Public Houses in Cracow During the Jagiellonian Dynasty
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Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 12-2019 Karczma/Taberna: Public Houses in Cracow during the Jagiellonian Dynasty Peter Paul Dobek Western Michigan University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the European History Commons Recommended Citation Dobek, Peter Paul, "Karczma/Taberna: Public Houses in Cracow during the Jagiellonian Dynasty" (2019). Dissertations. 3537. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/3537 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. KARCZMA/TABERNA: PUBLIC HOUSES IN CRACOW DURING THE JAGIELLONIAN DYNASTY by Peter Paul Dobek A dissertation submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy History Western Michigan University December 2019 Doctoral Committee: James R. Palmitessa, Ph.D., Chair Robert F. Berkhofer, Ph.D. James M. Murray, Ph.D. Piotr S. Górecki, Ph.D. Copyright by Peter Paul Dobek 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to begin by thanking the individuals and organizations that have made it possible for me to complete this study. They provided the nourishment, encouragement, feedback, and financing necessary to examine the public houses of Cracow during the Jagiellonian Dynasty—a topic that has captivated me from the beginning and has brought me much enjoyment. I must first give thanks to my family—Edward, Elizabeth, Rafal, and Steve Dobek. They have provided endless support and encouragement from the very beginning. They always supported my decision to pursue the things in life that bring me the most joy. Without them, I would not be in this position and would not have completed my project. They have made it possible for me to pursue my dreams. I would next like to thank the members of my committee. Dr. James R. Palmitessa, Dr. Robert F. Berkhofer, Dr. James M. Murray, and Dr. Piotr S. Górecki have provided the support and feedback to make the realization of this project possible. I would especially like to thank Dr. Palmitessa for meticulously guiding me for the last seven years through the entire doctoral process. Without his encouragement, feedback, reminders, and support this project would not have been completed. Many different organizations have also made this work possible and I owe them many thanks. I would like to express my gratitude to the Department of History at Western Michigan University for giving a Polish-American student from Chicago the opportunity and the means to pursue a dream. The many faculty members and students welcomed me warmly from the ii Acknowledgements—Continued beginning and allowed me to mature as a graduate student. They have always encouraged me to go out for some much-needed fresh air. I would also like to recognize Jason Glatz, the maps specialist at WMU, for helping create the wonderful maps. I likewise thank the Fulbright Program and the Kosciuszko Foundation for generously supporting my ambitions and allowing me to spend countless hours at the Jagiellonian University and in the National Archives in beautiful Cracow, Poland. I am equally indebted to the faculty and staff at the Jagiellonian University, National Archives, and other Polish institutions, especially Professor Stanisław Sroka, Professor Marcin Starzynski, Professor Zdzisław Noga, and Dr. Waldemar Bukowski who had warmly welcomed an “American” to Poland and openly shared their wisdom. I would lastly like to recognize Dr. Lezlie Knox for encouraging me as a freshman at Marquette University to pursue Medieval Studies. All of these wonderful individuals, organizations, and institutions have made this endeavor a reality. Peter Paul Dobek iii KARCZMA/TABERNA: PUBLIC HOUSES IN CRACOW DURING THE JAGIELLONIAN DYNASTY Peter Paul Dobek, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 2019 Public houses—inns, taverns, and alehouses—during the Jagiellonian Dynasty (1385- 1572) in the city of Cracow and its immediate surroundings functioned as important establishments in the everyday life of the city. While the city continued to grow and prosper as the preferred residence of the dynasty, inhabitants, travelers, and migrants increasingly relied on the public houses of the conurbation to meet their many needs and desires. Although scholars have studied these establishments throughout Europe during various epochs, they have neglected to analyze the public houses in Cracow during the Jagiellonian era. This study provides a comprehensive examination of a multitude of sources, including records of court cases, municipal accounting, building inspections, royal decrees, tax accounts, university litigation, personal correspondence, and literary sources, to reconstruct qualitatively and quantitatively the public houses of the city. This reconstruction reveals public houses' role in the history of the city, their locations, edifices, related activities, and people, including publicans, clients, and others. The study places the establishments of Cracow at the center of a deeply debated topic about the extent and types of violence in public houses, which further addresses their many functions. Contrary to what has been suggested by some of the contemporary accounts and some current secondary literature, the establishments were fundamental to the everyday life of the city and they were not centers of nefarious acts. TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... ii Maps ............................................................................................................................................. vii Cracowian Weights and Measures in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries ..................... ix Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 Scholarship on Public Houses in Europe during the Medieval and Early Modern Periods ....... 2 Polish Historiography of Public Houses ..................................................................................... 4 The Purpose ................................................................................................................................ 6 The Resources ............................................................................................................................. 9 The Chapters ............................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter One: The Rise of the City and Its Public Houses ...................................................... 21 The Development of the City as a Political, Economic, and Religious Center ........................ 22 Cracow as “A Principal Seat of Royal Power” ......................................................................... 28 The City from the Tenth to the Thirteenth Centuries ............................................................... 31 The Formal Establishment of Cracow as a City ....................................................................... 34 Cracow during the Reunification of the Polish Lands .............................................................. 48 Cracow during the Reign of the Jagiellonians .......................................................................... 56 Cracow Reaches Its Zenith ....................................................................................................... 63 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 67 Chapter Two: The Public Houses of Cracow ........................................................................... 68 The Public Houses .................................................................................................................... 68 Locations ............................................................................................................................... 68 The Buildings ........................................................................................................................ 72 Piwnica Świdnicka ................................................................................................................ 81 Activities ................................................................................................................................... 86 Food and Drink ..................................................................................................................... 86 Lodging ................................................................................................................................. 99 Other Services ..................................................................................................................... 100 Regulations ......................................................................................................................... 102 Expenses ............................................................................................................................. 105 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 111 Chapter