“The Construction of Christian Identity in Fourteenth-Century Gdansk.” Historica 1(2015): 1-16. (original) (raw)

Building identity. Town halls of small Polish towns as a symbol and a sign of urban character and identity (14th–16th century)

MEMO – Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture Online, 2022

In popular imagination a mediaeval town is a densely built up, stonewalled, crowded and busy settlement with sky scraping spires of churches and town halls. In reality, in case of many small chartered towns, there was little difference between them and villages, except legal status. With scarce budgets, they struggled with municipal projects. However, a number of them invested great amounts of resources and effort to build town halls. Analysing evidence from the small towns (less than 2000 inhabitants) of the Kingdom of Poland, I explore in this paper a role played by their municipal buildings in constructing urban identity and manifesting their urban character.

Nigra crux mala crux : a comparative perspective on urban conflict in Gdansk in 1411 and 1416

Urban History 41:4 (2014)

Between 1411 and 1416, Gdansk was the scene for a complex conflict between town population, council and landlord, eventually resultingin violent riots. The peculiar character of these riots becomes apparent whenthe Gdansk chronicles are compared to the historical accounts from other, better-known conflicts, particularly sources depicting the Lübeck Knochenhauer rebellion, the Hamburg brewer’s rebellion of 1481 and the 1449–53 Gentseopstand. A key difference is the extent to which chroniclers understood and portrayed the ritualized action that occurred in the urban uprisings. Comparingthe contemporary chronicles of the Gdansk events with the town’s urban historiography 100 years later also shows that this early conflict with the landlord later played a significant role in urban self-definition.

The Influence of a Multi-confessional Community on Religious Architecture in Vilnius

Established at the crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe, Vilnius offers a unique window into the abstract history of the borderlands. The transcultural nature of the region’s mediating position becomes apparent upon recognizing the multifarious religions that converged not only in Vilnius, but also in Greater Poland leading up to the seventeenth century. Intrigued by the city’s religious tolerance and unusually high rates of religious conversion, my research investigates the extent to which cohabitation influenced religious architecture. Competing for souls, it served confessions to distinguish themselves from neighboring denominations. In the snaking, thronged streets of Vilnius, the most immediate way to do this was by building monumental structures. Through visual analysis, supported by art historical scholarship and psychological studies, I demonstrate that the raised churches, piercing minarets, bell towers, and spires, and ornate façades characteristic of Vilnius conveyed more than the religious rituals of the space – a captivating sense of awe at the edifice and the community it represented.

The Teutonic Order and monasteries in Gdansk Pomerania in the first half of the 14th century, Studia z Dziejów Średniowiecza, 26, 2023, s. 86–109.

2023

Rafał Kubicki The Teutonic Order and monasteries in Gdansk Pomerania in the first half of the 14th century The subject of this study is the attempt to characterise the policy conducted by the Teutonic Order towards monasteries in Gdansk Pomerania in the first half of the 14th century. In current assessment, it has traditionally been indicated that the order would consequently apply limitations in terms of friar convents foundations in Prussia and would pursue towards a strict control of all the congregations whose locations were based in Gdansk Pomerania. The article primarily indicates two factors contributing to the relations between the Teutonic Order and the cloisters in Gdansk Pomerania, namely the process of implantation and territorialisation of the Teutonic Order offices in Gdansk Pomerania. The conducted analyses determine that the relations between the Teutonic Order and the monasteries in Gdansk Pomerania were not as much of a result of its consequently conducted policy as of a resultant of numerous factors stemming from the situation occurring in a given friar congregation (the Cistercians) or referring to a specific cloister (as in the instance of the Dominicans in Gdansk). Whereby the Teutonic Order usually acted as a territorial ruler confirming transactions of purchase, bestowals or exchange of estates, as well as an arbitrary body in disputes with other institutions (with town authorities). Such role was also performed by local commanders or the Grand Master of the Order himself. Participation of the latter was ordinarily connected with the necessity for general regulation, as was the case in the instance of the general confirmation of monastery estates in Oliwa and Żarnowiec conducted by the Grand Master Ludolf König. In general, mutual relations of the Order and the convents were adequate if not even good. It must be highlighted that the position of the Teutonic Order towards the monasteries in Gdansk Pomerania were an element of a broader Church policy conducted in the area also towards the bishop of Wloclawek and the archbishop of Gniezno. streszczenie Rafał Kubicki Zakon krzyżacki a klasztory na Pomorzu Gdańskim w pierwszej połowie XIV w. Przedmiotem opracowania jest próba charakterystyki polityki prowadzonej przez zakon krzyżacki (niemiecki) wobec klasztorów na Pomorzu Gdańskim w pierwszej połowie XIV w. W dotychczasowych ocenach tradycyjnie wskazywano na konsekwentnie stosowane ograniczenia odnośnie do fundacji klasztorów mniszych w Prusach i dążenie zakonu niemieckiego do poddania ścisłej kontroli wszystkich zgromadzeń posiadających swoje siedziby na Pomorzu Gdańskim. W artykule wskazano przede wszystkim na dwa czynniki mające wpływ na relacje zakonu niemieckiego z klasztorami na Pomorzu Gdańskim, to jest na proces implantacji klasztorów i terytorializacji urzędów zakonu niemieckiego na Pomorzu Gdańskim. Z przeprowadzonych analiz wynika, że relacje zakonu niemieckiego z klasztorami na Pomorzu Gdańskim były nie tyle następstwem konsekwentnie realizowanej przez niego polityki, ale raczej wypadkową wielu czynników, wynikających z sytuacji panującej w danym zgromadzeniu zakonnym (cystersi) i odnośnie do konkretnego klasztoru (przykład dominikanów w Gdańsku). Przy czym zakon niemiecki występował zazwyczaj jako władca terytorialny, potwierdzający transakcje kupna–sprzedaży względnie nadania lub zamiany dóbr oraz jako arbiter w sporach z innymi instytucjami (z władzami miejskimi). Funkcję taką pełnili miejscowi komturzy lub sam wielki mistrz zakonu. Udział tego ostatniego był zazwyczaj związany z potrzebą ogólnej regulacji, jak w przypadku generalnej konfirmacji dla dóbr klasztoru w Oli wie i Żarnowcu dokonanej przez wielkiego mistrza Ludolfa Königa. Ogólnie, wzajemne relacje zakonu z klasztorami były poprawne, jeśli nie wręcz dobre. Trzeba też podkreślić, że stanowisko zakonu niemieckiego wobec klasztorów na Pomorzu Gdańskim było elementem szerszej polityki kościelnej prowadzonej na tym terenie także wobec biskupa włocławskiego i arcybiskupa gnieźnieńskiego.

Anglicans, Presbyterians, Quakers and other British Religious Groups in Gdansk in the 17th-18th Centuries

Saeculum Christianum, 2021

This article presents the religious aspects of the community of emigrants from the British Isles, mainly Scots, in Gdańsk. They tried to provide for their religious needs already in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the existence of chapels and altars in some of the churches in Gdansk. After the success of the Reformation, mainly Scottish Presbyterians settled in Gdansk. Clergymen from their home country were brought in for their ministry. Both the Presbyterian clergy and the wealthy Scottish merchant elite of this denomination ruled the sacred building acquired in 1707, called the English Church. However, only few of the Presbyterians living in Gdansk identified with this building - according to legal arrangements, having the character of an “ethnic” temple - together with the Anglicans. Most Scots - by entering into family relationships - slowly melted into the community of the city on the Motława, using other Calvinist facilities. In addition to Presbyterians and very few Anglican...