Chłopi w Polsce piastowskiej przed kolonizacją na prawie niemieckim jako problem historiograficzny

The article contains an analysis of historiographic conditions of the development of research on the history of peasants in the 11th and 12th c. Because of very the limited number of Polish sources for that period, such studies depend largely on general notions about the social system and state organization. The author concentrates on deconstructing the assumptions of the discussion between Karol Buczek and Karol Modzelewski which is the most authoritative for the present state of knowledge. He shows how excessive application of the retrogressive method is abused. He also stresses the importance of adaptations from the Western Latin world which appeared in Poland in the 12th c., new patterns of state organization – including the concept of regalia and of higher jurisdiction as the prerogative of the monarch. The author questions real existence of serving organization in Poland. Settlements with such names are believed to be remnants of the organization of large land estates, the importance and organisational forms of which should be illuminated by future research. The development of large land estates created – according to the author – the framework for the appearance of peasants as a distinct social class.