Kleczew town in the medieval times

Last week I went for a trip near of my hometown - Konin to find some medieval monuments. I chose to go 20 kilometeres to the north, to Kleczew, town which has preserved medieval urban layout. However there are no medieval buildings except gothic Saint Andrew the Apostle Church.

Saint Andrew the Apostle Church.

Kleczew derives its name from Old-Polish word kiełek/kielek which can be translated in English as sprout, very young plant. In almost all sources we can find information that Kleczew was located 12th January 1366 under the Magdeburg rights (in Latin: Ius municipale magdeburgense, in German: Magdeburger Recht) and was founded by its owner Janek (in English: John). This fact is questionable because of the Kleczewian parish erection which had its place inn 12th century. Some sources even mention about the exact date of this event, about the year 1120. Certainly Kleczew had existed before 1366 but after that it could have been completely rebuilt, as it became magdeburgium.

In the medieval times Kleczew was a small settlment which was situated on the crossroads of the trade routes: from Greater Poland Province to Mazovia Province (west-east direction) and from Silesia Province to Pomerania Province (south-north direction). Thus the town was getting richer. The best indicator of this fact are sources which say about the participation of Kleczew in the Thirteen Years' War (in German: Dreizehnjähriger Krieg, in Polish: Wojna trzynastoletnia) between Kingdom of Poland (allied with Prussian Confederation) and State of the Teutonic Order 1454-1466. The town sponsored, armed and sent ten soldiers to the war. In the same time Poznan, which was the capital city of Greater Poland Province, supplied royal army with only sixty soldiers. I do not know what kind of soldiers Kleczew and Poznan sent to the war. Sources mention them using Polish word zbrojny which means armed. Those could have been both knights or infrantrymen.

Saint Andrew the Apostle Church was built in 12th century and it was made of wood. In the second part of 14th century it was rebuilt into gothic style in the shape of hall church. This time it was made of stones and bricks. The oldest part of the building nowadays functions as presbytery. The church had three naves (one main and two secondary) they were added at the beginning of 16th century. The porch is the youngest part of the building. Sources say that it was built in the 19th century.

View from the east, presbytery.

Northern wall of the nave with bricked up entrance.

North-western corner of the nave.

North-eastern corner of the church with added outbuilding to the northern wall of the presbytery.

View from the west, porch.

South-western corner of the nave.

Southern wall of the nave with entrance.

South-eastern corner of the church, presbytery.

Small, almost completely bricked up window, near the porch.

Key words: town, miasto, ciudat, горад, miests, град, grad, mjesto, ciutat, město, by, stadt, πόλη, linn, ciudad, kaupunki, cathair, város, borg, miestas, urbs, ville, città, oraș, pilsēta, cidade, qyteti, mesto, stad, şehir, город, mjasto, місто, church, kościół, ilesia, bažnīčė, царква, храм, църква, crkva, església, kostel, eglwys, kirke, kirche, χριστιανικός ναός, iglesia, kirik, kirkko, kirkja, église, tsjerke, eaglais, igrexa, chiesa, kirch, ecclesia, kierch, bažnyčia, baznīca, црква, kerkgebouw, kerk, kyrkje, égllise, glèisa, kaerich, igreja, biserică, церковь, церьков, kirk, girku, kostol, cerkev, kisha, kyrka, kośćůł, eliza, kark, kaark, kilise, церква, céxa.

Signpost from 1151 A.D.

In the old part of Konin town, close to Saint Bartholomeus Church, there is situated very interesting structure. It is a column made of stone. Its surface bears carved Latin inscription which informs the reader about the actual location. There is also another valuable information, the date 1151 A.D., which indicates when the pole was made. The structure is nothing but signpost. It is unique because there are not known any other medieval signposts from Polish territory. I do not know if there survived any of this kind in Europe. It would be interesting to compare our historical monument with its counteparts from other places in our continent. If any of you met something like this please let me know.

