30. Sub cuius potestatem? Silesian monks - books - texts - ideas
The section is inspired by research conducted by the the Center for Medieval Studies at the Catholic University of Lublin on the medieval monastic book collections of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine of Żagań and the Dominicans of Wrocław. The source materials discovered provide a good starting point for reflection on the theme of the Congress. They concern Silesia, a land that was no longer politically connected with Poland in the late Middle Ages, but still maintained strong contacts with the former Bolesław Kingdom. At the same time, Czech, German and Hungarian influences were becoming stronger. This state of affairs impacted on the different perceptions of power on a supra-regional, but also local level. On the basis of monastic sources, it is worth discussing the perception of political, ecclesiastical or personally - authority of kings and princes, bishops and abbots... In which texts is authority mentioned? How was it imagined? How was real power characterized and evaluated? Was it supported, or criticized, or identified with it? How did monks perform in power structures? For comparative purposes, papers referring to other source materials from our part of Europe.
Sermons on Epiphany, mainly devoted to the Wise Men (Three Kings) bowing to the Child, were grateful material for late medieval preachers who pointed out various aspects of secular power. Examples of kings (e.g. Bohemian kings) were used to illustrate biblical exegesis, not always positive. Patterns of behaviour of a just ruler were also shown and abuses of their representatives were condemned. I would like to present these themes on the basis of an analysis of selected late medieval sermons from Silesian manuscripts, i.e. those read in monasteries and used in pastoral ministry in Silesia. These are both well-known sermons, but I would like to focus on sermons written by Silesians.
2025-09-20 12:30-13:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
The topic of the presentation will be the presentation and analysis of descriptions of territorial superiors mentioned on the pages of the monastic chronicles of Pomeranian Cistercian monasteries. The primary sources will be the medieval and modern chronicles of the Cistercian monasteries in Pelplin and Oliwa. Not all rulers received attention in the chronicles. One of the most important stimuli for such a description was the commitment to memoria about the ruler on prayer grounds. More often than not, it was on prayerful recollections that later narrative structures in chronicles were developed, which will be analysed in this presentation.
2025-09-20 12:00-12:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
Complaints of monks against representatives of secular authority in medieval writings can be encountered quite often. However, they are rarely accompanied by a reflection on the shaping of relations between monks and their environment, in particular with those in power. Meanwhile, this issue, in one of his works preserved in manuscript form, was taken up by Ludolf, abbot of the Sagan monastery of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine. The paper will characterize this original work, written around 1412. In it, Ludolf even compares monks to martyrs. According to him, the divine origin of the monks was supposed to make them survive through the centuries despite various oppositions and persecutions from “kings, chiefs, princes, knights, vassals.” Ludolph showing them quotes an otherwise well-known poem De miseria monachorum (Abbas Portensis...).
2025-09-20 09:00-09:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
In this conference about Power – Crown – Territory, commemorating the 1000th anniversary of Bolesław I the Brave´s coronation, and in a panel dedicated to monasteries, it seems pertinent to talk about the unfortunate contender to the Polish throne and monk Władysław the White. He had wished to be buried in the benedictine abbey of St Benignus, in Dijon, where he lived once as a monk. For centuries after his death, his memory was very alive among the inhabitants of Dijon. The monks of St Benignus celebrated a mass in his honour each year and proudly showed to foreign guests his tombstone and his "royal" cup (for they regarded him as a king of Poland). This interest for Władysław culminated in the year 1676. Then a historian convinced the authorities to open the tomb of the Piast monk in order to learn more about him. It was the talk of the town. This is this little known episode of Władysław´s Nachleben that we would like to present and analyse.
2025-09-20 13:30-14:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
Ludolf of Żagań, the abbot of the monastery of the Canons Regular (d. 1422), was the author of works that extensively addressed issues of politics. One of the most interesting themes in his writings is the analysis of the starkly contrasting portrayals of the Bohemian kings Charles IV and Wenceslaus IV. The former is depicted by Ludolf as an ideal model of monarchical virtues, while his son is held chiefly responsible for the profound crisis afflicting his domains. Ludolf of Żagań’s reflections offer a compelling example of considerations on secular power, written from the perspective of a monastic chronicler. This paper aims to highlight the differences and similarities in Ludolf’s perception of both rulers and their reigns, as presented in Catalogus abbatum Saganensium and De longevo schismate—works that primarily focus on monastic and ecclesiological themes.
2025-09-20 09:30-10:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
In the manuscript BUWr I F 710 from the mid-15th century, which belonged to the abbey of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Żagań, there is a short anonymous text in German, added to the codex in the early 16th century. This text is a paraphrase of one of the treatises by Nicolaus Tempelfeld of Brzeg, a member of the Wrocław cathedral chapter. Between 1458 and 1471, he played an important role in the conflict between King George of Poděbrady of Bohemia and Wrocław, being deeply involved in political activities. The text, which I will analyze in my presentation, serves as an interesting example of how a real historical dispute was used as a rhetorical exercise, demonstrating how to construct a convincing argument in discussions on authority.
2025-09-20 10:00-10:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
One of the prepositures of the Abbey of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine in Żagań was located in Zielona Góra, within the territory of the Duchy of Głogów. In 1423, Dukes Henry IX the Elder and Henry X the Younger granted the right of patronage over the parish church in Zielona Góra to the Canons Regular of Żagań. Over time, the newly established prepositure became a place of refuge (and at times exile) for monks from Żagań seeking asylum in the face of an escalating conflict with secular authorities. This turbulent period is described in the chronicle of the abbots of Żagań (Catalogus abbatum Saganensium).
In my presentation, I would like to demonstrate, using manuscripts preserved in the University Library of Wrocław (BUWr) as examples, how political circumstances and personal conflicts influenced the literary activity of the monks in Zielona Góra.
2025-09-20 10:30-11:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
A 13th-century manuscript containing Expositio in Apocalypsim by Alexander of Bremen (d. 1271) (shelf mark I Q 19) is preserved in the Wrocław University Library. It is the oldest commentary on the Book of Revelation and the only illuminated one in Polish collections. The codex was created in the Rhineland and originally belonged to the Church of St. Michael in Bamberg. A hypothesis has been proposed that the manuscript arrived in Silesia shortly after its creation (T. Mroczko, 1966) and may have been a gift for Henry IV the Righteous (A. Karłowska-Kamzowa, L. Wetesko, and J. Wiesiołowski, 1993). The paper will focus on verifying (or falsifying) this hypothesis, as well as analyzing the exegetical content, particularly themes related to temporal power—including the punishment of rulers by symbolic birds.
2025-09-20 13:00-13:30, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
Michael of Prague is one of the most popular Carthusian writers of the late Middle Ages. In 1386, he was appointed prior of the Carthusian monastery of Aggsbach by the general chapter after the removal of his predecessor, John, who was removed for violating a ban on allowing women into the monastery's church. John allowed the foundress to be buried in the shrine, which involved the participation of women from the court of the Counts von Maissau in the ceremonies. Michael of Prague was not well received at the charterhouse by his fellow monks. In his work, he tried to convince John that the loss of the prior's authority was justified, and that it could sometimes be a cause for joy and contentment, rather than sorrow, given the various responsibilities incumbent on the prior. In the end, Michael interceded at the chapter in favor of John, who in 1390 was again placed at the head of the community in Aggsbach, and Michael became Prior of the Carthusian monastery of Jurklošter (Gairach) in
2025-09-20 11:30-12:00, Instytut Kultury Europejskiej UAM, 2.01
