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and gingerbread...
History of Toruń Subsequent centuries were not so generous to the hospitable port town by the Vistula River. Rapid development of Gdańsk in the second half of the XIV century caused gradual ousting of Toruń’s merchants from sea trade. Local merchants had to find a different niche for themselves and for their town in the economy of Poland, to which Toruń was incorporated in 1454. The Vistula River started to be a transport route for grain from estates belonging to nobles and from peasants’ farms. Merchants from Toruń, who enjoyed the right of preemption of wares rafted on the Vistula River, were taking over large amounts of grain to sell it in Gdańsk. A new patriciate of Toruń grew on grain trade – the Eskens, who modernised their splendid residence; the Krügers, the von der Lindens – who later ruled also in Gdańsk, the Koyens – who left a genealogy illustrated with dozens of coats of arms of related families, the Strobands – founders of Toruń’s gymnasium and reformers of the city. Flourish of grain trade brought about revolutionary changes in architecture. To store the grain it was necessary to build warehouses - granaries. Earlier, before mid XV century, grain merchants from Toruń lived in southern part of Mostowa street. During one century (1450-1550) about 60 new grain warehouses were built. The period when Toruń enjoyed the status of an intermediary between grain producers and Gdańsk was not a long one, in historical terms. As early as in the first half of XVI century citizens o f Gdańsk, who were growing in power, and the gentry forced the king to cancel Toruń’s right of warehousing. Nearly half a century later, participation of merchants from Toruń in grain trade was minimised. However, despite such unfavourable changes in trading situation Toruń persisted and in the second half of XVI century could even enjoy its second golden era. In 1496 the city received a king’s privilege to build a bridge on the Vistula River. The construction was ready in 1500. The city was available through a “dry crossing” for merchants travelling on the roads of contemporary Republic and using the more and more numerous routes to transport cloth, spices, Rhine vines and salt from the west to the east and furs, wool, and oriental wares from eastern countries to western Europe. The exchange of goods took place on big fairs organised by the routes. Merchants from Frankfurt and Leipzig travelled to Poznań, Gniezno and then to Toruń. Also citizens of Gdańsk and merchants from Vilno, Grodno, Mohylew, Lublin and Wrocław came to Toruń to do business. Thus, during XVI century, Toruń gradually evolved once more, this time from a grain trade intermediary into a city of great merchants’ assemblies, a place of exchange of goods between east and west of Europe. In XVII century, merchants from Toruń who went to Gdańsk to acquire rare overseas wares such as: herrings, salt, colonial commodities, spices and English and Netherlandic cloth, travelled to far south-eastern borderlands of Poland - to Wołyń, Kijev and Lvov, to sell their wares with profit. The XVI century also brought great religious changes. In 1557 the city accepted the doctrine of Martin Luther. The Council confiscated properties of dissolved catholic institutions, hospitals and schools. The mayor of Toruń, Jan Stroband initiated the founding of academic gymnasium. 1568 is regarded as the date of its founding, but the process of transforming a parish school into modern humanistic gymnasium started earlier, and ended with a reform of the school carried out by the initiator’s son – one of the most prominent Toruń’s statesmen - Henryk Stroband in 1594 r. During his term of office as councillor and then as mayor (1586-1609) the city witnessed another revolution, this time an administrative one. Stroband initiated reforms leading to complete centralisation of power in hands of the Council – a so-called “kamlaria” was formed, statutes of most craftsmen guilds were modified or rewritten, refugees for the poor, churches and schools received uniform administration, distribution of so called “orphans penny” was normalised, new administrative division of the city and suburbs into quarters was introduced. At the same time a new city-watch headquarters and a dormitory for gymnasium students were built, the Town Hall and the arsenal were reconstructed, a plan of construction of modern bastion fortifications was prepared. During Stroband’s office, the influx of catholics into guilds was stopped and city authorities tried to hinder activities of jesuits who settled by st. John church in 1596. These were portents of growing conflict between lutherans and catholics. However, the principles of religious tolerance survived for a century and were reflected in theological dispute between representatives of different fractions of christianity – so called Colloquium Charitativum – organised in Toruń in 1645. The 1620s brought first omens of the fall of the city. Suburbs of Toruń burnt in 1629 were never rebuilt. New fortifications from 1640s encompassed only the city area within city walls and thus limited its spatial development. Economical and social crisis stimulated religious conflicts. The blame for deteriorating material situation and lack of possibilities for raising social status was laid primarily on "others" – persons of different confession or being ethnically different. This was, naturally simplified and omitting some direct reasons, the genesis of the lutheran – catholic conflict – the famous Toruń Mutiny of 1724 that led protestants to plunder a jesuit collegium, after which the leaders of lutheran community who were guilty of the situation, including mayor Johann Gottfried Roessner, were beheaded on king’s order.
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