Words and images are indispensable elements of ancient numismatics. In this context, words were not merely an inscription, they designate signs, symbols, images, all stamped in metal. Numismatic studies undertaken recently focused on coin finds of Roman Dacia allow us to multi -faceted insightinto the Dacian provincial coinage. The status changes of the province of Dacia reflect both the introduction and the disappearance of the so called monetary series “PROVINCIA DACIA” in accordance with the transformation of the Roman Imperium in the IIIrd century A.D. The main purpose of this paper is to present one of the questions of this wide problematic, that is bronze coinage with the legend “PROVINCIA DACIA”. PROVINCIA DACIA was a local coinage in the middle and lower Danube area during the 3rd century AD. The reasons for minting were connected with the military actions against the Carpi. Precise dating and concrete iconographic pattern dedicated to specific economic situation in a particular area lead to the conclusion that the monetary series “PROVINCIA DACIA” are in fact a testament of real monetization of Dacia. Coins that originate from the cultural context with well documented place of provenance are the subject of research going far beyond iconographic or inscriptional studies as well as the analysis of punch marks. 

Among compared material there are also two miniatures from the Turin – Milan Hours cycle painted by Master G, who is identified with van Eyck. In order to compare examined armament, author of the article additionally analyses panel paintings of such artists as Konrad Witz, Paolo Ucello, Stefan Lochner, Herman Hitz. The sources of many military examples were the miniature cycles included in manuscripts: Trojan Wars (1441) and Le livres de marveilles (1420–1440).

Furthermore author presents images showed in Italian frescos as well as knightly tombstones found in Germany and England. Examined material includes also original a wide spectrum of offensive and protective type of armament.

Pole weapon was presented in form of few types of spears and halberds: spears with lanceloate arrowheads, leaf -shaped lance arrowhead and symbolic winged spear, otherwise known as Longinus spear. As for the blade weapons, they include swords, cutlasses and ballock daggers. Unfortunately, due to the presentation reasons, there is only fragmentary information regarding blade weapons.  They are either hidden in scabbards or only partially visible. Van Eyck’s Crucifixion scene introduces also ranged weapon as the reflex bow.

Whereas among the protective armament can be noted modern types of helmets such as great bascinets and kettle hats with pig -faced bascinets. On the other hand, discussed Crucifixion shows  some of the old fashioned pig -faced bascinets with visors attached by the forehead clinch. Also, barely seen in the painting, conical helmets are examples of earlier centuries. However, author of the article questions the realism of the hemispherical helmet with parotid shields and plate chin armour. The embellishment of the helmet, as well as its chin can be related to English great bascinets showed on numerous tombstones. Helmet of the Archangel Michael in the Ghent altarpiece and The Dresden Triptych, as well as the one worn by St. George, looks almost unrealistic. Further analysis of those pieces of armour reveals similarities to head protection shown in other works of art; it doesn’t fully prove their usage in the discussed era, but it certainly makes it probable.

Jan van Eyck introduced in his works various torso covers like: aketon, mail armour, scale armour, breast plate – kastenbrust, leg and hand plate armour. Beside atypical shield bucklers held by Archangel Michael, other shield examples may be considered as completely realistic images of armour. Author’s main conclusion is that great Flemish master van Eyck presented far reaching realism in his works along with wide knowledge of militaries both local and foreign ones. 

Wild man is a popular figure in mediaeval culture. This study presents his depictions in Polish gothic art against the backdrop of findings of Richard Bernheimer – author of the fundamental monography on the concept of a wild man in European culture, and Timothy Husband – the curator of the 1980 New York exhibition devoted to this subject. In Missale Cracoviense, ca. 1450, AKMW, nr 2 KP depictions of wild men complete main images in the initials: Adoration of the newborn Jesus and Resurrection. In these contexts – paired with images referring to crucial events in the history of salvation of mankind depictions of fighting wild men represent chaotic, uncontrollable, conflicted passions of a man not yet guided by the light of faith. In Antiphonarium de sanctis founded by Adam of Będków, 1451–1457 two fighting wild men who are present at the bottom of the page with an initial showing John the Baptist probably represent quite similar ideas with perhaps stronger emphasis on their link with nature and its unbridled power. In the fourth volume of Graduale de festis et de dominicis, a manuscript from 1467, destroyed by nazis during the WW II, the wild man was shown at the bottom of the page. Above him there was a heron and a peacock and at the top of the page – Christ ruling the world with a clergyman – probably the founder of the manuscript – kneeling before him. According to many mediaeval bestiaries a heron was a symbol of a Christian distancing himself from the secular world and its temporary charms in favour of eternal goods. A peacock was a reminder that a Christian should be always mindful of his own sins. The entire scene refers to the  attitude of the clergyman depicted who aspires to eternal bliss by shunning the world with its temptations and chaos symbolized by a wild man. In the first part of the Graduale founded by the king Jan Olbracht, 1499–1506, there is a marginal decoration including three wild men, which can be interpreted as a satirical allusion to Roman de la Rose, criticizing those following blind urges of carnal desires. The only secular manuscript with images of wild men is the book of borough rights of the town of Głubczyce drawn in 1421. 

