Poland Study Abroad Final

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture on medieval colonization, agrarian practices, and village layouts.

Landscape

The rural scene shaped jointly by physical, biological, and cultural processes; must be studied holistically.

Colonization (12th–13th c.)

peaked in the 13th century

orderly process of establishing new villages and towns or granting new laws to existing ones

organized by rulers through land allocators

Land Allocator

Agent who recruited settlers, arranged contracts, oversaw clearing and village layout, and received 2-3x extra land and the title of soltys

Sołtys (Schultheiss)

Hereditary village headman title awarded to land allocators, holding 2–3× more land than ordinary peasants.

Three-Field System

Medieval farming method dividing land into spring crop, winter crop, and fallow, boosting yields.

Agrarian Revolution

Productivity surge brought about by adopting the three-field rotation and related techniques.

Field Rotation

The ordered cycle of spring field, fallow pasture, and winter field within the three-field system.

Spring Field (jare)

Section sown in spring with oats, barley, or millet; harvested late.

Winter Field (ozima)

Field sown in autumn with rye or wheat, sprouting before winter and harvested early after snow cover.

Fallow (ugór)

Plot left uncultivated for a year, grazed by livestock whose manure fertilized the soil.

Niwa Field System

field intended for one of the three crops. there are separated narrow areas for each serf

forced the whole village to work as a group

village in the middle of the field

Łan Field System

Individual layout granting each settler one long strip (łan) for private three-field cultivation; houses scatter the main road.

each farmer has poor and good land

Ridge and Furrow

Wave-like surface created by centuries of plowing; mostly erased by modern plows, survives on long-unused land.

Owalnica (Oval Village)

Village encircled by fields with a central oval green containing pond, church, inn, etc.; often fenced with gates.

Linear Village

Settlement stretched along a single road; typical in cleared forests or mountain areas, each farm on its own strip.

Multipath Village (Wielodrożnica)

Old Slavic form with chaotic roads, fragmented fields, no central square; also seen among Germanic tribes.

Traditional Farmhouse

Wooden, thatched or shingled house with three rooms: living room (izba), hall (sien), and storeroom/bedroom (komora)

Living Room (Izba)

Primary heated room of a traditional rural house.

Hall (Sień)

Entrance passageway of the three-room farmhouse. Animals would stay in during the winter

Storeroom (Komora)

Bedroom or storage chamber in the traditional farmhouse.

Croft (Zagroda)

Enclosed yard with house, barn, and cowshed; house usually placed gable-end toward the road.

Feudal system

the lord gives hereditary land but expects rent in return

can be money, nature, or work

Ian of land

15-17 ha

causes for feudalism

rise of the professionalization of the army

increase in grain prices

inflation

increase in productivity

exploitation of peasants

work, rent, coach services, rent in nature, obligation to grind grain, brewing of beer forbidden

peasant punishments

beating, flogging, jougs, destroying houses, removal from the village, death penalty

Sarmatian ideology

Beliefs of Polish nobility where they believed they were descendants of the steppe Sarmatians who conquered local tribes. This justified their social relations, exploitation, and complete loss of political rights by peasants and townspeople.

peasant forms of resistance

working slowly, tampering with tools, escaping from the village, rebellion

Galician slaughter (1846)

A mass killing of Polish nobles by peasants in Galicia, motivated by poverty and resentment, leading to a significant social upheaval. Peasants killed around 1000 nobles and destroyed about 500 manors.

Jakub Szela

A polish leader of the peasant uprising in 1846

Oskar Kolberg

Polish ethnographer and folklorist, known for his extensive research on Polish folklore, customs, and regional cultures. He documented and published numerous works that preserved the diverse traditions of Poland.

Wrote 33 volumes of “People. It’s customs, ways of life, speech, legends, proverbs, rituals, witchcraft, games, songs, music and dances.”

Jozef Burszta

Polish ethnographer and folklorist, known for his studies on Greater Polish culture and traditions. He contributed significantly to the understanding of regional customs and folklore. He studied the Polish countryside after WW2

Boleslaw 1 the Brave

The first king of Poland, known for his military conquests and expansion of the Polish Christian state in the 10th century.