The signpost called in Polish "słup milowy" (in English: mile pillar) was carved in 1151 in sandstone. There is a theory that says the pillar was carved during pagan times and was a statue of heathen god. However there is no evidence which indicates that the theory is right. Generally researchers agree that the pillar was carved in 12th century. The date 1151 says that it was funded in the second decade of feudal division of Poland. This period began with death of prince Boleslaw III the Wrymouth from Piast dynasty in 1138. His testament entered agnatic seniority system and divided Poland among his sons. Unluckily the system didn't work and The Wrymouth's descendands waged wars between themselves. The division lasted until the unification of Poland by Wladyslaw the Elbow-High, The Wrymouth's great great grandson, in 1320.

In 1138 Konin became a part of Seniorate Province like other towns of east part of Greater Poland (in Latin Polonia Maior). It was small settlement located on the south bank of the Warta River. Konin defended strategic ford on Warta which was a part of trade route from south to north. The inscription from the signpost will tell us more:

Anno ab Incarnat. Dni Nr MCL primo.

In Calis hic medium de Crusvici fore punctum indicat istaviae formula et iustitiae.

Quam fieri iussit Petrus Comes hic palatinus hoc omni sollertia dimidiavit iter.

Eius ut esse memor dignetur omnisque viator cum prece propicium solicitando Deum.

In the year 1151 after the incarnation of our Lord,

It is almost the middle point between Kalisz and Kruszwica, indicates this formula of justice

Which was ordered to be done by the comes count palatine Peter, who carefully bisected the road here

Deign remember him every traveller by your prayer to the graciuos God!

The inscription is right. Kruszwica is situated 52 kilometers to the north of Konin and Kalisz 52 kilometers to the south. In 12th century these two towns were one of the most important in Poland (in fact they were a capitals of castellanies). Historians are not sure about the actual founder of  the signpost. There are three candidats: Peter Dunin Wlostowic (ca 1080-1153), Peter Wszeborowic (?-1176) and Peter Wszebor (ca 1080-1161, father of the previous one). Polish medieval chronicler Jan Dlugosz (1415-1480) linked the person of founder with Silesian nobleman Peter Dunin Wlostowic from Labedz clan. He was the count palatine in the court of Boleslaw III the Wrymouth and later in the court of The Wrymouth's son Wladislaw the Exile (prince of Silesia). Historians think that he couldn't have been the author and founder because he had been blinded and banished 6 years before the signpost was made. Other two Peters were also prominent figures in the 12th century. Peter Wszebor held a title of comes and his son was a castellan (in Latin comes castellanus) of Kruszwica. Probably we will never know which of them was an exact signpost founder.

Signpost - view from the north. Behind the pillar there is visible medieval Saint Bartholomeus Church.

Signpost - view from the south.

 Latin inscriptions carved in the sandstone pillar.

It is worth mentioning that in the medieval times (and long after) the signpost was situated near royal castle, 250-300 meters to the north-west of the present location. In 1828 authorities decided to move it where it is now. The sandstone pillar is the oldest historical monument in my hometown - Konin, except some forgotten remains of the gord (Slavic wooden fortress from 11th century) which are located 4 kilometers to the west.

Key words: signpost, fingerpost, wegweiser, signalisation routière, bewegwijzering, wegwajzer, drogowskaz, sinalização rodoviária, señales de tráfico, segnale stradale, dopravní značka, færdselstavle, дорожный знак, саобраћајни знакови, prometni znakovi, kelio ženklas, пътен знак, trafikkskilt, vägmärken, umferðarmerki, liiklusmärk, indicator rutier, dopravná značka, prometna signalizacija, дорожній знак, дарожны знак, liikennemerkki, senyal de trànsit, сообраќаен знак.

Greetings

Welcome to my medieval blog! I am Polish hot-head who is interested in the Middle Ages. I decided to start my blog because I would like to share my interests with others. My posts will generally popularize knowledge about Polish medieval history but it won't be a rule. The blog will be focused on high and late medieval period because this part of history interests me the most. I am lucky because I share my hobby with my wife. She is interested in medieval cuisine and herbalism. The articles of the blog will be connected with and based on: things that we saw during our journeys to the places of historical value, books about the period and reenactment events in which we took a part. I have to add also that my blog does not support any political ideology. I just want to talk about historical facts. Please forgive me my English, I learnt it long time ago at high school. I will try my best. I hope my blog will bring closer realities of living in medieval times. I am really happy that winding paths of the internet leaded you right here! Please enjoy!