Digitization of archival records in Digitization of archival records in Polish State ArchivesPolish State Archives

Some experiences Some experiences of Central Archives of Historical Recordsof Central Archives of Historical Records

TORUŃ - DELOS, 4th February 2003

Hubert Wajs Ph. D.

hubert.w@wp.pl

My General Ideas

• „Digitization is not Preservation - at Least not Yet”.

• „Digitization is ACCESS – lots of it”.• WHY DIGITIZE? by Abby Smith (Council

on Library and Information Resources)• Archival description of the record is equal to

the image itself (or even more important than it).

- modem users

A record

Second Peace of Torun; October 19, 1466, Thorn (now Toruń)Ludwig von Erlichshausen, Great Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights, signs a peace treaty with the Polish King Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk.Comments: This is the main Teutonic document of the so-called Treaty of Torun concluding the Thirteen Years’ War waged between Poland and the Order. The document was issued on behalf of the Great Master, his dignitaries, the Prussian branch of the Order, the Bishop, the Chapter and the representatives of the estates of Sambia, and the estates of Sambia. The final draft of the treaty was mediated by the Papal Legate, Rudolf of Rüdesheim, between October 17-19, 1466. On the Polish side, the draft was endorsed (among others) by Jakub of Szadek, Wincenty Kiełbasa, Scibor Bazynski, and Jan Dlugosz or Longinus. Under the terms of the treaty, the Order ceded to Poland the districts of Chelm and Michalow, the region of Pomorze Gdanskie (Danzig Pomerania), and surrendered the northwestern part of Prussia including Marienburg (now Malbork) and Elbing (now Elblag). The Great Master became a duke and a senator-councillor of the Kingdom of Poland, and his future elected successors were to swear loyalty to the Polish king. The Order was obligated to provide military aid against the enemies of the Polish Kingdom. Out of the three bishoprics, the diocese of Chelm returned to the Polish Church, the bishopric of Warmia remained under the protection of the Polish king, and the Pomezanian diocese was given to the royal secretary Wincenty Kielbasa for lifelong administration. The document regulated such issues as the release of prisoners of war or the exchange of castles and towns. The towns returned to Poland under the terms of the treaty included Sztum, Nowe Miasto on the river Drweca, Bratian, Chelmno, Brodnica, and Dzierzgon. The gains of the Order included Paslek, Pasym, Nidzica and Młynary. The Prussian estates were to swear an oath to keep the peace. Clearly, the provisions of the Treaty of Torun were an attenuation of the act of incorporation of Prussia (1454), leaving the eastern part of the former Order’s state in existence to remain as a dangerous trouble spot in the Baltic Sea region. Also, the fact that the Treaty required an endorsement from the Holy See meant that the papal Curia continued to hold at least a formal sway over Prussia. The most lasting effects produced by the Second Peace of Thorn proved to be the recognition of Polish control over Pomorze Gdanskie, the district of Chelm and Powisle, all of which were to remain indissolubly linked with the Crown for more than three hundred years to come. (Janusz Grabowski)Description: Original, in Latin, libellus consisting of 3 parchment sheets sized 456x296 mm; 55 seals; signature of Papal Legate, Rudolf of Rüdesheim, and notarial signs of notaries Jan Ewich de Attendorn and Stanislaw Franke of Redkowice; 12 pp.Collection: AGAD, Zbior dokumentow pergaminowych (Collection of Parchment Records), no. 1143.

Second Peace of TorunOctober 19, 1466, Thorn (now Toruń)

Ludwig von Erlichshausen, Great Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights, signs a peace treaty with the Polish King Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk.

Comments: This is the main Teutonic document of the so-called Treaty of Torun concluding the Thirteen Years’ War waged between Poland and the Order. The document was issued on behalf of the Great Master, his dignitaries, the Prussian branch of the Order, the Bishop, the Chapter and the representatives of the estates of Sambia, and the estates of Sambia. The final draft of the treaty was mediated by the Papal Legate, Rudolf of Rüdesheim, between October 17-19, 1466. On the Polish side, the draft was endorsed (among others) by Jakub of Szadek, Wincenty Kiełbasa, Scibor Bazynski, and Jan Dlugosz or Longinus. Under the terms of the treaty, the Order ceded to Poland the districts of Chelm and Michalow, the region of Pomorze Gdanskie (Danzig Pomerania), and surrendered the northwestern part of Prussia including Marienburg (now Malbork) and Elbing (now Elblag). The Great Master became a duke and a senator-councillor of the Kingdom of Poland, and his future elected successors were to swear loyalty to the Polish king. The Order was obligated to provide military aid against the enemies of the Polish Kingdom. Out of the three bishoprics, the diocese of Chelm returned to the Polish Church, the bishopric of Warmia remained under the protection of the Polish king, and the Pomezanian diocese was given to the royal secretary Wincenty Kielbasa for lifelong administration.

