Stan i potrzeby badań nad uzbrojeniem późnośredniowiecznym z obszaru dzisiejszej Polski. Perspektywa nowego millenium
Authors: Michalak Arkadiusz , Marek Lech 
Published: June 2021

Current State of and Needs for Research on the Late Medieval Arms and Armour from the Territory of Present-day Poland.
Perspective of the New MillenniumThe research on the Polish art of war conducted since the 19th century, during the interwar period, gained considerable intensity as aresult of the profound, critical studies on weaponry, documents mentioning the production of the military equipment in the Middle Ages, and iconographic sources concerning medieval military items. The next stage of studies on armament, in the time of Polish People’s Republic, can be associated with the beginning of the so-called ‘Millennium Research’ and the establishment of aweapons’ research centre in Łódź, gathered around Professor Andrzej Nadolski. The rapid development of archaeological excavations (which has taken place since the beginning of the 1990s and was on alarge scale extended to mediaeval towns and castles) resulted in asignificant increase in numbers of finds of military artefacts. Several source publications are associated with it, which emphasised the importance of finds of artefacts as well-established, independent objects enabling dating of the strata from which they were obtained.One should pay attention to several works that in the last two decades can be considered as milestones in the studies on the late-medieval armaments from the Polish territory. The synthesis Uzbrojenie wPolsce średniowiecznej 1450–1500 (Armaments in Late Medieval Poland in 1450–1500), summarising the current state of knowledge on military equipment, should be considered extremely important. Undoubtedly, Lech Marek’s book on cold steel arms should also be listed here. Significant progress was also made in the field of firearms, thanks to the works of Jan Szymczak and Piotr Strzyż. The symbolism of military equipment, broadly discussed in the works of Olgierd Ławrynowicz and Lech Marek, has also become an important direction of new research.However, there would not be such noticeable progress if it were not for the involved researchers. Marian Głosek, Piotr Strzyż, Olgierd Ławrynowicz, Piotr Świątkiewicz, Radosław Zdaniewicz, and Wojciech Wasiak are still very vigorously active in the field of military equipment studies. For many years, valuable works have been published by Antoni Romuald Chodyński, the curator of the weapon collection of the Malbork Castle Museum. Extremely important research on the technology of weaponry is implemented by Grzegorz Żabiński from the Institute of History, Jan Długosz Academy in Częstochowa. In the west of Poland, Lech Marek from Wrocław, Arkadiusz Michalak from Zielona Góra, and Andrzej Janowski from Szczecin persistently follow the path marked by Krzysztof Wachowski. It is also impossible not to mention the initiator of the establishment of the journal Acta Militaria Mediaevalia, Piotr Kotowicz from Sanok, publishing materials from today’s south-eastern Poland. The above-mentioned journal is akind of glue connecting the new generation of researchers.The enormous development of weaponry studies is undoubtedly associated with the participation of medieval historians in this research. Jan Szymczak and Tadeusz Grabarczyk from Łódź, and Mateusz Goliński from Wrocław have invaluable merits in the development of written sources concerned with the armament, manufacturing, and use of arms in today’s Poland. In the recent years the interdisciplinary approach to research has been developing intensively, covering not only the artefacts of arms themselves, but also studies on iconography, written records, symbolism of weapons as well as laboratory analyses and experimental reconstructions. Alot of emphasis has been placed on archaeometry and metallography of military equipment artefacts, enabling the discussion on the technology of their production and significantly extending the aspects of the studies themselves, which also creates great opportunities for interpretation. The idea of regional studies on weapons should be continued also for the late-medieval materials, which would allow to observe local differences in the popularity of individual types, as well as apace of implementing innovations and possible delays. Despite many annually published studies on sources, excavated in the course of archaeological research in our country, some regions of Poland are still blanks in terms of military equipment used there (Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Masovia). There is also anoticeable lack of comprehensive studies on the transitional armament, mainly covering the 13th century. The necessary condition for such studies seems to be aprofound inquiry, also in materials obtained during excavations from the past.Strict heritage protection of historic spaces and the related obligation to conduct archaeological excavations during investments, as well as the use of metal detectors on an increasing scale, resulted in the significant expansion of collections, which enables typological and chronological analyses as well as the recognition of not previously listed categories of military artefacts: caltrops, falchions, battle flails, maces, axes. The state of knowledge regarding shields still seems to be unsatisfactory. Not much is known about medieval royal armaments, despite several articles devoted to weapons having belonged to individual rulers. Unfortunately, there is anoticeable shortage of synthetic studies devoted to the horse tack and equestrian equipment, despite the existing works on particular parts of harnesia.Asignificant increase in the number of materials related to the armaments of burghers and urban garrisons (materials from Elbląg, Wrocław, Międzyrzecz, Krosno) allows completing the picture emerging from the analysis of bourgeois laws, inventories, and wills. Acomprehensive study of the military artefacts from Gdańsk is therefore much expected. The materials from towns allow for many conclusions regarding manufacturing of armaments by producers concentrated in guilds. Asignificant increase in the number of publications of late medieval materials from castles and strongholds allows analogous conclusions regarding the level of proficiency of manufacturers working for the needs of armed crews.It is also impossible to ignore the importance of museum studies in the fields of arms. In this context, one should note the gradual publication of the military collections of the National Museums (in Wrocław and Cracow).The underwater archaeological research, which has recently brought ahuge increase in the number of discovered military artefacts (often with preserved organic elements: leather, wood, bone), also contributed to developing the knowledge on the arms from the area of northern Poland used in the Late Middle Ages. Further technological progress related to environmental studies and remote-sensing research, connected with the spread of metal detectors and the methods of their use, as well as recent discoveries in Europe related to Battlefield Archaeology have also contributed to the renewed interest in researching battlegrounds in Poland.Looking ahead, however, it is difficult to be optimistic. The aforementioned lack of strong traditions in the field of military equipment studies currently developing in Poland in scattered research institutions, as well as the situation in university centres severely limits the possibilities of educating successors of researchers who are currently giving the direction and pace of Polish studies on late medieval armament.