Scientific conference: “The Fate and significance of the heritage of monasteries dissolved in former Royal Prussia. On the 180th anniversary of the dissolution of the last monasteries in Gdańsk”, (Gdańsk, 22 October 2015), Studia Historica Gedanensia, t. 9, 2018, s. 251-254. (original) (raw)
Marek Derwich, Marek L. Wójcik (eds.), Pruskie kasaty klasztorne na Śląsku na tle procesów sekularyzacyjnych w Polsce i Europie = The Prussian dissolution of monasteries in Silesia against a background of secularization processes in Poland and Europe, Wrocław: Wydawnictwo WTMH, 2010, pp. 242, 2010
A wave of monastery dissolutions of the end of the 18th and the first half of the 19th c. overwhelmed nearly the whole Catholic Europe. It exerted a huge influence not only on the monasteries and orders it affected, but also on the history of the Church and many areas of life, not only of the monastic one. Its consequences changed the religious, cultural, social and economic landscape of Europe. The conference has been organized to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Prussian king Frederick William IIIs edict dissolving almost all monasteries of the Prussian Silesia region. Its purpose is to present the origins, the course and the outcomes of the then ongoing dramatic processes against the background of monastery dissolutions in modern and contemporary Europe of the period between the 16th and the 20th c. Sessions are of interdisciplinary character. The participants are not only historians of various specialties and epochs, but also art and culture historians, archivists and library science specialists. The conference opens the commemoration of 200th anniversary of the State University of Wroclaw establishment in the year 1811.
in: Hereditas Monasteriorum 1 (2012), pp. 363-368, 2012
The project The cultural legacy of the monasteries resolved in the former Polish Commonwealth and in Silesia during 18th and 19th centuries: the fate, importance, inventory is implemented under the National Programme for Development of Humanities (11H 11 021280), from the funds of Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The main aim of the project is to initiate a comprehensive, interdisciplinary and generally accessible scientific description, and inventory the cultural legacy left by the resolved monasteries as an important part of spiritual and material national heritage. This is the first in Europe attempt of identifying and documenting scattered collections of more than a thousand monasteries. The territorial scope of the queries will contain Poland and several neighboring countries, while within the formal range will be included different types of objects: archives, old prints, books, other variety of movables (e.g. liturgical, everyday objects, remnants of the equipment, including e.g. pharmacies), buildings and other facilities in situ, and also the natural and archeological remains, at the moment investigated slightly or not at all
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.
MEDIEVAL HERITAGE OF SMALL TOWNS IN THE STATE OF THE TEUTONIC ORDER IN THE REGISTER OF MONUMENTS
Over the centuries, Prussian cities have undergone physiognomic and morphological changes. Their contemporary shape and preserved heritage are the result of natural, evolutionary development of cities, as well as revolutionary events, such as fires or war. 17th century was an important era for medieval monuments in Prussian cities. It was then that the demolition started on medievalfortifications, ordered by Prussian authorities and continuing into the 19th or even 20th centuries. 19th century brought dynamic industrial development, expansion of the railway network, as well as a hike in population due to the agrarian reform, which also influenced the morphology of settlement units. World War I destruction, especially severe in Masuria, were another important factor which influenced the spatial arrangement of the centres of towns of the former monastic state (Salm 2006). The reconstruction of Eastern-Prussian towns was conducted on a grand scale and often involved planned regulation of streets and plots, which in many cases erased the elements of medieval arrangement. World War II was particularly tragic for Prussian cities (Lewandowska 2012), as the west-bound front line almost levelled a number of historic city centres. The postwar period was not a very good time for the destroyed cities in the Recovered Territories either. In the first period, a significant portion of construction materials was moved to Gdańsk and Warsaw in order to accelerate the reconstruction of these important cities. In subsequent years, the modernisation of transportation routes and, above all, the construction of multi-family buildings in the historic centres caused irreparable transformations in the landscape. One very visible example of such reconstruction can now be seen in Malbork, where the magnificent castle complex is now located next to a housing estate on the Nogat embankment. The image of urban landscape transformations in the former monastic state is also shaped by modern architectural and planning endeavours. They are not always thoughtful and harmoniously blended with the surrounding. Despite these negative factors, the number of historic urban arrangements and architecture can be considered significant. These include both international-level structures such as the Malbork castle listed by UNESCO, the Frombork cathedral considered as an medieval gem, or the ‘Wawel of the north’ – bishop's castle in Lidzbark Warmiński, but also lower-rank structures such as the Orneta town hall, fragments of fortifications in Kowalewo Pomorskie, the spatial arrangement of Górowo Iławeckie or the remains of the Radzyń Chełmiński castle. Numerous initiatives involving the restoration and revitalisation of historic centres in the region give us hope for the continuous improvement of the technical condition and a new life for historic monuments and areas. They apply to both large cities, such as Elbląg, and smaller ones of a couple thousand inhabitants, as is the case with Nowy Staw in Malbork district. Today, the medieval heritage that survived to our times may be perceived in two ways – as a hindrance to local development and an onerous duty, or as an economic, social and cultural potential. In recent years, we have witnessed many processes of functional and ownership changes related to the technical condition of monuments. And we, the citizens, can also help decide what direction the transformations will go. This is why discussing the themes of cultural heritage of cities is so important.
SAECULUM CHRISTIANUM, 2022
To begin with, it should be considered whether it is justified to discuss the problem of the endowment of monks living according to the rule that forbids accepting money and things of any material value. It seems it is, indeed, as they also strove to maintain their monasteries. There were various sources of income for monasteries. The money Bernardine monks ignored as synonymous with wealth in the 13th century, became, in the course of time, a means of payment used by all social classes. For this reason, the authors of laws and monastic con-stitutions have mitigated the strict orders of St. Francis of Assisi, sharing the Franciscans’ opinion on poverty.
Muzeológia a kultúrne dedičstvo, 2022
Protestant refuge churches were built in Silesian Protestant principalities, and in the borderline areas of Saxony, Brandenburg and Poland before the end of Thirty Years’ War and the signing of the Peace of Westphalia. In the most part, the churches were erected by means of adapting Catholic churches to the needs of Protestant believers, e.g. by building emporas (choir galleries), a pulpit and an altar inside the church. The acquisition of churches in Silesia was peaceful, without any violence almost everywhere, and it was not a rare phenomenon that a single church was used by two religions at the same time. At the end of the eighteenth century, there were approximately 110 refugee churches in Silesia. Currently, there are no churches of this type in Lower Silesia, and their extraordinary decoration was preserved in only a few of them. The main aim is to analyse this specific, forgotten sacral Protestent heritage, i.e. refuge churches in Lower Silesia, from the historical, sociologi...