The Itinerary of King Władysław Łokietek (1320-1333)

Abstract

The itinerary here attempts to reconstruct the system which King Władysław Łokietek used to run the state. The reconstruction is based on the names of places he visited and dates when he sojourned there. The main source of information being the royal documents Łokietek issued in the years 1320-1333. The second group of information consisted of annals and chro­nicles dealing with the period in question, the most valuable being the Rocznik Traski (The Traski Annals). Apart from the Polish annals the author used also the foreign sources, mainly the Teutonic chronicles written by Wiganda, Peter of Dusburg and anonymous writers: the Oliwa chronicle, Chronica terrae Prussiae and the Teutonic diary of the first half of the 14th century. The records of the proceedings in the Polish-Teutonic case going on in the 14th and 15th centuries, especially the trial which took place in 1339. Out of the total number of 130 bits of information collected from the sources as many as 83 come from documents. The number of data for each year varies from 2 to 11 full bits of information (that is, containing exact date, the name of the concrete place and the statement that the king was there). The list of the gathered data allow us to attempt to divide the years of Łokietek's reign (the period of 1320-1333) with regard to the regularity of his tours into two groups. To the first one belong the years from 1320 to 1326 inclusive. It is possible to observe in those years a regularity in the king's tours round Poland. In the remaining years, 1327-1333, despite that there are almost the same places and in similar periods of the year, this regularity was disturbed, the fact which makes it impossible to draw some binding conclusions as to the system of tours in relation to the whole period of Łokietek's reign. It is necessary then to reconstruct the system on the basis of the data from the years mainly of the first group. One should bear in mind, however, that the sources are scarce as regards the matter in question, therefore we should rather talk about hypotheses. Łokietek's sojourn in Little Poland in the years 1320-1326 is confirmed. Usually, he was there in winter or in spring, then in some years during late spring also in Kuyavia. After that he would usually spend some time in Greater Poland in summer and return to Little Poland about autumn. This suggests a relationship between the seasons and his so­journ in particular territories: Little Poland − in winter and autumn, rarely in spring; Kuyavia − a sojourn in spring, Greater Poland − in summer. This may reflect his itinerary of tours around the state which would look as follows: Kraków − Brześć Kujawski − Poznań − Pyzdry − Kalisz − Kraków. It is likely that thus could have looked the king's tour after coronation, although there is no evidence that Łokietek had such a special (and regarded by historian as traditional) tour at all. The period of 1327-1333 was dominated by wars. As a rule, one expedition took place in a year. It is likely that this conspired to disturb the regularity of Łokietek's tours in those years. Among the places the king visited Kraków stands out (1320-1326; sojourns in autumn and in spring; 1327-1333: in spring and summer), then in the years 1320-1326: Poznań, Brześć and Pyzdry, and in the years 1327-1333: Wiślica, Poznań and Sandomierz. It seems that the reason why a certain place was chosen for Łokietek's visit was not only the geographic and political factor but also the religious one. For one can observe a coincidence between the dates of the king's sojourn in some places and the dates of saint patrons of those places. This may suggest that Łokietek took part in feasts and church fetes celebrated at the territory under his reign.