DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23631#0013
THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE
The earliest history of applied art in Polish territories can be drawn up on the basis of archaeological
finds, rare inventories of various treasuries, and information provided by chroniclers, who endeavoured
to embellish their reports with descriptions of the splendours which surrounded the monarchs and their
dignitaries. However these sources are too fragmentary to bring historical reality closer and therefore
can hardly be helpful in writing a comprehensive book on the history of crafts in this early period.
According to scant information on Slavs settled between the Odra and Vistula rivers handed down to
us by foreign historians before the ioth century, these Slavonic tribes maintained numerous political and
economic contacts with advanced countries in the West and with the Byzantine Empire. This is confirmed
by archaeological finds, especially along the so-called Amber Route, travelled by merchants who were
coming from the South to the Baltic coast in search of amber, a material highly prized by jewellers.
Among archaeological finds discovered usually in tribal barrows, objects of Roman provenance dating from
between the ist and 5th centuries figure prominently. These include objects made of bronze, silver and
glass, gold and silver brooches {fibulae), rings, medallions and glass jewelry. From the Roman Empire,
mostly from Gaul, came ornate pottery baked red, with subtle ornamental designs in relief, as well as
Celtic objects, some dating from the last centuries B.C. Glass beads in many different colours were brought
from Egypt, whereas glassware decorated with ribbing and oval cabochons — in dark red, amethyst,
violet and pearl colours, and also multi-coloured known as millefiori — was produced presumably in
the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. by Italian and Rhenish workshops following Alexandrian patterns. In
that early period, of which we know so little, some objects were also manufactured locally, mostly pottery
and objects in wood, and Roman models of silver jewelry were copied.
The great migration of the 5th and 6th centuries and the ultimate fall of the Roman Empire ended the
order established in the course of centuries and struck a deadly blow at industries and trade. It also wrought
significant changes among the Slavonic peoples. Division into Eastern and Western Slavonic language
groups took place in the last centuries B.C. In the early Middle Ages, between the 6th and ioth centuries,
further differences appeared with the emergence of the Polabian, Pomeranian and Polish tribes, Bohemians,
Moravians and Slovaks, Serbs and Croatians. As to the North-Western group, from which the Polish
nation originated, little is known of the material culture of these peoples. Archaeological finds seem to
indicate that locally produced pottery never approached Roman standards, nor was it modelled on Roman
patterns. Primitive earthenware vessels, made probably by women, were ornamented either by means of
two- or seven-pronged combs in parallel vertical and horizontal lines, crosses, chequered, wavy and herring-
bone patterns, or with the help of the end of a stick with stamped decoration. It was not until the ioth
century, when the potter's wheel appeared and pottery making became an occupation of men, that deco-
ration acquired more regular forms of continuous wavy incisions and horizontal bands drawn with the
end of a stick or burin. Archaeological excavations carried out in Poland have frequently yielded numerous
examples of Hun, Avar, Great Moravian, Byzantine, Arabian, Khazar, Ruthenian, Bait, Scandinavian and
Franconian objects. Unquestionably, all of them, above all gold and other jewelry, ornamental horse
harnesses and weapons, exercised a marked influence on local craftsmanship.
The latter half of the ioth century saw the emergence of the Polish state under the rule of the Piast
dynasty. With the acceptance of Christianity in the western rite in 966 the country came under the influence
of rapidly expanding Latin culture and gained sovereignty and independence from its mighty neighbour,
Imperial Germany. Its economy and social structure changed with the development of a network of
stronghold towns. Foreign goods continued to flow in, particularly objects connected with the new reli-
The earliest history of applied art in Polish territories can be drawn up on the basis of archaeological
finds, rare inventories of various treasuries, and information provided by chroniclers, who endeavoured
to embellish their reports with descriptions of the splendours which surrounded the monarchs and their
dignitaries. However these sources are too fragmentary to bring historical reality closer and therefore
can hardly be helpful in writing a comprehensive book on the history of crafts in this early period.
According to scant information on Slavs settled between the Odra and Vistula rivers handed down to
us by foreign historians before the ioth century, these Slavonic tribes maintained numerous political and
economic contacts with advanced countries in the West and with the Byzantine Empire. This is confirmed
by archaeological finds, especially along the so-called Amber Route, travelled by merchants who were
coming from the South to the Baltic coast in search of amber, a material highly prized by jewellers.
Among archaeological finds discovered usually in tribal barrows, objects of Roman provenance dating from
between the ist and 5th centuries figure prominently. These include objects made of bronze, silver and
glass, gold and silver brooches {fibulae), rings, medallions and glass jewelry. From the Roman Empire,
mostly from Gaul, came ornate pottery baked red, with subtle ornamental designs in relief, as well as
Celtic objects, some dating from the last centuries B.C. Glass beads in many different colours were brought
from Egypt, whereas glassware decorated with ribbing and oval cabochons — in dark red, amethyst,
violet and pearl colours, and also multi-coloured known as millefiori — was produced presumably in
the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. by Italian and Rhenish workshops following Alexandrian patterns. In
that early period, of which we know so little, some objects were also manufactured locally, mostly pottery
and objects in wood, and Roman models of silver jewelry were copied.
The great migration of the 5th and 6th centuries and the ultimate fall of the Roman Empire ended the
order established in the course of centuries and struck a deadly blow at industries and trade. It also wrought
significant changes among the Slavonic peoples. Division into Eastern and Western Slavonic language
groups took place in the last centuries B.C. In the early Middle Ages, between the 6th and ioth centuries,
further differences appeared with the emergence of the Polabian, Pomeranian and Polish tribes, Bohemians,
Moravians and Slovaks, Serbs and Croatians. As to the North-Western group, from which the Polish
nation originated, little is known of the material culture of these peoples. Archaeological finds seem to
indicate that locally produced pottery never approached Roman standards, nor was it modelled on Roman
patterns. Primitive earthenware vessels, made probably by women, were ornamented either by means of
two- or seven-pronged combs in parallel vertical and horizontal lines, crosses, chequered, wavy and herring-
bone patterns, or with the help of the end of a stick with stamped decoration. It was not until the ioth
century, when the potter's wheel appeared and pottery making became an occupation of men, that deco-
ration acquired more regular forms of continuous wavy incisions and horizontal bands drawn with the
end of a stick or burin. Archaeological excavations carried out in Poland have frequently yielded numerous
examples of Hun, Avar, Great Moravian, Byzantine, Arabian, Khazar, Ruthenian, Bait, Scandinavian and
Franconian objects. Unquestionably, all of them, above all gold and other jewelry, ornamental horse
harnesses and weapons, exercised a marked influence on local craftsmanship.
The latter half of the ioth century saw the emergence of the Polish state under the rule of the Piast
dynasty. With the acceptance of Christianity in the western rite in 966 the country came under the influence
of rapidly expanding Latin culture and gained sovereignty and independence from its mighty neighbour,
Imperial Germany. Its economy and social structure changed with the development of a network of
stronghold towns. Foreign goods continued to flow in, particularly objects connected with the new reli-