On its first page there is a wild man fighting a lion. Here the wild man is a symbol of humans fighting against primitive and aggressive tendencies of their own nature under the guidance provided by laws given by the king. The depiction was probably inspired by illustrations to Psychomachia showing personified virtues and vices in combat. The second depiction of wild men in the Głubczyce borough rights book shows two of them in a fierce fight next to the scene of murder. This suggests that they symbolize aggressive tendencies of human nature which can lead to violent crimes. The last depiction is to be found in a wall -painting  in the Franciscans’ church in Toruń. It represents a fight of water wild men. Although they were not quite so popular as wild men living on land many medieval authors mention wild men living in or near the water and taking refuge there in case of danger. In the wall  painting in question they are represented together with mermaids surrounding a ship, whose sailors call on Virgin Mary and St Nicholas for help. Therefore water wild men, as well as mermaids shown next to them, can be interpreted as symbols of danger, both  physical and spiritual, to the sailors.

In the former parish church in the old town of Toruń, unimposing, but exceptional antiquity was preserved - the silver epitaph of Barbara Kawecka, which until recently was affixed to the pillar, and which is currently stored in the Diocesan Museum in Toruń. The epitaph is a small square plaque entirely engraved, and then studded on an ornately cut board in indefinite time. Kawecka’s epitaph is an example of antiquity, in which the word, as well as the picture, are equivalently used in the content. The fields of border contain emblematic compositions reduced to only two elements: the image (imago) and the maxim (lemma; motto). The plaque commemorating Barbara Kawecka was supposed to fulfill a twofold function. On the one hand, it conveys information about the biography, virtues, and merits of the buried person. On the other hand, after removing the grave of Barbara Kawecka and placing the plaque inside the church, it became a modest epitaph.  

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Gdańsk’s authorities used lead tokens as a means of remuneration for mandatory work known as “szarwark”. All residents of Gdańsk were required to participate in the construction of fortifications as part of their compulsory work. Generally the municipal tokens bearing the Gdańsk coat of arms. But in the years 1574–77, on this type tokens, we can see different animals: a dog, lion, unicorn, horse and an owl or bat. The selection of animals placed on tokens was not accidental certainly. The purpose of this paper is to consider various premises that could indicate the key according to which the animal iconography was used. Unfortunately, this is not easy, because we do not have written sources on this subject, and the tokens had a very pragmatic application – that’s why universal symbols do not have to be used in this case. The use of animals on tokens was probably the resultant of several factors: the organization of work, various places of the construction of fortifications, the value of tokens and their purpose. The main threat here is the interpretation of the old symbolism by the present-day pattern of understanding the culture. Modern researchers of old symbolism often become too convinced that their interpretation is correct.   

In 2018 it will be 45 years since prof. Józef Szymański has written the article about the inauguration of epigraphic researches in Poland. It seems to be about time to make another summary, or more specifically to point out, that the progress of epigraphic researches in Poland at the beginning of XXI century, presents new perspectives. Since, the developement of publishing techniques offers new possibilities and allow researchers to solve former problems, simultaneously setting new challanges for scholars. Author of this article, on the basis of his own edition of inventory containing inscriptions from St. Elisabeth church, dated back to 1649, presents the practical value of archival materials for present renovation of yet preserved artifacts and its meaning for research purposes. According to the author, the very beginning of the researches should commence with the careful survey of archival materials, e.g. Wrocław owns the collection of inscriptions gathered on a request of Graf Hoverden (according to an extant and published indexes, there were gathered transcripts and drawings of over 6 thousends epitahps). The problem of editing such materials still remains a seperate issue. Leaving them in an original form, creates the unintelligibillity of inscriptions and difficulty of receipt for a common reader, who does not have to be the historian prepared to work with such a source. The interference in the text arouses the internal protest of primary source editors. Probably the indirect solution might be sharing the electronic version of original, accompanied by the worked -out version with full research elaboration and indexes or references to the original itself. It will not be an easy way to elaborate the universal scheme or pattern, because the primary sources of that kind differ fromeach other, and yet the  expectations of receivers from various study fields may diverge. 

