Suchergebnisse

Abstract
The paper addresses the issue of the origins of the town of Poznań founded in mid-13th century under German law. The birth of the charter town on the left bank of the Warta river is illustrated first and foremost by sources: documents from the mid-13th century, particularly a location charter of 1253, and narrative sources, e.g. The Wielkopolska Chronicle and yearly records written in Wielkopolska. The town was the work of Przemysł I, the duke of Wielkopolska, who sorted out property issues on the left bank of the Warta, made grants and granted privileges, erected his new castle next to the new town, and together with his brother Bolesław issued a location charter in 1253. The duke's action resulted in the rise of one of the most important urban centers in medieval Poland.

Seit wann, nach welchen Mustern und Vorbildern, in welchen politischen und sozialen Zusammenhängen, aus welchen ideellen und materiellen Motiven haben polnische Herrscher und weltliche Große Kirchen und Klöster gestiftet, sie mit Besitz ausgestattet, ihnen Reliquien übergeben und heilige Patrone zugeschrieben? Auf diese Fragen gibt der Sammelband in 14 vom Herausgeber zusammengestellten und eingeleiteten neuesten Einzelstudien polnischer Mediävisten Antworten. Er bietet damit nicht nur einen Einblick in den aktuellen Stand der polnischen Forschung, sondern erstmals in deutscher Sprache einen Überblick über die Sakralstiftungen der piastischen Herrscher und Großen im mittelalterlichen Polen.

The origin of the Piast dynasty is a matter of lively discussions and disputes. At least a few controversial hypotheses exist, but their credibility is difficult to assess due to the scarcity of written as well as material sources, especially from the time of Polish state formation. Life sciences, however, can support history and archeology. Application of genetic tests, used earlier mainly in forensic laboratories, enabled identification of the remains of King Richard III, the Romanov dynasty members and Nicolaus Copernicus. Contemporary DNA studies, based on next generation DNA sequencing, outreach the narrow area of known markers such as mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and selected regions of Y chromosome. Although ancient DNA (aDNA), extracted from remains, is usually highly degraded and contaminated with genetic material of microorganisms, there are methods which allow for the analysis of such material and retrieval of information about origin, kinship and some phenotypic features of an individual. Genetic studies of the Piast dynasty, a subject of our research project, have to deal with numerous difficulties. In or der to gain access to bone samples, we need to meet a number of formal requirements. Moreover, despite the existence of available abundant documentation on the Piast burials, the actual situation is not always consistent with the written sources. Our first experiences show how difficult it is to localize the remains, identify them and extract DNA of sufficient quality.