The article constitutes an attempt to introduce Józef Jałowiecki (pseudonym J. z Bożeńców J.) a missionary, historian and correspondent from the Congregation of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul. Chronologically, the article embraces the years 1755–1885 – the period from bringing Lazarists to Krasław by Konstanty Ludwik Plater to the death of the last parish priest. The source base is the material kept in the Latvian National Library, including in particular the “Libraries of the Catholic Church in Krasław” (Krāslavaskato lubaznīcas bibliotēkas) and the Latvian calendar of 1870. Other valuable sources include the files of The House of Missionary Priests in Krasław from the years 1755–1842, personnel catalogues of missionaries and “The Biographic Dictionary of the Community of Missionary Priests (1651–1951)” [„Słownik biograficzny Zgromadzenia Księży Misjonarzy (1651–1951)”] written by Alfons Schletz and kept in the Archive of the Polish Province of the Community of Missionary Priests and the Archive of Nasza Przeszłość in Cracow. Another equally useful source was the correspondence between Jan Józef Jałowiecki and Przegląd Katolicki. Jan Józef Jałowiecki (1817–1885) played a major role in the history of Polish Livonia and Courland as a parish priest and the last rector of the seminary in Krasław. The thesis is proved by the letters published in Przegląd Katolicki and an article published in the magazine Rubon. He described there the history of parish churches from Livonia and Courland. He depicted people who created the history of Kalupe [Kołup], Lejksna [Liksna], Daugavpils [Dinaburg], Rēzekne [Rzeżyca], Bebra, Dweta, Nowa Świętmujża, Stara Świętmujża, Nidzgal and Krasław. As a correspondent from Polish Livonia, he tried to maintain the continuity between partitioned Polish lands. He also dealt with poetry, the evidence of which is a prayer to St. Isidore the Labourer included in the article. Nevertheless, it is hard to localize the remaining works he wrote as he remained anonymous. His involvement in the issues of the Church of St. Louise in Krasław also bore fruit. Thanks to him Jan Matejko’s apprentices painted the picture St. Louis setting off on a crusade, which was brought to Krasław after Jałowiecki’s death. He deserves a closer academic investigation, owing to his educational and literary activity, as well as his work for the parish church. His involvement in major issues allows us to refer to him as a correspondent from Polish Livonia in the full sense of the word.
Correspondence was an essential form of communication in the world of the humanities in the 1960s and 1970s. The letters exchanged between Józef Andrzej Gierowski and Jacek Staszewski exemplify the scholars’ discussion of Saxon times. This collection is at the same time a reflection of the main currents of research on political history and cultural history of the 18th century. Simultaneously, it is a testimony to the struggle of historians with the black legend of the reign of August II and August III. The article presents the nature of these conversations and the topics discussed by the scholars: an exchange of views on resources in European archives, the reigns of August II and August III, a discussion of the Enlightenment, reviews of subsequent monographs and doctoral theses prepared at seminars in Kraków and Toruń. The correspondence between the two scholars is evidence not only of a shared passion, an interest in the Saxon era, neglected for many decades and marked by a black legend, but also of an intellectual exchange between the two humanists, which in time developed into a friendship.
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