Epigraphy is one of the auxiliary sciences of history and yet it is still not fully used by scholars. The problem connects to the dispersion of research results and the form of their presentation. There are many independent researchers, representing different fields of science and studies that deal with nscriptions in their university and job activities. The only issue is that the results of their field researches are often presented in completely various ways, using a number of methods. That seems to be a bit problematic to use the metadata, because they regularly contain irrelevant data. Non - ssential ones from the perspective of different scholar point of views. The aim of the article is to exhort scholars dealing with inscriptions (historians, historians of art, historians of culture, language etc.) to present the outcome of their researches in a way, every person interested in, could get what they need. E.g. while historian of art presents architectural programme of an epitaph, the inscription is barely mentioned, instead of being presented with the full analysis. One may find information about the art as itself, but semantics and semiotics of the inscription is not attached. The author of the article also asks to create an online version of all the inscription being gathered till nowadays, and those which are still in the progress of cataloguing. Many researchers does the enormous work, yet keeps their results for themselves, not publishing them to the broad circle of recipients. If creating such an instrument, scholars, especially students and beginners might find all interesting data at one place. Not only would it be useful, but also kept every collected data safe.   

The text broaches the problem of visualisation of the Past in conceptualization of european historians in the first half of the XIX -th century. Various trials of changing the written word of historical sources into artistic picture of the Past are shown. The text is focused on changes in the XIX -th century historical narration, shown in three cases. Firstly, as a process of ongoing debate in the first half of the XIX -th century around the historical novel of W. Scott, secondly around the documentary novel of I.J. Kraszewski and thirdly, the concept of “picturesque history” of K. Szajnocha and its realisation. The examples that are presented bring closer the contemporary perception of visualisation of the Past in romantic literature and historiography.   

Theodore Morawski (1797–1879) was a renown Polish diplomat, minister of Foreign Affairs during the November Uprising, afterwards in exile a prominent member of so -called Hotel Lambert, a political faction led by prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski. Moreover, Morawski was a distinguished historian, author of a detailed History of the Polish Nation. The paper examines the impact of personaldiplomatic experience of the author on the content of abovementioned work, focusing on the image of the Habsburg dynasty. The main question discussed here is thus how and to what extent the political circumstances, including both the Galician slaughter of 1846 and the autonomy granted to the Polish subjects of the Austrian empire in 1860s, affected the way of constructing the historical narrative.  

The treacherous German invasion of Belgium and the heroic resistance by the Belgian king Albert, his army and subjects played a crucial role in the Russian war propaganda during WWI. German cruelties justified Belgian retaliations, and when these were slow in coming, imagination stepped in. Undaunted by any factual knowledge of Belgian politics, history, geography or military tactics, Russian novelists and poets adopted literary images derived from Maeterlinck, Verhaeren, Rodenbach or De Coster so as to instill Russian patriotism and indignation at German (cultural) barbarism. Soon enough, these images were adapted in paintings, war posters, propaganda films, sensationalist plays and pulp literature. These images were so strong that they even inspired real Russian politics: the tactics of inundation the Belgians used (with mixed results) convinced the Russian military to invite Belgian specialists to the Russian front; and when the negotiations over French arms for Russian troops started in 1915, the Russian government wanted to bring its troops under royal Belgian command, rather than under the republican French. The Russian image of Belgium created during the war would have an lasting impact: Russian émigrés after 1917 molded the image of king Albert after their late Emperor and wanted to believe that he would protect them (in vein). Soviet authors visiting Belgium only saw the country through the images of war. And Russia’s most popular Belgian novel – Charles De Coster’s Til Ulenshpigel (1867), about the civil war in the Low Countries in the 16th century – was first translated in… 1915 as part of the Russian propaganda  war. In this case, as in others, suggestive ‘literary images’ were considered more appropriate and  effective than cruel, factual representations.   

