Pogranicze kujawsko-pomorskie we wczesnym średniowieczu. Wybrane problemy badawcze

Abstract

ssues concerning the territorial expansion of the Piast domain, as well as the defence of its borders, constitute a separate line of research into the origins of the Piast state. Recently, particular attention has been drawn to the northern frontier, where a system of defences (limes) emerged in the latter half of the 10th and the first half of the 11th century. This system was based on a series of strongholds located along the Noteć river valley in Santok, Drezdenko, Wieleń, Czarnków, Ujście and Nakło. The stronghold in Nakło, which was the easternmost of the fortified settlements on the Noteć, also played a vital role in defending the Kuyavian stretch of the frontier. To its east lay the strongholds of Pawłówek, Bydgoszcz and Fordon (Wyszogród). This series of defences was complemented by a line of earthworks (known as the Kuyavia ramparts). Fieldwork carried out at the strongholds in Bydgoszcz and Pawłówek provided evidence that these important early medieval settlements also played a key military and political role in terms of the Kuyavia-Pomerania borderland. The densely packed buildings at the settlement in Bydgoszcz were defended on the north side by a huge timber-and-earth rampart, and the stronghold in Pawłówek was also heavily fortified. The latter of these sites yielded a large number of coins, merchants’ accoutrements and items of foreign origin, attesting to the significance of this stronghold as a centre of exchange. The process of fortifying the Kuyavia-Pomerania borderland began in the 11th century. The Nakło stronghold was founded at the turn of the 10th century, and by the late 1030s the fortifications of the Bydgoszcz stronghold had also been raised. The origins of the fortified settlement at Pawłówek date from the middle of the century, whilst the Wyszogród stronghold was raised in the late 11th century. The Kuyavia ramparts are also believed to date from the 11th century, though there is no certainty as to this attribution. Thus, the fortifications of the Kuyavia-Pomerania borderland are of a slightly later date than the strongholds of the Noteć limes. The results of recent excavations attest to the significance of the borderland strongholds in Bydgoszcz and Pawłówek and point to the fact that the line of defences along the Kuyavia-Pomerania frontier complemented the Noteć limes.

Artykuł porusza kwestię związków funkcjonalno-chronologicznych tzw. limesu nadnoteckiego i pogranicza kujawsko-pomorskiego. Zostanie również poruszony wątek politycznej przynależności grodów pogranicza kujawsko-pomorskiego. Osobno rozpatrywany będzie problem funkcjonowania granicy i pogranicza w środowisku społeczno-kulturowym.