mgr Łukasz Krzyszczuk

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

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.