty from the gathered crowds. It is certainly hard to judge how this policy was received by the people. The available sources allow us to discern a growing sense of pride and expectation among urban dwellers, who engaged in a two-way communication with the king: on the one hand, they gladly and thankfully showed him their devotion, love, and reverence; at the same time, however, they put demands on his time and approachability. Gradually they started thinking in terms of laying down conditions: if the king wants us to love him, we want something back, we want him to prove his love for us. At this point, some scant traces of a change in political communication may be identified – a change that became more pronounced and evident after the French Revolution.

French Parliaments in the ancient regime France: historiographical issues and practical case studies

For a long time, the French Parliaments have only been regarded by historiography as a political actor, and their assessment tended to be rather critical. A renewal occurred in the sixties, with a new approach that focuses on the social aspects. Nevertheless, a chronological imbalance still remains. Even though the parliaments of the 18th century have been studied extensively, the same is not true of the provincial courts under the reign of Louis XIV. Only the episode of the ‘Fronde’ and the institution of the parliament of Paris drew the attention of Anglo-Saxon historians. Furthermore, it was commonly believed that Louis XIV reduced the parliaments to obedience and brought them under his rule. The study of the parliament of Bordeaux as well as of its members, which encompasses the period from the beginning of the regency of Anne of Austria to the end of the regency of Philippe of Orléans, allows us to follow the growth of the absolute rule of Louis XIV via the concrete example of parliamentary life. Was parliament a victim of the king’s political ambitions or was the interaction between the kingdom and province of a more subtle nature? In the article we shall present the highlights of our research: chronology, methodology, issues, sources, approaches…

Antoni Morbitzer as the President of the Krakow Municipal Council (1812–1815)

The article is devoted to the activity of Antoni Morbitzer (1757–1824), a Krakow merchant, economic and political activist and president of the Krakow Municipal Council in the years 1812–1815, that is the final years of the existence of the Warsaw Duchy. Contrary to the letter of the existing law, while standing at the helm of the Municipal Council, Morbitzer, managed to transform this rather superfi cial institution into an authentic organ of municipal authority which co-governed the city of Krakow. Despite a diffi cult political and economic situation (Napoleon’s war with Russia in 1812, the two-year occupation of Krakow by the Russian army in the years 1813–1815), he tried to realize an investment program in the city (charting out new roads, paving the streets, laying down sewage pipes, demolishing derelict buildings); he supported Krakow’s activity as a trading center and opposed the city’s excessive supplies for the Polish and then the Russian armies which according to him ruined the city budget. Thanks to his own industriousness and cooperation with the city mayor and department prefect, as well as his ability to impose his own point of view on the Municipal Council, he contributed to a relatively effi cient functioning of the city and to continuing modernization work in this difficult period. Due to the different political system, (which operated in the city at the time of the Austrian rule and in the period of the Free City of Krakow), he was the only president of Krakow municipal self-government in the first half of the 19th c.

Repressions directed against members of youth independence organizations in the Silesian/Katowice and Krakow provinces in the years 1945–1956 (selected aspects)

Communists had ambitious plans with regard to young people. They intended to educate them in such a way that they would ultimately become the builders of the “new system”. Yet this plan turned out to be impossible to implement in Poland where young people were strongly attached to tradition, religion and most importantly, where they were inculcated with patriotic values in their family homes.
The communists, who knew that controlling young people would be a diffi cult process, issued a number of instructions to the security apparatus. The latter concerned among others the ways in which one ought to control the young generation. Young people had to bear the consequences of their independence activities. Following their arrest, they were usually subjected to a brutal investigation which lasted many hours; during these investigations the Intelligence Service (UB) officers usually bullied and harassed the detained. In most cases the investigation ended with drawing up charges and bringing a case to the Military District Court. As a rule, the military courts issued verdicts of a few years imprisonment. After the verdict had been passed, the young people could lodge an appeal to the Supreme Military Court in Warsaw; the latter could lower the sentence, but it could also refer the case for reconsideration with the recommendation that the defendants should obtain the highest possible punishment. After the passing of the sentence, members of youth independence organizations were for instance sent to forced labor camps.
When having served their prison terms, they left the detention centers, the security apparatus continued to gather information about them, fearing that the young people will begin to set up independence organizations yet again. Sometimes, the invigilation continued for years.

In the Search for a Scapegoat.

On the Margin of the Book: Lewis Sorley, Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam,

New York 2011, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, XX + 398 pages

W dniach 16–27 października 2012 roku zrealizowano na terenie Włoch projekt badawczy organizowany przez Sekcję Historii Starożytnej KNHS UJ pt. „Dziedzictwo starożytnych kultur Sycylii”, którego celem było zbadanie pozostałości archeologicznych po starożytnych kulturach Elymów, Sykulów, Sykanów, Fenicjan, Greków i Rzymian oraz stwierdzenie ich roli w kształtowaniu się dalszych losów wyspy. W ramach wyjazdu odwiedzono następujące miejscowości: Trapani, Erice, Selinunt, Segesta, Palermo, Cefalu, Solunto, Agrigento, Katania, Taormina, Syrakuzy, Raguza, Gela, Megara Hyblaja oraz Piazza Armerina. Wszystkie z wymienionych miast przez wieki były areną ścierania się ludów starożytnych, co przyczyniło się do powstania specyficznej, odrębnej i niezwykle bogatej kultury sycylijskiej. To właśnie na Sycylii znajdują się najlepiej zachowane do dziś doryckie świątynie greckie, teatry czy miejsca pamięci nierozerwalnie związane z cywilizacją europejską, takie jak miejsce śmierci wybitnego uczonego Archimedesa czy jednego z największych i najbardziej wpływowych twórców teatru, jakim był niewątpliwie Ajschylos.