Baroquisation of medieval churches in the area of former Dominion of Warmia (Ermland)/ conference presentation (original) (raw)

2012

The aim of the presentation is an analysis of the baroquisation phenomenon of medieval, mainly Gothic, churches in the former Dominion of Warmia (Ger.Ermland). The analysis concerns the subject of artistic and functional transformations with their historical, cultural and religious aspects. The Warmia Dominion was the domain of bishops that was sectioned off from Warmia Diocese in the second half of the 13th century. It had an area of 1/3 of the diocese. In this territory the highest authority was held by the bishop and the cathedral chapter. Their power was comparable with the power of the Order of the Teutonic Knights in the rest of the Warmia Diocese territory. The organization of the administration system and autonomy of the Dominion remained the same in modern times when this territory became the enclave of catholic faith in protestant Royal Prussia. The large autonomy of this region was signified by the fact that this area was directly under the Holy See, not under Gniezno Archdiocese supervision - the largest Polish Archdiocese. The international importance of this area is underlined by the fact that one of the bishops of Warmia became later Pope Pius II. The time of the partition of Poland (1772-1918) and the World Wars contributed to a constant decline of this very characteristic and unique region. That is the main reason why in many churches a lot of interesting monuments have survived, which allows for observation of some rules of church interior transformation in the Counter-Reformation times e.g. complex(es) of wooden baptisteries or Holy Sepulchres in high altars. It is also possible to recognize signs of the strengthening of the general concept of catholic religion by artistic objects used. I would like to show that one of the most important facts is that in cult, “old” Gothic churches with modern furnishing were used. This had economical reasons, but definitely the most important was that those churches were a strong symbol of catholic power in this territory. The impact of the transformations after the Council of Trident in the context of church laws in theory and practice is obvious in e.g. the changes in Milano in Charles Borromeo times, Jakob Müller’s work in Regensburg or Szymon Rudnicki’s synodical statutes. It seems important because, as mentioned above, this area came directly under the Holy See authority which could also have influenced the artistic and religious customs in this region. That is why I want to use the example of groups of church artifacts to present the importance of the context of general and regional transfers of Post – Tridentine Liturgy and Religious Laws. In addition the Warmia Dominion involves another significant issue: a mutual, regional catholic - protestant transfers of patterns in this unique area, which of course has influence on church furnishing.

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