Polish culture and clothing 1400ad

Hi all,

I came across this forum quite unexpected so I'm sorry if I'm posting this in the wrong area. My husband and I do medieval reenactment here in New Zealand and as my great grand father was Polish I have decided that my time period is Poland 1400 - 1450 AD. My problem is that I have no idea what Polish culture was for that time period. Can someone please point me in the right direction of clothing, food, what kind of dishes were used for eating/cooking? I also have horses and we're both into archery so stuff along those lines would be great aswell. Pictures would be good also (if possible).

Thanks
Cindy

I think it's called "Średniowiecze" in Polish (or The Polish Medieval Times in English). Here is some nice video:

There is a book by Henryk Sienkieiwcz "Krzyzacy". And English translation is available as "Teutonic Knights". The book is fact based fiction and contains a lot of information on customs of the times. The action of the book takes place in 1409-1410 and is culminated with one of the greatest battles of Europe - The Battle of Grunwald.

A movie (the same title) was based on the book, and while it is not a documentary, the costumes were designed based on mundane historical research. The book itself is also a faithful reflection of the customs of the times.

Other sources that may be used are Polish works of art of the period. They too squeeze in some information on the every day life. These are easy to get but I am unaware of English translations.

There are more academic works on the subject but, again, monographies are usually in Polish.

Thanks for that, I might see if I can get my hands on that book. Are you able to give me some names of Polish art works? Even if they are not in English they still maybe useful. Thanks

see: Jan Matejko

Source texts are optimal basis for exploring Polish old culture. Nice site with both English and Polish versions, translation of Old Polish works written in Polish and Latin are included, some articles on culture too. Site is run by Krakow scholar in Old Polish Roman Mazurkiewicz from Pedagogical University (Akademia Pedagogiczna):

http://www.staropolska.pl/ang/middleages/index.html

crossbow

1410 - Grunwald, the biggest battle of medieval Europe. There's a big reenactment of this battle each year.

Rather Battle of Tannenberg is more familiar to English speakers.


Some visual sources: http://www.polskiedzieje.pl/galeria.php

This includes all history of Poland and is only in Polish, but why don't try?