Acta Mediaevalia. Series Nova

Dorota Żywczak — 2025-12-11

Editorial

Paweł Kras — 2025-12-11

The text summerizes the objectives of the journal and overviews the content of the present volume.

Describing the Enemy in the First Crusade: The Rhetoric of Innumerable Hosts

Tomasz Pełech — 2025-12-11

This article explores the rhetorical and ideological function of the motif of innumerable enemy hosts in Latin accounts of the First Crusade. Drawing on eyewitness narratives such as the Gesta Francorum, Peter Tudebode’s Historia de Hierosolymitano itinere, Raymond of Aguilers’s Historia Francorum qui ceperunt Iherusalem, and Fulcher of Chartres’s Historia Hierosolymitana, the study demonstrates that descriptions of the enemy as overwhelmingly numerous were not factual reports but deliberate literary strategies. These hyperbolic portrayals served to frame the Crusaders’ military efforts as miraculous, divinely sanctioned triumphs of the few against the many. The article traces the biblical roots of this motif, focusing particularly on narratives such as the defeat of the Midianites by Gideon (Judges 7–8) and King Asa’s battle against Zerah the Ethiopian (2 Chr 14), and explores its development in medieval Christian exegesis, notably in the works of Gregory the Great and Hrabanus Maurus. The enemy’s multitude is further emphasized through ethnic catalogues, which function to reinforce perceptions of otherness and chaos in contrast to Christian unity and divine favour. The study argues that these narrative patterns reflect a shared topos that shaped medieval perceptions of the Crusades, while also contributing to the formation of a mythologized collective memory in Latin Christendom.

Attitudes of Elites towards the Translation of Holy Relics until the End of the Twelfth Century

Karolina Wyszyńska — 2025-12-11

In this paper, I present the connections between the elites and the acts of translation of saints in Poland up to the end of the 12^th century. The groups responsible for the translations, as identified by me are rulers, clergy and nobility. I treat translations as any planned transfer of relics. I begin the paper with an analysis of the first tangible source of translation – the transfer of the remains of St. Adalbert to Gniezno. I conclude with a presentation of the transfer of the relics of St. Stanislaus and St. Florian.

Avant les Hussites utraquistes : l’imaginaire médiéval du calice

Jean-Claude Schmitt — 2025-12-11

Following on from František Šmahel’s work on Hussite Utraquism, this article seeks to clarify the growing importance of the imagery of the chalice and the Blood of Christ in the late Middle Ages, in order to better understand both the Catholic hierarchy’s attachment to the priestly monopoly of communion under both kinds and, conversely, the vigor of the demands of certain lay people, primarily the Hussites, for universal access to communion with the Blood of Christ. The use of images, from the Carolingian period until around 1500, is emphasized here because it sheds light on the place of the chalice and the Blood of Christ in the very definition of the Ecclesia and the undivided sacredness of the priest.

Churchman, Jurist, Artist: Winand Ort von Steeg and His Learned Colleagues (around 1426)

Rainer Schwinges — 2025-12-11

The jurist Winand von Steeg was a particularly versatile and distinctive, albeit very typical, representative of his profession. His portrait shows him looking friendly, and a little thoughtful, in the process of writing an expert report. The situation would have been familiar because he painted it himself. Apart from all else, he is interesting to us as a man with a university education, and a doctor of the canon law. This makes him an ideal test case for our digital research project Repertorium Academicum Germanicum (RAG), which aims at investigating the university-trained scholars of the Holy Roman Empire from the perspective of personal history, exploring their lives, their knowledge, their social impact and the specific culture that developed around them, from its beginnings to the middle of the 16th century.

Pepper and Reprisals between Poland and Pera (1452)

Leslie Carr-Riegel — 2025-12-11

This paper takes as a case study, a trade dispute that occurred in 1452 between Genoese, Polish, and Wallachian, merchants in the Latin enclave of Pera Constantinople. Taking place just a year before the city fell to the Ottomans, this study offers a snap shot into the dying days of the tangled web of relationships and legal processes that underlay the trade route from Lviv to the Bosphorus. The paper explores the unhappy travels of Johannes Simiefal, a burgher of Lviv, who sought to ship a load of black pepper from Bursa. While transiting through Pera, his journey was interrupted by a group of enraged Genoese merchants. These men seized Simiefal’s property in an act of reprisal for a load of furry hats which they claimed had been stollen from them by his countrymen. The legal case that then wound up before the Podesta of Pera revealed a series of misidentifications, interlocking ownership agreements, and illegal seizures, that exposes much about the way trade was conducted between Eastern Europe and the Black Sea at the time. By reading between the lines of the byplay of interests and accusation the framework of trade and law, origin and identity navigated by merchants is unveiled.

