Defensive Structures Built in the Region of Łęczyca as Described in the Sources Written until the End of the Jagiellonian Period

The aim of the article is to verify and complete the information on the defensive structures found in the area of the former Łęczyca region from the Middle Ages until the end of the Jagiellonian era (1572). The subject matter proposed in the text (understood as defensive construction) has already benefited fro, several studies (such as the publications in the field of archeology by Prof. Leszek Kajzer and a contribution on fortress and defensive manors in the former Brzeziny poviat by Prof. Anna Marciniak-Kajzer). The intention of the authors is to confront the current state of knowledge, based primarily on the results of archaeological research, with the previously unused information from the written sources. The main object of these considerations is such objects as: fortifications, castles, fragments of city walls, etc. The text is mainly based on the previously unused in this context medieval and modern manu-script sources from the area of the former Łęczyca voivodeship, in which information about these architectural structures has been preserved, and attention was drawn to the ambiguity of Latin terms (e.g. castrum), relating to defensive structures. The results of the undertaken research could be useful for a more precise determination of the dating of this type of build-ings, and shall will allow in many instances to supplement the results of archaeological research. Finally, these results will demonstrate the defense potential of this territory. This text is a contribution to possible comparative research on the formulated problem in relation to other historical regions of Poland.