„Territorium Ludemir”. Magnates and Cistercians in the Polish-Slovak Borderland in the First Half of the 13th century

Abstract

The territory discussed in this article constitutes a fragment of the great borderland forest that covers the Carpathian Mountains. Polish colonisation of this forest did not take place until the second quarter of the 13th century. It was probably Leszek the White who granted the lands on the upper Dunajec River to his well-deserving knight Jan of the Gryfi ta dynasty. In turn, it was also most likely thanks to Jan Gryfi ta that colonisation started, carried out by a certain Ludemer/Ludemir, probably hailing from Silesia. Ludemer/Ludemir and other colonists of Polish origin explored the land, established the fi rst settlement of Ludźmierz, and named local rivers. The entire territory was then called the area of Ludemer, which was a name that had existed before 1234. In 1235, the son of Jan Gryfi ta, the Kraków governor (wojewoda) Teodor, founded the Cistercian abbey in the Ludźmierz woods to coordinate the colonisation. Teodor also made attempts to bring in settlers from Silesia, but these ended with his death in 1238. The Cistercian abbey in Ludźmierz eased to exist, as between 1241 and 1243 the monks moved far to Szczyrzyc in the north. The reasons for their departure are not known. The activity of the Ludźmierz Cistercians contributed to the creation of cultivated fi elds and likely also to the building of a few settlements on the upper Dunajec River.