Bridging the Baltic – The Case of Early Modern Gdańsk Bridging the Baltic - The Case of Gdańsk in the Baltic Sea Region in Early Modern Times Michał Salamonik head of School: Martin Wottle supervisor: Heiko Droste Södertörn University The School of Historical and Contemporary Studies / Historical Department PhD in History (expected graduation date: 09.2016) [email protected] Stockholm 2013 1 Bridging the Baltic – The Case of Early Modern Gdańsk I. INTRODUCTION This Citty [Danzig] exceeds (I) in trafficke, (2) plenty, (3) voluptuousnesse, (4) pride, (5) arts. (I) For trafficke: wittnesse Near 200000 tonnes of Corne, besides other commodities brought yearly down out of Poland (…) (2) For Plenty: see their Marketts (…) with Flesh, Fish, Chace, Wildffoule, Fruits, herbes, rootes, etts., such store, such variety and Soe Cheape (…) that I have yet seene. (3) Their voluptousnesse: Manifested in their banketts, Meales (…) long Sittings, especially att Weddings, which is commonly 5, 6 and 7 hours att a dinner, their drincking answearable by Men. (…) (4) Their pride: chiefly in their Apparell, not to bee paralleled, especially by the yonger Sort (…) (5) And lastly, For arts and Sciences: their artificiall Clocke tower and Chimes the best I have yett seene (…).1 In those words Peter Mundy (1600-1667), an English merchant and traveller, presented the city of Gdańsk (Danzig)2 in his Travels3. During his seven-year residence in Gdańsk (from 1641 to 1647), Mundy described in detail various aspects of the city and its inhabitants.4 Consequently, his description became one of the most valuable and unique publications of the 17th century, but it is still not well-known, as stated by T. Zarębska.5 What were Mundy’s impressions and reflections during his stay in the city? – this paper will be governed by this perspective. Gdańsk, one of the Baltic Sea’s foremost harbour cities, played a significant role in connecting the North with South, the West with East through out its entire history. This city was also a bridge between the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean World. On the threshold of the modern times, Gdańsk became an asylum for hundreds of refugees. The city can be briefly characterised by the Hanseatic architecture, rich traditions of merchant trade and the water – the Baltic Sea and rivers – Motława (Mottlau) and Wisła (Vistula). Those elements strongly influenced the creation of the modern cityscape and they are directly connected with other factors, such as religious tolerance or preserving 1 Ibidem, pp. 214-215.[The bold font of the first line by the author] 2 In this paper, the Polish name of the city of Gdańsk will be used. Other forms such as Danzig, Gedanum, Dantzick or similar, which occur in the sources and in the secondary literature, will be given in their original forms. The rule refers mainly to quotations. 3 P. Mundy, The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667, vol. IV, Travels in Europe, 1639-1647, ed. R. C. Temple, London 1925; (http://archive.org/stream/travelspetermun00mundgoog#page/n12/mode/2up; 14-05-2013). The descriptions of his travels were written mostly by a clerk, but with corrections by Mundy, while illustrations were made by Mundy himself. Information about P. Mundy comes from Dictionary of National Biography ed. S. Lee, vol. 39: Morehead-Myles, London 1894, p. 303. 4 He has to leave the city due to the Civil War in England: Having spent almost 7 yeares tyme in this place and to and Fro, much of it much against my will, yet Neverthelesse with an ill will must I leave the place, by reason of the troubles in England which were not yet stilled. However, occasiones compelled Mee to leave those parts and retire home (P. Mundy, op. cit., p. 219). 5 Compare with the statement by T. Zarębska during the discussion on the role of merchants in the political sphere, MG, pp. 187-193. 2 Bridging the Baltic – The Case of Early Modern Gdańsk of city’s neutrality. Those in turn affected the development of the multicultural metropolitan area on the Baltic Sea’s south coast. The overall aim of this paper is to present the role of the city of Gdańsk in the Baltic Sea Region in early modern times. The study will consider some lines of the city’s development on the basis of the contemporary art, cartographical and written sources and the secondary literature as well. The paper focuses mainly on the political, commercial, communicative and religious aspects of urban development. Moreover, the description and analysis of the historical processes expressed above can contribute to the perception of the city as a patria for its inhabitants. Bridging the Baltic – The Case of Gdańsk in the Baltic Sea Region in Early Modern Times intends to shed light on the local and transnational role of Gdańsk. a. Research questions The focus of this article lies in the question how, rather than why, the location of Gdańsk on the Baltic coast influenced its growth. The location