The article is a commentary on the Chapter 13 of Lumen apothecariorum, written in 1492 by Quirico de Augustis, a Piedmontese physician and apothecary, who lived at the turn of the 16th century. This chapter was published in Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. Prace Historyczne, vol. 149 (2022), no. 2. At the beginning, the author analyses the content of this chapter, entitled De artificio zuchari (On sugar craft), and characterises the typology of 31 recipes for sweets. Next, he presents the ingredients of sweets manufactured on the basis of these recipes, methods recommended for sugar processing, and the tools used for this purpose. In the next section the author focuses on probable sources of Quirico de Augustis’ inspiration and the impact of his recipes for sweets on other collections of recipes in the 16th century. The final section is devoted to the discussion of the importance of this source in the studies on the early Renaissance Italian and European confectionery. The author emphasises the fact that the first person to specifically address the area of confectionery production and to collect the recipes for different types of sweets in a separate chapter was Quirico de Augustis (in his work entitled Lumen apothecariorum) and not Paulo Suardo (in his work entitled Thesaurus apothecariorum, published in Milan in 1496). Thanks to its numerous editions, translations and citations, Chapter 13 of Quirico de Augustis’ Lumen apothecariorum exerted a great impact on the European confectionery in modern times. The evidence of this impact can be noticed in the fact that all 31 recipes from the chapter De artificio zuchari were included in the Polish version Sekrety Aleksego Pedemontana (The Secrets of the Reverend Maister Alexis of Piedmont), published by Marcin Siennik in Cracow in 1568.

Adam Kisiel was one of the most important figures in the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Next to the Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Jerzy Ossoliński and Primate Maciej Łubieński, he was considered one of the pillars of the party seeking an agreement with the Cossacks. He believed that the government of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth should find a place for Cossacks in its structures. At the same time, with the consent of the king and the Great Crown Chancellor, he kept in touch with the Moscow voivodes in order to obtain their military aid against the Crimean Khanate. Afterwards, during the interregnum of 1648, he also tried to persuade Bohdan Khmelnytsky to follow this idea, who initially expressed a desire to reach an agreement with the authorities of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The article contains a description of the analysis carried out on the data contained in the annual shematisms (census publications) of the Greek Catholic diocese in Przemyśl, on the example of the parish in Zyndranowa in the years 1830–1936. Subsequent annals contain information concerning, among others, the number of believers, churches and parish priests; as well as the property status of parishes, schools, church and rural institutions. The author conducts a detailed review of these data, referring to the historical, social and economic context. Particular attention was paid to the demo- graphic data. In order to assess the reliability of the source, a comparison of the data with other con- temporary materials was made, including shematisms issued by the government of Galicia and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Przemyśl. The analysis shows a high convergence of data, especially those directly concerning the population, property and financial status of the Greek Catholic parish.

Abortion is topic that was present in the Polish social discourse of the interwar period, touching upon politics, law and medicine. The topic was a subject of heated debate, and it has showcased radically opposing views in the printed press. The article highlights the arguments of Catholic journalists in favour of the protection of the conceived life.

One of the first tasks of the German occupation authorities after taking over Poland was to identify and assign Polish citizens of German stock to a special ethnic category called Volksdeutsch. The aim of this article is to describe how this process played out in Cracow and its environs in the first years of the German occupation. There were some villages inhabited by people of German origin who used an archaic dialect of German, but nonetheless refused to register as Volksdeutsche. Others became a Volksdeutsch, because of the material and social advantages that designation brought with it, but whose German heritage was highly doubtful. The article also discusses the tensions and conflicts between the Reichsdeutsche, or the civilian Germans from the German Reich who settled in Cracow and were onsidered first-class citizens, and Volksdeutsche, who were treated as the second-class citizens.

The purpose of this article is to present the portrait of the Vietnam War (1965–1975) in the comic book The Other Side by Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart, from the point of view of the historian researching this conflict. I analyze this comic in two dimensions: juxtaposing its narrative with historical reality and with other narratives about the Vietnam War present in American culture. I examine if The Other Side repeats some of the “Vietnam war myths” as well, especially because of the claims of its authors. I take a closer look to discern what interpretation of the history of the Vietnam War was made in the comic. I also present how the authors used events, characters and historical terms to give their work an anti-war overtone. The influence of fiction, memoirs and works of writers such as Ambrose Bierce, Gustav Hasford as well as the reporter group called Snuffies on the final shape of the comic is also discussed.

Fr. Dariusz Wiśniewski devoted his next book to the complicated and still relevant problem of the inter-religious relations between Latin Christians and Muslims. This time he has focused on the activity of St. Francis and the Order of Friars Minor during the 13th century. In those days, the Latin Christians were involved in the Crusades, missions and diplomatic affairs in Iberia, North Africa and the Holy Land. St. Francis and the Franciscans were among the loyal supporters of the papacy. At some point they had created their own policy towards Muslims as well. The author of the book brought the opinion that St. Francis and his disciples were fanatic pacifists in question. He proved that both the authorities and the members of the Order accepted the Crusades and missions as a different, but still acceptable way leading to the conversion of Muslims as the idea of preaching the Gospel of Christ to all the people in the world was one of the most important tasks of the Order. One may criticise some of the author’s decisions regarding the structure of the book and question some of his opinions that were not proved sufficiently. Fr. Dariusz Wiśniewski’s book is nevertheless both interesting and inspiring as it proves that there are several serious problems to be discussed and solved regarding this particular topic.