DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41589#0039
Pawei Pencakowski
Cracow
Mediaeval Minorite Architecture in Lesser Poland
— Selected Problems*
The Franciscans came to Cracow in the year 1236 or 1237, while the first convent of
Poor Clares appeared in Zawichost on the River Vistula six years later. The
development of the order’s organization in Lesser Poland and the establishment of new
monasteries continued throughout the remainder of the 13th century. At that time the
whole order of St. Francis was undergoing a transformation (not without problems),
from an open movement of poor wandering friars, into a strong centralized order of
priests in the service of the Roman Church, and also closely connected with local secular
powers1. Convents were settled in cities and not in isolation from society as had been
practiced by earlier monastic formations (Benedictines, Cistercians).
The reform carried out during the government of Elias of Cortona and St.
Bonaventura clearly defined the place of architecture in the order’s panorama of life,
works, and objectives. In theory this place remained at first inferior. Franciscans who
swore poverty and renounced the possession of all wordly goods rejected the possession
of properties. The development of the order and its clericalization caused a modification
of this attitude. Since 1230—1240 the order has been allowed to build churches: they
became the property of the Papacy and the brothers administered and used them.
The General Chapter of the Order in Narbonne (1260) specified the restrictions. The
minorite churches were not permitted to have towers or vaultings (except in the choir).
Churches, chapels, and oratories of the order were to be unostentatious in dimensions,
devoid of decoration (except for glass paintings above the altar), and were to conform
with local customs (conditions). The judgement and all the decisions were reserved for
the father provincial and Provincial Chapters. Their instructions were followed in
Europe more or less rigorously. Small and poor churches were built along with spacious
ones, richly decorated with paintings, for example: S. Francesco in Assisi or Santa Croce
in Florence.
The situation in Lesser Poland did not greatly differ2. Churches and monasteries of
the order came into being in more than ten cities of Lesser Poland within the period ca
1240 to the beginning of the 16th century. Of a few others we find nothing but references
in mediaeval texts.
Preserved or well documented churches existed or still exist in:
Zawichost (St. John the Baptist, Figs 20, 21, 30)
Cracow (St. Francis, Figs 22, 23, 24, 25)
Nowy Korczyn (St. Stanislas, fig. 26)
Grodzisko near Skala (St. Mary the Virgin)
37
Cracow
Mediaeval Minorite Architecture in Lesser Poland
— Selected Problems*
The Franciscans came to Cracow in the year 1236 or 1237, while the first convent of
Poor Clares appeared in Zawichost on the River Vistula six years later. The
development of the order’s organization in Lesser Poland and the establishment of new
monasteries continued throughout the remainder of the 13th century. At that time the
whole order of St. Francis was undergoing a transformation (not without problems),
from an open movement of poor wandering friars, into a strong centralized order of
priests in the service of the Roman Church, and also closely connected with local secular
powers1. Convents were settled in cities and not in isolation from society as had been
practiced by earlier monastic formations (Benedictines, Cistercians).
The reform carried out during the government of Elias of Cortona and St.
Bonaventura clearly defined the place of architecture in the order’s panorama of life,
works, and objectives. In theory this place remained at first inferior. Franciscans who
swore poverty and renounced the possession of all wordly goods rejected the possession
of properties. The development of the order and its clericalization caused a modification
of this attitude. Since 1230—1240 the order has been allowed to build churches: they
became the property of the Papacy and the brothers administered and used them.
The General Chapter of the Order in Narbonne (1260) specified the restrictions. The
minorite churches were not permitted to have towers or vaultings (except in the choir).
Churches, chapels, and oratories of the order were to be unostentatious in dimensions,
devoid of decoration (except for glass paintings above the altar), and were to conform
with local customs (conditions). The judgement and all the decisions were reserved for
the father provincial and Provincial Chapters. Their instructions were followed in
Europe more or less rigorously. Small and poor churches were built along with spacious
ones, richly decorated with paintings, for example: S. Francesco in Assisi or Santa Croce
in Florence.
The situation in Lesser Poland did not greatly differ2. Churches and monasteries of
the order came into being in more than ten cities of Lesser Poland within the period ca
1240 to the beginning of the 16th century. Of a few others we find nothing but references
in mediaeval texts.
Preserved or well documented churches existed or still exist in:
Zawichost (St. John the Baptist, Figs 20, 21, 30)
Cracow (St. Francis, Figs 22, 23, 24, 25)
Nowy Korczyn (St. Stanislas, fig. 26)
Grodzisko near Skala (St. Mary the Virgin)
37