DOI Artikel:
Graczyńska, Marta: Polityka w architekturze Polski, Czech i Węgier od końca IX do końca XI wieku
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31348#0025
SUMMARY In the domains of the Piasts, Premyslids and Arpads (as the territories of
future Poland, Bohemia and Hungary should be correctly called), one of the most im-
portant aspects of retaining the power by the ruling dukes was the possibly most lavish
ostentation of their authority. Such manifestations were also indispensable elements
of transformations that the dukes decided to introduce, and which they underscored
by undertaking certain legal initiatives. It was on the basis of these initiatives that they
transformed their realms and introduced them into the orbit of Christianity. Among those
decisions, one that was most heavily burdened with consequences was that of conver-
sion. This act not only changed the political situation of a realm, but also significantly
influenced the image of the ruler and his expected conduct. Since that moment, the duke
protected and supported not only his subjects but also the brand new organism of the
Church, which he also helped to develop himself. Thus, the dukes built their positions on
the basis and with the help of the clergy and the saintly intercessors. The most prominent
testimony to these transformations is in the works of architecture erected by the dukes.
Architectural forms, appropriate for a particular function, underscored the new status of
the former heathens who strived at becoming Christian kings. This ambition materialised
thanks to the support of the Church and a coronation would take place in a befitting
setting of a temple, next to the relics of a spiritual leader. Thus, a work of architecture
became inseparable from the world that yielded it, and reflected its cultural, social and,
above all, political needs. Confronted with the scarcity of written sources related to the
Younger Europe of the ninth to eleventh centuries, it is in a detailed analysis of architec-
ture that we should search for additional information on the beginnings of statehood in
the neighbouring areas under discussion. #
Transited &y /oanna Woiahska
Polityka w architekturze Polski, Czech i Węgier...
23
future Poland, Bohemia and Hungary should be correctly called), one of the most im-
portant aspects of retaining the power by the ruling dukes was the possibly most lavish
ostentation of their authority. Such manifestations were also indispensable elements
of transformations that the dukes decided to introduce, and which they underscored
by undertaking certain legal initiatives. It was on the basis of these initiatives that they
transformed their realms and introduced them into the orbit of Christianity. Among those
decisions, one that was most heavily burdened with consequences was that of conver-
sion. This act not only changed the political situation of a realm, but also significantly
influenced the image of the ruler and his expected conduct. Since that moment, the duke
protected and supported not only his subjects but also the brand new organism of the
Church, which he also helped to develop himself. Thus, the dukes built their positions on
the basis and with the help of the clergy and the saintly intercessors. The most prominent
testimony to these transformations is in the works of architecture erected by the dukes.
Architectural forms, appropriate for a particular function, underscored the new status of
the former heathens who strived at becoming Christian kings. This ambition materialised
thanks to the support of the Church and a coronation would take place in a befitting
setting of a temple, next to the relics of a spiritual leader. Thus, a work of architecture
became inseparable from the world that yielded it, and reflected its cultural, social and,
above all, political needs. Confronted with the scarcity of written sources related to the
Younger Europe of the ninth to eleventh centuries, it is in a detailed analysis of architec-
ture that we should search for additional information on the beginnings of statehood in
the neighbouring areas under discussion. #
Transited &y /oanna Woiahska
Polityka w architekturze Polski, Czech i Węgier...
23