Sobór w Konstancji wobec monarchii polsko-litewskiej

ENIn the article the involvement of the delegation of the Kingdom of Poland in the work of the Council of Constance (1414–1418) was assessed. The analysis was carried out chiefly from the point of view of the key issues in the external policy of the Jagiellon monarchy; the analysis also focused on the reactions of the participants of the Council to the activities of the Polish delegation. Although the author agrees with the opinions that the Polish Kingdom did achieve an image success in Constance, yet he is of the opinion that the success played a secondary role as regards real-life events which took place in Central Europe; he also thinks that the success tends to be exagerated by Polish historiography. Apart from a narrow group of intellectuals, the contention between Poland and the Teutonic Order was of little interest to the Council participants, and hence he comes to the conclusion that military activities were a much more effective weapon in the defense of Polish-Lithuanian interests. Although without a doubt, Jagiello and Witold overestimated the significance of the Council in respect of solving the conflict with the Teutonic Order, yet they achieved a tangible success which consisted in a change of perception of their states as well as subjects by the contemporary European elites. Therefore, the author puts forward a hypothesis that the mission of the delegation of the Jagiellon monarchy to the Council of Constance was one of those episodes in the history of Poland and Lithuania, which constitutes a permanent legacy of common historical identity. Key words: Council of Constance, Jagiellon monarchy, doctrinal and legal process, Christianization of Zmudz, church union.