The document regulated such issues as the release of prisoners of war or the exchange of castles and towns. The towns returned to Poland under the terms of the treaty included Sztum, Nowe Miasto on the river Drweca, Bratian, Chelmno, Brodnica, and Dzierzgon. The gains of the Order included Paslek, Pasym, Nidzica and Młynary. The Prussian estates were to swear an oath to keep the peace. Clearly, the provisions of the Treaty of Torun were an attenuation of the act of incorporation of Prussia (1454), leaving the eastern part of the former Order’s state in existence to remain as a dangerous trouble spot in the Baltic Sea region. Also, the fact that the Treaty required an endorsement from the Holy See meant that the papal Curia continued to hold at least a formal sway over Prussia. The most lasting effects produced by the Second Peace of Thorn proved to be the recognition of Polish control over Pomorze Gdanskie, the district of Chelm and Powisle, all of which were to remain indissolubly linked with the Crown for more than three hundred years to come. (Janusz Grabowski)

Description: Original, in Latin, libellus consisting of 3 parchment sheets sized 456x296 mm; 55 seals; signature of Papal Legate, Rudolf of Rüdesheim, and notarial signs of notaries Jan Ewich de Attendorn and Stanislaw Franke of Redkowice; 12 pp.

Collection: AGAD, Zbior dokumentow pergaminowych (Collection of Parchment Records), no. 1143.

ArchivalArchival StandardStandardss• ISAD (G) : General International

Standard Archival Description .• ISAAR (CPF): International

Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families .

POLISH STATE ARCHIVE

• Head Office of State Archives:– 3 Central Archives in Warsaw (Historical,

Modern, Audio-Visual Records)– 30 state archives in provincional capitals

around Poland

• The first internet pages in 1996• Now: www.archiwa.gov.plwww.archiwa.gov.pl

– the most important: database SEZAM (description the most important: database SEZAM (description of all founds)of all founds)

Two Examples

• Chancellery Books from the times of King Henry Valois in Poland (1573)

• Treasures of Polish State Archives for Everyone – (done with NASK - Scientific and Academic

Computer Network – www.poland .pl)

What did I learn during „Henry Valois Project”?

• Tempus fugit • Start 1996:

– digitization: XII.1996/I.1997 (in 20 days 1680 scans)

– scans from microfilm (black-white) - 300 dpi

• Database ready - III.1998• New versions: 1999/2001• CD-ROM 2001 (at last)

What did I learn during „Henry Valois Project”?

• When text of registers was ready (+ indexes) - by dr. Maria Woźniak Ph. D.

• What was left to be done:- building database & scanning- putting text into fields of database- creating connection: text & images- checking & testing- correcting

- CD-ROM

Presentation

Treasures of Polish State Archives• History of the project:- around 100 records from AGAD (40 z AAN)

-> „important records are usually not beautiful, beautiful records are usually not important”-> description + image - „mind game”

- Selection: -> important moment from Polish history (Grunwald, Konfederacja Warszawska, Unia lubelska, Konstytucja 3 Maja, Manifest z 5 listopada 1918) -> representation of various problems (education, economy,

minorities)

Treasures of Polish State Archives

• Some logistic:- In Archives (NDAP, AAN, AGAD – around 20)

there are around 40 persons working on this project (selection, description, photography, checking, coordination)

- For Scientific and Academic Computer Network worked only 3 persons

Treasures of Polish State ArchivesDescription

• NAME ISAD• Title of image ------• Title of recored 3.1.2.• Name of the Collection 3.1.1.• Date(s) and Place 3.1.3.• Scope content 3.3.1.• Commentar 3.2• Farther reading (nota) 3.6.1.• Publication note 3.5.4.• Language 3.4.3• Phisical characteristics 3.4.4.• Archivist’s note 3.7.1.• Index (for HTML) ------

Presentation

• Jan III Sobieski; 1676-1690,King Jan III Sobieski’s Grand Duchy of Lithuania Seal matrix

• Comments: The seal matrix was made for the coronation of Jan III Sobieski (1676), and was used in succession by two Chancellors of Lithuania, first by Krzysztof Zygmunt Pac and then by Marcjan Aleksander Oginski. After the latter had died in 1690, the office of Chancellor of Lithuania was taken up by the then-Vice-Chancellor Dominik Mikołaj Radziwill. The new Chancellor had a new seal matrix cast, and the existing one was withdrawn. Contrary to the commonly adopted policy, the old seal matrix was not destroyed, but kept in the archives of the Radziwill family in Nieswiez (now in Belarus), after 1945 it became part of the AGAD collection together with the entire Radziwiłł archive.

• At present, it is the only surviving seal matrix used by the Royal Chancellor’s office. Similar seal matrices of royal seals were always destroyed after the monarch’s death to prevent forgeries. There are no signs that any official royal documents have been forged by means of this particular seal matrix. (Michal Kulecki)

• Description: Seal matrix (typariusz) engraved in silver, 95 mm in diameter, handle length 130 mm, broad, convex handgrip, with a round circle soldered onto the handle. In the centre of the imprint a shield with the Pogoń (the arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), surrounded by 11 coats of arms of Lithuanian districts; on the circumference, the full Latin titulature of Jan III Sobieski

• Collection: AGAD, Zbiór sfragistyczny (Seals Collection). •