prof. dr hab. Jerzy Sperka

Section 6.: Territoriality of power versus the mobility of people and ideas

First, I will discuss the concept of "entourage" in relation to the rulers of the late Middle Ages. Using selected examples of dukes of Upper Silesia (Opole, Racibórz, Oświęcim), I will outline (and compare) their entourage (local and foreign). Then, I will present the mobility of these people, which was associated with the necessity of staying with the ruler, accompanying him on tours of the duchy, but also on journeys outside the duchy. I will also refer to their mobility through the prism of the migration of people from the duke's entourage to territories temporarily in the hands of the dukes. That is, those who took up offices there, which often ended in permanent migration, even in situations when the ruler lost these lands.