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SHORT NOTES

A similar techniąue of argumentation was used in the Dominicans’ hagi-ographic writings on Mary, which explained the significance of the holy days devoted to the Virgin: the Offertory (purificatio Mariae) and the Annunciation were explained by the Holy Scriptures, and the Nativity and the Assumption by the writings of the Fathers of the Church. What was important in this literaturę was reference to mystical experiences and to the miracles performed through the intercession of Mary. Two studies deal with the works of Thomas Aquinas. In the first the author says that Thomas Aquinas regarded Mary’s sainthood as a result not so much of her own virtues as of God’s grace. In the second study he discusses the authenticity of Thomas’ s two sermons on Mary: Germinet terra — which he regards as authentic for it contains the same elements as those in Commentary on Ave Maria — and Lux orta est> which, in his view, is not authentic, for it includes formulations, concepts and Mary’s titles not used by Thomas Aquinas. Finally, Kochaniewicz analyzes the Dominicans’ contribution to the development of rosary prayers, saying that there was a strong link between the Dominicans* activity and the services of the Virgin Mary confraternities. It was the Dominicans who were the first authors of treatises on the rosary in which they explained how to pray it and emphasized the principles of spiritual life. (JA)

Ryszard Kiersnowski, Historia, pieniądz, herb. Opera selecta (History, Money, Coats of ArmsJ, ed. Stanisław Suchodolski, Stefan K. Kuczyński et al, Warszawa 2008, Instytut Historii Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 548+47 pp., 130 ills., 6 maps, 19 tables, sum. in English, German, French and Czech

This is a posthumous edition of works by Ryszard Kiersnowski (d. 2006), a lead-ing 20th century researcher of medieval coins in Poland. The volume contains 29 studies which were originally published in 1960-98. Most of them were to be included in a book on the history of coins in Poland in the fuli and late Middle Ages, a book which Kiersnowski promised to write in 1969 but which never appeared in print. This was a period which in Poland, and in the whole of Europę, was marked by the appearance of thick coins. The author presents the oldest forms of these coins, silver and gold non-monetary coins; he then goes on to present the emissions of silver quarts and groszys and the gold florins issued in Silesia, whose rulers enjoyed a relatively strong economic base and had their own silver mines. Finally Kiersnowski describes the economic changes introduced in the Polish Kingdom by Ladislas the Short and Casimir the Great. The author depicts how the iconographic motifs of the coin dies entered Poland mainly from Bohemia but also from French territories. A separate article deals with the beginnings of minting in Lithuania, which, in the author’s opinion, was a result of Lithuania’s union with Poland. This part of the book opens with texts on the non-monetary forms of metal coins. The next group of studies depicts the mints of Silesian dukes who were the first in the Polish territories to strike thick silver and gold coins. A study on the borrowing of iconographic motifs shows how the motifs of stamps wandered from French territories, through Germany and Silesia to mints in Poznań and Grodzisk Wielkopolski. The next group of