Archiwa - Kancelarie - Zbiory (Dec 2017)
Munimenta in a turtoise chest. Archival materials in the world of things of Krzysztof Grzymułtowski
Abstract
Krzysztof Grzymułtowski (+1687) was one of most influential Greater Poland landowner of his times. Thanks to his and his mother’s marriages he became related with Leszczyński and Opaliński families. He made history as a diplomat who reached the eternal peace with Moscow in 1686, later named after him. In archival papers of the Poniatowski family, which inherited after Grzymułtowski’s daughter Katarzyna, one can find a post-mortem inventory of chattel and archival material of the magnate. It is interesting, because it combines functions of a post-mortem inventory of chattel and a post-mortem archival summary. Analysis of the objects drew to conclusions that both the chattel inventory and the archival register contain information about objects or documents important from the point of view of the voivode or his heirs. Circumstances of Grzymułtowski’s death indicate that both lists were made due to inheritance reasons. Enlisted archival materials, mostly of legal and financial significance, were supposed to document rights and obigations of inheritors. Thus in their eyes, they were as valuable as jewels and silvers mentioned as the chattel. But the list of archival materials consist also of documents that at the moment of death were already out of date. Still, they remained their prestigious character. It may lead to an assumption that another criterion of posting materials in the register or not, was their mental value, which showed various types of activity, as well as importance of Grzymułtowski in his circles. Just as objects put in the list of chattel creating a particular image of Grzymułtowski as a member of the highest nobility due to their sumptuousness, as well the list of documents supplements and even qualifies that image. It is done by presenting the content of the documents, signalled in the summary, but also by indicating people the magnate contacted. Perceived through these archival materials our character seems to be a state official serving as a senator, who has wide range of connections in the circle of his equals; he actively participate in the politics, not only domestic; he was a lord of both private and royal lands. The image of Krzysztof Grzymułtowski that emerges from the documents listed in the inventory is literal; thanks to that it shows us what nobleman one should be more vividly than the chattel inventory
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