of the city is understood not only as geographical position or political affiliation, but also the role of a node in the communication, trade, culture and religion. In other words, the conditional factors, which caused geopolitical position of this city, will be searched for. The main research questions are as follows: what role did Gdańsk play in the Baltic Sea Region, and what the meaning of the seaas a boundary area was in general in early modern times. The overview of the various aspects of city daily life is necessary in order to answer the aforementioned questions. That is why the main issues as demographic, social, economical, religious and political conditions will be analysed. The scale of processes taking place in this city can significantly contribute to understanding how the Baltic Area looked like in early modern times, and it can lead to the comparison with other parts of the world as well. b. Time frame In the historiography of the city of Gdańsk, the period from 1466 to 1655 is usually called its Golden Age (Danzigs Goldenes Zeitalter), thereby indicates its early modern character.6 The dynamic growth, the influences of the Reformation and information revolution can be observed during this period, which symbolizes the transformation from a medieval cityscape to an early modern harbour municipality. The beginning of this period is connected with the Second Peace Treaty of Thorn (1466), which ended the Thirteen Years’ War, and then the Royal Prussia together with Gdańsk came under the rule of the Polish king, while the year 1655 is marked by the Swedish - Polish war called commonly as the Swedish Deluge (potop in Polish historiography and Karl X Gustavs polska krig in Swedish historiography). This war devastated Polish-Lithuanian agriculture and at the same time 6 Cf. the terminology and the division of Gdańsk’s history into periods: E. Cieślak, C. Biernat, History of Gdańsk, Gdańsk 1995.; P.O. Loew, Danzig, Biographie einer Stadt, München 2011. 3 Bridging the Baltic – The Case of Early Modern Gdańsk weakened the dynamism of Gdańsk’s trade; therefore the Deluge is very often associated with the end of the city’s Golden Age. However, even the second part of the 17th century can be described as a good period in the city’s development caused by rebuilding of the war-damaged infrastructure. That is why the great period of the city can be estimated as lasting from the mid-15th to the end of the 17th century. c. Primary sources The overall aim of this paper is to present the processes occurring in early modern Gdańsk in the Baltic Sea Region. Gdańsk as a bridge requires some analysis of the city’s location and architecture and the contemporary realities. For this purpose, some of the cartographic and art sources will be discussed, mainly Carta Marina by Olaus Magnus, originally composed during Magnus’s stay in Gdańsk7, ceiling paintings by Izaak van den Blocke in the Gdańsk’s main city hall8 and lithographic illustrations contained in Der Stadt Dantzig historische Beschreibung9 by Georg Reinhold Curicken. The description over the contemporary city will be based on the written records by Peter Mundy in The Travels of Peter Mundy in Europe and Asia, 1608-1667. d. Secondary sources The literature of the subject is quite extensive and it concerns both Polish and German historiography. There are a lot of publications which deal with the history of Gdańsk, however it should be highlighted that its history became often a subject of spreading and deepening of Polish and German antagonisms. This kind of historical writing prevailed in historiography mostly before and after the Second World War. In spite of this, in the last decennia historians have attempted to analyse the common history in a more objective way. The most comprehensive work on the Gdańsk’s history is available in five volumes of Historia Gdańska.10 In 1988, a one-volume English version based on his previous work in Polish was published by E. Cieślak.11 The history of Gdańsk was 7 [Carta Marina] [Cartographical material] opus Olai Magni Gotti Licopensis; ex typis Antonii Lafreri Seguani, Rom 1572; (http://ds.kb.se/?mapp=5&fil=kartor/CartaMarina1572_auto; 14-05-2013). Firtsly printed in Venice in 1539. 8 See reproductions ceiling paintings by Izaak van den Blocke in: T. Zarębska, Budowle i urządzenia komunalne Gdańska w jego złotym wieku, Mieszczaństwo Gdańskie [hereinafter referred to as MG], Sesja Naukowa 21/23.11.1996, ed. S. Salmonowicz, Gdańsk 1997, p. 345.; Braunburg R., Engler M., Danzig, das Werder und die Kaschubische Schweiz, Hamburg 1990, pp. 24-25. 9 G. R. Curicke, Der Stadt Dantzig historische Beschreibung [...]/ Verfasset und zusamen getragen durch Reinhold Curicken [...]: Unitzo aber mit sonderbahrem Fleiss, nebst vielen dazu gehörigen Kupferstücken in offentlichen Druck aussgegeben [...], Amsterdam und Dantzig 1687; (http://pbc.gda.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=10164&from=FBC; 14-05-2013).