The article focuses on the historical myth of the common national sources of Russians and Ukrainians (‘brotherhood’) as one of the mechanisms for conceptualizing Soviet/ Russian historiography. Particular attention is paid to the socio -political context of constructing a historical narrative, suitable for the formation of various identities, both national and imperial. The advantages of this construction were obvious, because it was allowed simultaneously to solve several fundamental problems for the creation of the imperial grand -narrative. Proclaiming the Ukrainians as brothers they could withoutdifficulty appropriate their historical heritage. By mental mapping the ethnic Ukrainian lands were included into the imperial space and inserted into the imperial discourse. At the same time, by imposing the status of ‘younger brothers’ one could level out a separate from the Russian the Ukrainian historical process, turning Ukrainians into ‘non -historical’ nation. In addition to the historiographical dimension, the ‘brotherly’ mythologem was a sufficiently effective tool for social mobilization, of both Ukrainians and Russians, for the needs of the empire. The stages pointed out in the article make it possible to talk about the repeated transformation of the semantics of this construction. Initially, ‘family ties’ were conceived with the largest index of the genetic component – as ‘related tribes’ of one ‘nation’. Over time, this index is gradually weakening, yielding to the positions of confessional and loyal subjects. In Soviet times, there was a modified remake of ‘kinship’ ties, but now as independent, but ‘fraternal’ nations. During the late Soviet period, such as in the imperial period, the devaluation of the genetic component is again observed. There is also an inequality in the counterparties of the ‘brotherly’ construction. It was initially formed as an unstable, unbalanced system, consisting of the dominant and subordinate components – ‘senior’ and ‘younger’ ‘brothers’. Ukrainian historical experience was conceived only as a repetition of the historical path traversed by the «fraternal» Russians. And the Ukrainians, constantly had to strive for an alliance with their ‘elder brother’.  

The purpose of this article is to analyze how Stanisław Sojczyński “Warszyc”, one of the leaders of the anticommunist underground movement in postwar Poland who was captured and then killed, was portrayed within the official politics of memory by the People’s Republic of Poland. The author is mostly interested in the slow evolution of Sojczyński’s image from nothing more than a common “bandit” in the mid 40’s, to a partially acknowledged “patriot” twenty years later. The study shows that even though Sojczyński was consistently described as a major enemy of the communist state, some significant changes developed over time in the way that he was portrayed. This case study is based on detailed examination of materials such as press articles, novels and even a film, which all dealt with the story of Sojczyński and his troops. Aleida Assmann’s distinction between communicative and collective memory is employed as a main theoretical framework.   

The present text is an attempt to look at the phenomenon of the photograph through the prism of anthropology. Every man, irrespective of factors forming him: cultural, social, religious, is aspiring consciously or subconsciously to the determined order, within which he will be able to oneself a lot, very more well to carry out and to feel more comfortably. Longer lasting, intensifying disarray, appears as insanitary for the mind. A photograph, on which the human face receives determined depth and a metaphorical nature are bringing semblance of the order. If this face belongs to the person which is co -inhabiting real world with us, it is worthwhile looking at her packaging in categories of the empathy, of participation in being to the death. Necessary in this context also recognizing the extraordinary carrying capacity appears to the emotional photograph. The one last, being retaking world, is in the state of it – at least to a certain extent – to do more cohesive and marked with the poetic mood.   

In this paper the author tries to identify dominant cultural codes existing in Polish history related Internet memes, both Polish -language and English -language ones. The article starts by explaining what cultural codes and meta codes are and how can they be applied to analyzing Internet memes. Next, the author states memes selection criteria (all come from main pages of vanity sites like 9gag.com or kwejk.pl) and arguments this choice. Following, the author discusses the concept of “meme” itself and defines what “Internet meme” is. The main parts of the article are analyzes of two main cultural codes existing in Polish history related Internet memes. The first, dominant in Polish - anguage memes is belief of victorious Poland: memes concentrate on Polish military victories through ages. While English-language ones show pitiful side of Poland: Polish fails and vices (vide Polandball series). The article ends by confronting both of codes and seeking for causes of this dichotomy. Among the author’s conclusions are cultural differences between Polish and English- - anguage Internet users and different approach to Polish history.  

Scientific conference: “The fate and significance of the heritage of monasteries dissolved in former Royal Prussia. On the 180th anniversary of the dissolution of the last monasteries in Gdańsk”. (Gdańsk, 22  October 2015)