Organisation of Floating in the Estates of Widow of Kraków Castellan Izabela Branicka née Poniatowska

Abstract

This article is devoted to the organisation of river floating in the estates of the Branicki family (coat-of-arms Gryf), managed from 1771 by Izabela Branicka née Poniatowska, widow of the castellan of Kraków and Great Hetman of the Crown Jan Klemens. The article is based on archival sources from the Roskie Archive fonds stored in the holdings of the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw. Particularly important in the findings of the text is the correspondence from the circle of Izabela Branicka's clerks and officials involved in the administration of her landed estates. The issue of floating was discussed in several areas, including the characteristics of: waterways and ports used by the Branicka's flotilla, directions of river transport and its volume, management of the flotilla in terms of froth and renting ships and boats, the state of the flotilla in terms of construction, repairs and purchase of vessels forming it, crews of ships and boats – including the number of personnel, functions, maintenance costs, and finally the course of floating and factors affecting it.