Mieszko 1

First known ruler of Poland and considered the founder of the Polish state. He expanded territory and accepted Christianity in 966, which protected the country from attacks from other Christian countries in Western Europe.

Boleslaw III the Wrymouth

Divided the kingdom between his sons and his widow which initiated the feudal fragmentation of Poland

14th century Poland

Poland is reunited as a kingdom

the importance of nobility increases after the death of the last of the Piast dynasty (Kazimierz the Great)

A union with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania begins

16th century

the golden age of Poland. Better tools and good harvests

Noble farms and serfdom slowly increases

17th century

the worst century for the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. Numerous wars, worse harvests and nobility raises serfdom to 6 days a week to save income

18th century

Poland loses it’s independence and becomes a part of 3 different countries: Russian empire, Prussia, and Austria

Abolishment of serfdom

1851 - Prussia

1848 - Austria

1864 - Russia

20th century

Polish independence but within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union

Agrarian reform 1944-1948

1.2 million hectares divided among 387,000 peasant families

Gac

first mentioned in 1335 when a catholic parish church was built

developed along a trade route

parish liquidated in 1550

cropmarks

growth is better in areas with deeper soil, thanks to the digging of ditches in the past, and worse in areas with a stone feature

processes that make bones fragile/fragmented

erosion, weathering, plant root growth, animal activities, human activities (trash pits, ag equipment)

harvest

lasts 6-7 weeks

grain is cut by women using a sickle

men arrange sheaves

collected in barn after initial drying

threshing

cereals/grains and hit with flails

screening

grain is sifted and tossed into the wind with a shovel. grain will fall and extra bits will blow away

rye

the most popular grain

700-800 kg from 1 hectare in 19th century

barley and oats

second most popular grains

800-900 kg per hectare in the 19th century

wheat

mainly for sale and only grown on the best land

Bryja

polish soup made from millet, oats and legumes that were turned into patties and baked. eaten warm and could be stored for a long time

19th century

bread becomes the basis of nutrition

POTATOES

bread

made using rye flour

special knife for cutting bread

cabbage

three types of ensilage (pickling) depending on the type of leaves

mass ensiling in the fall

meat

pigs were killed once a year and only eaten during celebrations such as weddings, baptisms and funerals

the wealthiest farmers ate meat 3 days a week, sundays, tuesdays and thursdays

meals

breakfast, first dinner, dinner, afternoon tea, and supper

eaten on the floor around the bench and from a common bowl

Greater Poland Beliefs on Death

death is the separation of the body and soul, though the soul may return under special circumstances

after death, the soul stays near the body until it is placed in the grave

Heralds of Death

harbinger = a black dog, sometimes howling with mouth pointed towards the sky

owl hoot, dream of tearing teeth, a picture falling off the wall

sudden death

murder, drowning, accident

generally considered very bad deaths as there is no time to prepare

long dying

sickness

the best type of death as you have time to prepare. ways to quicken death include holding a candle to the hand, removing pillows from the bed, and moving the dying person to a floor covered in straw

suicide

taboo and a disgrace to the family

a cardinal sin in Catholicism

preparation of the body

remove the candle and darken the room

cover mirrors and stop clocks

washing of the body was done by the village old hag as touching the body was taboo

shave and dress body

funeral ceremonies

dark room, coffin on table, funeral gifts such as coins and religious accessories

last THREE days after death

empty nights

whole family gathers to sing and pray through the whole night

preparation for actual funeral

before closing the lid, touching the dead person is allowed as well as crying, but shedding a tear on the body is bad luck

after closing, overturn all furniture as a way to confuse the soul so it wont come back to the house

funeral procession

black horse

coffin cannot by carried by relatives

older people are carried by men, girls are carried by boys, boys by girls, virgins by bachelors and bachelors by virgins

overtaking or crossing the path is bad luck

may not look back

graves

dug with head facing west and legs facing east

during resurrection, the deceased would rise and immediately see the sunrise and Jesus

funeral party

a feast with vodka, bread and meat is held after the funeral

can either be somber or joyous

mourning behavior

wore black outfits

avoided games and dancing and it was forbidden to remarry to 1 year and 6 weeks after the funeral

duration of grief

husband/wife/parents - 1 year

adult children - 6months-1year

little kids - sometimes no mourning

siblings - 1 year

other relatives - 6 weeks