Foot Mercenaries from Hungarian Towns in Foreign Armies – Contributions to the Issue of Mercenary Potential in Late Medieval Hungary

László Szokola — 2025-12-11

Although interest in Central European mercenary markets has revived in recent years, the potential of mercenaries in late medieval Hungary has not yet been studied. This study therefore has two main goals. The first one is to determine the towns or at least the regions of the Kingdom of Hungary from which a significant number of soldiers could be recruited in the late Middle Ages. The second one is to examine the role played by mercenaries of urban origin in the Hungarian royal army and in the armies of neighbouring countries. The study of this topic can contribute useful insights into the regional migration of soldiers and help to understand the spread of knowledge carried by mercenaries. As a result of the research, it can be said that the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary had significant mercenary potential, which can also be seen in the armies of neighbouring countries. At the same time, the analysis also shows that the mercenary potential in Hungary relied heavily on Czech, Polish, Austrian and German mercenaries. The answer to the question of why Hungary's mercenary potential in the Central and Eastern European region was among the least significant, ranging from possible distortions in the sources examined so far to constant Ottoman pressure, may vary. The decision on this issue must therefore be left to further research and consideration.

Mining Migrations in the Southern Vosges in the Late Middle Ages

David Bourgeois — 2025-12-11

The mining boom in the southern Vosges at the end of the Middle Ages led to a revitalisation of the areas concerned. The specific nature of this economic activity required special techniques and substantial financial investment, and migratory phenomena had a profound effect on the regions in which new seams were discovered and then exploited. These waves of migration were not purely demographic, even if the impact on populations was undeniable. They were also of other kinds, and more complex to understand. Migration has been economic and financial, but it has also involved the transfer of techniques and know-how.

These migrations have been perceived in different ways. For the pre-existing populations, they could be intrusive, threatening demographic, cultural and economic balances. However, for the owners of the seams, the migratory phenomena had positive virtues, as they led to the development of sources of wealth within the south-western limits of the Holy Roman Empire, an area where competition in terms of mining was very strong.

Mining migrations therefore help to illustrate the economic dynamism of the Upper Rhine and to analyse how this region emerged as one of the most dynamic at the end of the medieval period. This dynamism gave rise to a wide range of migrations.

Janusz Bieniak (1927–2025)

Sobiesław Szybkowski — 2025-12-11

Tex in memory Professor Janusz Bieniak (1927-2025)

František Šmahel (1934-2025)

Paweł Kras — 2025-12-11

The article presents the life, academic carrer, and achievements of Professor František Šmahel, the doyen of Czech medievalists and a leading expert in Hussite studies who died in January 2025. The text is to be published in the In memoriam section

Aleksandra Witkowska OSU (1930–2024)

Joanna Nastalska-Wiśnicka — 2025-12-11

Prof. Aleksandra Witkowska OSU (1930–2024) was a distinguished medievalist associated for nearly seven decades with the Catholic University of Lublin. Her research focused on hagiography, the cult of saints, and sacred geography, earning her wide recognition and a significant scholarly legacy.

[REVIEW]: Marxism and Medieval Studies. Marxist Historiography in East-Central Europe, ed. by M. Nodl, P. Węcowski, D. Zupka, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, 93, Brill, Leiden – Boston 2024, pp. 391

Gábor Klaniczay — 2025-12-11

[REVIEW]: Iura vicariorum. Kopiariusz kolegium wikariuszy katedry poznańskiej, ed. by T. Jurek, Folia Jagiellonica. Fontes, 18, Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne, Poznańskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk, Poznań 2023, pp. XLVIII + 816

Adam Kozak — 2025-12-11

The review of the source edition of the Cartulary of the College of Perpetual Vicars at Poznań Cathedral by Tomasz Jurek published in 2023.

[REVIEW]: The Ladies on the Hill: the Female Monastic Communities at the Aristocratic Monasteries of Klosterneuburg and St. George’s in Prague, ed. by J. F. Hamburger, E. Schlotheuber, Bӧhlau, Wien 2024, pp. 372

Carolin Gluchowski — 2025-12-11

[REVIEW]: Magdalena Biniaś-Szkopek, Marriage in Medieval Poland. A Study of Evidence from the Poznań Consistory Court, 1404–1428, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450, 94, Brill, Leiden – Boston 2024, pp. IX + 293

Adam Krawiec — 2025-12-11

[REVIEW]: Jan Biskupiec, Tractatus contra sacra concilia, ed. by W. Zega, M. Zdanek, trans. by S. Sneddon, Folia Jagiellonica. Fontes, 26, Societas Vistulana, Cracow 2024, pp. LII + 118

