Wykorzystanie źródeł archiwalnych w prozopografii na przykładzie badania nad korpusem dyplomatów króla Władysława IV Wazy

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present the way of using archival sources in prosopographic research on the example of one of the notebooks from the collection of Old Polish manuscripts of the Kórnik Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Showing the nature of the preparation and running of a search query, the author draws from her own experience in conducting prosopographic research on the diplomatic corps of Władysław IV Vasa. The foreword to the discussion of working with sources is a short introduction to prosopography, based on articles written by British and American historians using this method and having been discussing its usefulness and limitations for almost fifty years. Bringing this discussion forward is of particular value for the reader because there are no similar studies in Polish.