Krakow and Wrocław’s correspondence with the Main Town of Gdańsk in the late medieval period

Abstract

The subject of this article is the correspondence between Gdańsk and the cities of Krakow and Wrocław in the late medieval period. Only letters between the municipal authorities of these cities are considered herein. The sources on which this article is based consist of letters sent from Krakow (24) and Wrocław (37) to Gdańsk’s Main Town council. The second group of sources is provided by city records featuring copies of letters (known as “missiva”) sent from Gdańsk to the aforementioned cities (Ref. No. APGd, 300, 27/1–12). These records include copies of 10 letters sent to Krakow, 22 – sent to Wrocław and two – sent to both cities. In this article the letters have been divided into six thematic groups. They cover topics concerning membership of the Hansa (in particular regarding the participation of city representatives in Hanseatic assemblies), as well as trade, financial obligations, rents, inheritances and other issues. This correspondence illustrates the problems which occurred in Gdańsk’s relations with Krakow and Wrocław. In the late medieval period these cities belonged to different economic zones: Gdańsk was part of the Baltic zone, whilst Krakow and Wrocław belonged to the upper-German zone. This, however, was no obstacle to mutual contacts. Up until the latter half of the 15th century, all of these cities were united in their membership of the Hanseatic League. The statistical analysis carried out in this article reveals that matters concerning all manner of payments and movement of goods between these cities predominated in their correspondence. Gdańsk’s contacts with Krakow and with Wrocław also had certain distinctive features. Many of the letters exchanged with Wrocław (particularly in the first half of the 15th century) pertained to rents, which were purchased by Gdańsk citizens and subsequently not redeemed on time by Wrocław. In Gdańsk’s relations with Krakow, this problem occurred very rarely.