Analiza historyczna pierwszych wzmianek o kołtunie w literaturze polskiej

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EARLIEST MENTIONS OF PLICA POLONICA IN POLISH LITERATURE The article undertakes the issue of historical sources concerning the genesis of the Polish plait (plica polonica) and verifies the error repeated in literature, as if the first mentions of this disease were to be found in the chronicles of Jan Długosz and Marcin Kromer, in the context of Tatar invasions of Poland in the 13th century. Basing on the analysis of source texts, it was shown that neither Długosz nor Kromer mention the Polish plait, but only plagues caused by contamination of water by the Tatars. The genesis of this erroneous view was reconstructed, pointing to the works of Joachim Pastorius de Hirtenberg and Vopiscus Fortunatus Plempius as the original source of the misunderstanding, which later became established in medical and popular historiography. The article shows how false attributions can penetrate scientific literature, and constitutes an attempt at the ultimate correction of the myth about the Tatar origin of the Polish plait.