This article, published in two instalments, deals with the problem of the origins of towns in the landed estates of the Poznań bishopric in the 13 th-14th centuries. At the outset the author reconstructs the borders of the Poznań bishopric, founded as a result o f the Gniezno "Summit" of the year 1000. Next, follow in the latest archaeological and historical research and taking into account the geographical factors, he discusses the historic settlem ent process in the lands of the Poznań bishopric. Then, on the basis of extant written sources and recent literature, he reconstructs the original endowments of the Poznań bishopric and their growth until the end of the 14th century. It can be assumed that c. 1370 the holdings of the bishops of Poznań included 176 villages, 138 of them in Wielkopolska and 38 in Mazovia, Kujawy and Pomerania. The fastest num erical grow th of the episcopal estates took place in the second half of the 13th and early 14th century, when the 102 village settlements were added to the list (73.9 % of the total). The founding of new towns was an important factor of the economic growth of the landed estates of the Poznań bishopric. Until 1564 ten new towns were incorporated in the Poznań bishops’ latifundia (eight in Wielkopolska and two, Stoczek and Łaskarzew, in Mazovia). Of the latter one (Wielichowo) was founded in the 15th century, while the remaining seven (Buk, Dolsk, Krobia, Pszczew , Słupca, Ślesin , Środka) were all founded in the 13th-14th century. Part One of this article focu ses on the incorporations of Środka, Pszczew and Słupca (all dating back to the 13th century); the beginnings of the rem aining four Wielkopolska towns will be discussed in Part Two.
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.