The Great Immigration

Scots in Cracow and Little Poland, circa 1500-1660

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In the second half of the sixteenth century, Scottish immigrants to Little Poland became a visible ethnic minority in numerous towns of that province and particularly in its capital, Cracow. This is the first study to examine this urbanized immigration in the period until the 1660s, when Poland–Lithuania, devastated by the mid-century Swedish invasion, was no longer an attractive migrant destination. From around the 1570s, affluent Scottish merchants developed intense commercial relations in central Europe, while peddlers of that nationality distributed so-called ‘Scotch goods’ at local markets.
The majority of Scots participated in the life of local Evangelical congregations and suffered religious persecutions together with their co-religionists. This prompted their collaboration with the Swedish occupants against their Catholic neighbors.

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Waldemar Kowalski, PhD. (1988), is Professor in History at the Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce, Poland. He has published extensively on early modern Scottish immigration to Poland, Jewish–Christian relations, and popular religiosity ca. 1500–1750.
Foreword to the English Edition ... vii
Acknowledgments ... ix
List of Tables ... x
Abbreviations ... xii

Introduction ... 1

1 An Outline of Scottish Settlement in the Polish Crown ... 7
1.1 Scots in Prussia, Greater Poland, the Central Polish Lands, and Masovia ... 7
1.2 Scots in Little Poland (Małopolska), Ruthenia, and Volhynia ... 12
1.3 The Socio-economic Circumstances for Scottish Settlement ... 15

2 Scots and Cracow Civic Rights ... 28
2.1 The Beginnings of Settlement in a Multinational Agglomeration ... 28
2.2 The Circumstances under Which Cracow Scots Adopted Civic Rights ... 36
2.3 The Social and Territorial Origin of the Immigrants ... 44
2.4 Scottish Immigrants—Cracovians cives and incolæ ... 49
2.5 Conclusion ... 55

3 Scots in Cracow’s Internal and Foreign Trade ... 56
3.1 Introductory Remarks ... 56
3.2 Goods, Their Place of Purchase and Sale ... 57
3.3 The Organization of Trade ... 72
3.4 Conclusion ... 81

4 Scots in Shops and Stalls ... 83
4.1 In Cracow’s Market Square ... 83
4.2 In Lublin’s Market Square ... 90
4.3 The Common Townsfolk contra Scottish Peddlers ... 94
4.4 Conclusion ... 104

5 The Levels of Material Wealth among Scots Who Were Cracow Citizens ... 105
5.1 Introductory Remarks ... 105
5.2 Owners and Leasers of Real Estate ... 105
5.3 Dower and Dowry ... 112
5.4 Last Will Legacies and Inventories ... 115
5.5 Taxes ... 126
5.6 Conclusion ... 129

6 Social Bonds—Family, Corporations, Languages ... 130
6.1 Introductory Remarks ... 130
6.2 The Patrons of Scots as Urban Corporation Candidates ... 131
6.3 The Executors of the Scots’ Last Wills and Testaments ... 135
6.4 Credit, Trade, Transaction Guarantees ... 138
6.5 The Significance of the Brotherhoods ... 141
6.6 Language ... 146
6.7 Conclusion ... 150

7 Among Co-Denominationalists, Enemies, and Friends ... 151
7.1 The Denominational Question ... 151
7.2 Swedish Supporters ... 176

Conclusion ... 188

Appendix 1: Tables ... 193
Appendix 2: Scots Residing in Cracow and Its Satellite Towns in the Sixteenth and First Half of the Seventeenth Century ... 245

Bibliography ... 274
Index of Personal Names ... 302
Index of Place Names ... 314
All interested in early modern European migrations, the Scottish diaspora, ethnic relations, and the economic and religious realities of Central Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
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