Jakub Turek — 2025-12-11

Volume 26 of the Folia Jagiellonica. Fontes series features a critical edition of a treatise by the Dominican and Bishop of Chełm, Jan Biskupiec of Opatowiec (d. 1452), concerning the deposition of Pope Eugene IV by the Council of Basel. The edition, long awaited by scholars, was prepared by two Cracow medievalists, Włodzimierz Zega and Maciej Zdanek. The publication of a primary source, previously known only through a few summaries, deserves particular recognition. The publication, prepared with great care, has made available an important source for the study of fifteenth-century ecclesiology. There is no doubt that this important witness to the influence of late medieval thought on the Church will attract scholarly attention and become the subject of further analysis and in-depth study.

[REVIEW]: Eberhard Ablauff de Rheno, Cronica de novella plantatione provincie Austrie, Bohemie et Polonie quoad fratres Minores de Observantia, ed. by A. Kalous, J. Svobodová, Franciscans and Europe: History, Identity, Memory, 1, Viella, Rome 2024, pp. 190

Marcin Starzyński — 2025-12-11

Graffiti from the Church of the Holy Trinity in Berat, Albania: A Glimpse into Medieval Protective and Pilgrim Culture

Andrea Pambuku — 2025-12-11

This study provides the first in–depth documentation and analysis of the graffiti inscribed on the columns of the church of the Holy Trinity in Berat, Albania. While the church itself has been extensively studied, its graffiti have remained largely overlooked in scholarly discourse. This research aims to address this gap by systematically documenting and categorizing the graffiti, thereby illuminating their historical, social, and religious significance. Despite their limited number, the graffiti offer valuable new data, providing insights into both personal and communal religious practices. Moreover, these inscriptions reflect broader cultural interactions that have shaped the church's history from its construction through the early modern period. The presence of these inscriptions suggests that the church was not only a place of worship but also a focal point for diverse social and spiritual expressions, including pilgrimage activities. By addressing the lack of extant historical records concerning these informal inscriptions, this study enhances our understanding of the multifaceted past of the church. The graffiti reveals how individuals engaged with the sacred space over the centuries, leaving behind traces of devotion, identity, and cultural exchange. This research amplifies the voices of individuals often absent from official narratives, offering a more nuanced perspective on the role of graffiti in medieval and early modern religious settings.

New Dating of the Trials of Astrologer Henry Bohemus

Wojciech Świeboda — 2025-12-11

This essay attempts to determine a new dating of the two trials of Henry the Bohemian, an astrologer acting at the court of Queen Sophia of Holshansk. The above research project was made possible by putting together people who were mentioned in three main sources about the events in question: the legal opinions written by Stanisław of Skarbimierz, the sermon ending the trial delivered by Andrzej of Kokorzyn, and the verdict announced by Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Bishop of Cracow, and Jan the Papal Inquisitor.

Until now, it has been assumed that the events concerning the court astrologer took place around 1429. However, the inquisitor in charge of both trials, Jan of Poland, and the witness, Magister Monald, both died in 1428. Another witness, the royal treasurer Henryk of Rogów, lost his life to a plague in 1425 or 1426. The vicar-general in spiritualibus, whose name is unknown, who took part in the first trial, was no longer in office a year later. Based on the list of known vicars of the Bishopric of Kraków from that period, the trials of Henry of Bohemia can only be dated between 1422 and 1424.

The previous accepted chronology is upset by the shift in the dates of the events in question. It looks like Henry was first put on trial as a heretic and given a life sentence. But soon after the verdict was pronounced the king released him and he subsequently became the court astrologer to Queen Sophia of Halshany.

A Fifteenth-Century Warning Against the Waldensians: An Anonymous Treatise from the Görlitz Manuscript Mil. II 52

Adam Poznański — 2025-12-11

Among the manuscripts formerly held in the library of the Görlitz Gymnasium—known as the Milich Library and now housed at the University Library in Wrocław—there is a codex bearing the shelfmark Mil. II 52. In addition to sermons, quaestiones disputatae, and theological treatises, it contains a short anonymous text directed against the Waldensians, which, as far as current research suggests, survives only in this single copy. Although the work may have been composed somewhat earlier, the manuscript as a whole was copied in the 1460s or 1470s. This suggests that, at that time, someone still perceived the Waldensians as a tangible threat. The treatise draws in part on De inquisitione haereticorum, a work attributed to Pseudo-David of Augsburg, but also includes original passages. Our article contains the first edition of this text, accompanied by an introduction and a concise description of the manuscript.