Can historical events from over one thousand years back have any
meaning for a modern Pole? They surely can, because at that time
Poland first emerged in Europe as an important political subject.
That was overwhelmingly due to our rulers, but Wielkopolska played
a major part as well, since it was this region that provided support
for their activities whose aim was the creation of a state. If later
the term POLONIA denoted both the whole country and the original
domain of Mieszko I, it also meant commemorating the area where all
had begun - since
IT WAS HERE THAT POLAND WAS BORN!
Our exhibition invites our guests to participate in an archaeological
journey into the Middle Ages, to meet the people and events of the
period. The guides of that particular trip will be eye witnesses
- old chroniclers and travellers whose reports illustrate the subject
in question on panels placed on the walls of the exhibition rooms.
More detailed information can be found on pulled-out boards - there
our guests will find a description of various aspects of the mediaeval
life, a result of many years of scientific research. Boxes next to
the display cases contain additional information and collections
of source materials relevant to the topic. In the Room II you can
make use of numerous computer presentations, and at the end of the
visit you are invited to try on a replica of a late mediaeval suit
of armour and play a game of chess. Each section of the exhibition
is accompanied by sound effects: sounds of nature and music from
the Middle Ages.
The country and the people
Modern locations shown on large format photographs make us aware
how close are the historical events that took place many centuries
ago in the environs that can still be admired in Wielkopolska region.
Human settlements and cultivated fields in the neighbourhood of impenetrable
forests constituted the everyday life of the Middle Ages. Ever-present
nature, beautiful and awe-inspiring, was felt in every area of life
and had a particular impact on pagan religious beliefs. Farming and
animal husbandry, almost totally self-sufficient, required a great
amount of work. The artefacts assembled at the exhibition show the
effects of agricultural and craft production, tools and final products.
They all come from the 6 th - 12 th cent. Wielkopolska. The film
presented at the exhibition helps us follow the heroes of the mediaeval
world in their everyday toil.
Fortified settlements and the organisation of the society
We enter the battlefield, welcomed by the Piast dynasty warriors.
The Polish state emerged out of tribal wars which often brought to
an end the first early mediaeval strongholds. The artefacts include
the militaria and exclusive objects that show the past prominence
of these centres. Later-day fortified settlements, creations of the
early Piast state, were powerful fortresses surrounded with wood-earthwork
fortifications and performed political, military, religious and social
as well as prestigious functions. The setting of one of the first
stone ducal residences - the interior of the
palatium in
Lednica - introduces the momentous event of the year 1000: the Gniezno
meeting. We can see the figures of emperor Otto III and Bolesław
Chrobry presented in the symbolic gesture of handing over to the
Polish duke the insignia of power, the imperial diadem and the spear
of St Maurice . At that time Poland showed herself as a rich and
modern state and her ruler as worthy of the crown. The exhibits presented
in this section are among the most precious collections of artefacts
dating to the mediaeval Poland . Many of them, especially the silver
jewellery and the militaria, are true works of art. The wealth of
the Piast Poland is also visible in the collection of numismatic
objects, including the first coins of domestic production.
The church and the monastery
The replica of the Gniezno Doors, presenting the life of St Wojciech
(Adalbert), the first Polish martyr and the patron of Poland , is
a symbolic passage between the worlds of power and spirituality,
so much interwoven at those times. Wielkopolska was a major centre
of propagation of the Christian faith. First churches were built
here, followed by monasteries of the oldest orders - the Benedictines
and the Cistercians. The central part of the exhibition shows models
of sacred constructions in stone and brick and photographs of one
of the most precious objects of Wielkopolska's mediaeval art - the
later-14 th cent. polychrome on the walls of St James' oratory in
the Cistercian monastery in Ląd on the Warta river. The painting
includes biblical scenes and scenes showing the founders of the building.
A reconstructed 11 th cent. skeletal grave offers the visitors a
chance to observe changes in funerary rituals and gives the opportunity
to test their archaeological skills.
Monastic communities of Black and Grey Friars (the Dominicans and
the Franciscans), closely linked with the urban centres developing
in the 13 th cent., introduce the visitors into the late mediaeval
world.
The town and the castle
The last section of the exhibition carries us back into the world
of the late Middle Ages. Of particular importance at the time was
the reign of Przemysł II, the last ruler of the Wielkopolska Piast
line, who by his coronation in 1295 reconstituted the Polish Kingdom
. In the following years Wielkopolska, still claiming a leading role
in the country with a decisive voice about its structure, enjoyed
a period of greatness. Towns, centres of the development of crafts,
trade, of spiritual and cultural life, played an important part in
human settlement, economy and often in politics. Castles were the
places where the culture of chivalry flourished. The most magnificent
was the royal castle in Poznań , a witness to many important events
of the period. The exhibits here presented reveal the masterly skills
of the late mediaeval craftsmen who bestowed functional objects -
pottery, stove tiles, leather and bone goods and the militaria -
with unique quality and beauty.
Agnieszka Stempin