Spór polsko-krzyżacki w kronice Jana Długosza

For the present in the Annales point of view on the Polish-Teutonic dispute, the primary importance was the victorious ending of the Thirteen Years’ War, which Długosz had witnessed, and additionally – a decades-distance in time between the baptism of Lithuania and Samogitia as well as the Grunwald victory and Council of Constance, and the period of writing of the Annales. These two circumstances led the canon of Cracow to present the events from the perspective of the sustainability of the effects of Polish Christianization, as well as military and political successes, opening the history of Poland becoming more powerful and acceding to fulfill its historical mission in that part of Europe (“rampart”). From this perspective, the Polish-Teutonic dispute was significant, but belonged to the past. In Długosz’s depiction the durability of Lithuanian and Samogitian Christianization, which finalized Polish-Teutonic relations in the “christanitas”, resulted in focusing attention on territorial matters (Conciliar so-called legal process), and not on the issue of Christianization (Conciliar socalled doctrine process). For a historian, the most important matter is not missionary activity, but Teutonic aggression causing Polish territorial losses and The Recovery action. For Jan Długosz – a man of the late Middle Ages, the most important values were piety and patriotism. The first manifested itself in the vision of God punishing those who appropriate the property of others, and a God who is showing his mercy through the victorious for the Polish side result of Thirteen Years’ War. The value of the second manifested itself in making the interest of the Polish state, from public-law perspective, the most important criterion for assessing people and events. The outcome of these values was a two-fold depiction of the parties in the Polish-Teutonic conflict. This was reflected in the writings with the portrayal of the Teutonic Knights as insidious aggressors, of the judges adjudicating in their favor as being biased, and in criticizing Polish rulers and their advisers who abandoned efforts to recover lost lands. Another manifestation involved praising the rulers aiming at the recovery of losses, that is proceeding in accordance with the interests of Poland, and the depiction of so ruling judges as conscientious and reliable. The indicated twofoldedness was also reflected in Długosz’s account of peace treaties and verdicts.