Joachim Lelewel’s methodological ideas

The main aim of this paper is to capture the essence of a Polish historian Joachim Lelewel’s methodological ideas and their philosophical underpinning. For this purpose, I analyse his publication entitled History: Its Branching and What It Is Based On, which has thus far been overlooked in research. I propose a new perspective on Lelewel’s work, taking into account his European inspirations in the field of historical theory and his tendency to combine the contradictory research approaches of the Enlightenment and Romanticism. I address topics related mainly to the theory of historical cognition, the subject of historical study, source criticism, the concept of truth, historical interpretation, methods of historical analysis and selected rhetorical principles.