dr Antoine Haaker

Section 30.: Sub cuius potestatem? Silesian monks - books - texts - ideas

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.