mgr Jagna Rita Sobel

Section 27.: Ways of manifesting secular and ecclesiastical power in medieval sources

The period of the pontificate of Henry of Wierzbna, spanning the years 1302-1319, was a time of stabilization and strengthening of episcopal authority in the Wrocław diocese after the turbulent conflict between Thomas II and Henry IV Probus, which is visible, among others, in the formation of an independent episcopal principality in the Nysa-Otmuchów land. These processes seem to be reflected in the documents issued by the ordinary, not only in their content but also in their external features. The aim of the paper will therefore be to try to answer the question of how Bishop Henry's diplomas served to manifest and communicate his power. For this purpose, we will analyze the diplomatic formulas used in documents (most of all intitulatio, dating clause, and witness list), visual elements (e.g. initials, type of writing), the sizes of parchment cards, and, finally, episcopal seals.