The earliest written account of the British hero Arthur, credited with defending the islands against the Saxon invasion, dates back to the ninth century. Under the influence of Geoffrey of Monmouth’s work, this figure was transformed into King Arthur, a just ruler and a formidable conqueror. The flourishing of chivalric and courtly culture in Western Europe contributed to the emergence of chivalric romances set at Arthur’s court, with central roles played by the knights gathered around the Round Table. In Poland, knightly culture did not develop to the same extent as in Western Europe, but its characteristic features reached Polish lands mainly through German and Czech influences. No extant evidence exists of Polish versions of the Arthurian legend, but this does not mean that they were unknown to Polish society. This article shows that the Arthurian tradition also left its mark on the culture of medieval Poland. The most striking evidence of its reception is found in works of art, yet Arthurian themes also inspired chroniclers and provided motifs for heraldry and sigillography. Familiarity with the stories of the Knights of the Round Table in Poland is also further suggested by the appearance of personal names inspired by literary characters.

This paper examines an episode recorded by the Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, in which the newly converted priest Coifi destroys a pagan temple during the Christianization of Northumbria under King Edwin. The study explores the taboos against riding a stallion and bearing arms – prohibitions which, according to Bede, were observed by pagan priests and which Coifi transgressed in an act of profanation. Critical scholarly interpretations, which treat Bede’s account as a Christianizing fiction and explain these taboos by analogy with norms governing Christian clergy, fail to account for all elements of the story. While acknowledging Bede’s literary creativity, the article argues that the account was based on an authentic oral tradition. When compared with other medieval sources on Scandinavian paganism and the practices of other Indo-European peoples, it is plausible that Northumbria under King Edwin maintained an institution of the sacred horse, whose desecration at the onset of Christianization became the basis of an oral tradition that Bede creatively adapted a century later.

The article investigates the methods of adult baptism and the organization of the Christianization campaign that the Polish side conducted in Lithuania and Samogitia from the late 14th century to the mid-15th century. It discusses the mass conversion of the pagan populace after the baptism of
Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, as documented by Jan Długosz, Polish and Lithuanian representatives at the Council of Constance, letters from church officials, and envoys’ diplomatic speeches. The rulers of the Polish-Lithuanian state and missionaries adhered to early medieval models, which posited that conversion could be accomplished by preaching the Word of God and demonstrating high moral standards, while also respecting the free will of the pagans. This missionary model has been recognised by Polish scholars.
The subsequent section delineates the processes for the baptism of adults, who are pagans who have been converted. Relevant instructions were included in the synodal statutes of various dioceses and in the pastoral handbook Tractatus sacerdotalis written by Nicholas of Błonie around 1430. These emphasized the importance of the catechumen’s prior preparation for the sacrament,
as well as the actual execution of the baptismal ceremony. Additionally, numerous comments by Polish scholars regarding the conditions and manner of administering
baptism were referenced. Significantly, the clergy translated their statements into practical application, rather than restricting them to theoretical considerations.

This paper focuses on a question that has not yet received a dedicated historiographical study: why Stephen Nemanjić asked the Pope for the royal crown just in 1217. The detailed analysis of events in the Balkans, with particular emphasis on Serbian-Hungarian relations since the beginning of the 13th century, presented in the paper leads to the rejection of previously offered answers and the formulation of a completely new one. Previously, it was assumed that Stephen took advantage of the absence of King Andrew II of Hungary, who had travelled to the Holy Land for the Fifth Crusade, and secretly obtained the crown from the Pope, aided by an alliance with Venice and his marriage to the Catholic Ann, granddaughter of the late Doge Henry Dandolo. The new analysis demonstrates that the key factors were different: the weakness of the Latin Empire and the Hungarian ruler’s consent. The same analysis indicates that in 1215 or 1216, Stephen Nemanjić most likely recognized Andrew II’s suzerainty. The vassalage and the Hungarian monarch’s desire to ensure border security during his planned absence allowed Stephen to obtain in 1217 Andrew II’s consent to his coronation. It appears that the next Serbian ruler, Stephen Radoslav, did not renew the vassalage and this may have been the cause of the Hungarian invasion described by Domentian and Theodosius of Chilandar, so problematic for historians. The findings presented in the paper together create a completely new interpretation of Serbian-Hungarian relations in the 1210s and 1220s.

In the parish church in Bielawy (Łódź Voivodeship, Łowicz County) there is a tombstone with the Jastrzębiec coat of arms. The inscription on the monument honors Maciej of Bielawy, a representative of the wealthy Bielawski family, who operated in the area of the former Łęczyca land. The article analyzed the content of the inscription and formulated several observations related to the appearance of Maciej in the written sources and his official title and the term strenuus, which were perpetuated in the content of the monument in question.