DOI Artikel:
Pajor, Piotr: Kilka uwag o okolicznościach budowy i formie architektonicznej kościoła Klarysek w Starym Sączu
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44918#0023
Several remarks on the
circumstances of the construction
and architectural form
of the Order of St. Clare church
in Stary Sączw
In the picturesque situation at the forking of Dunajec and Poprad rivers, in Stary Sącz,
we find one of the most fascinating medieval buildings in all Lesser Poland region -
the church of the Order of Saint Clare (see: Fig. i), constituting the main element
of the convent founded by the Hungarian princess and the Duchess of Kraków and
Sandomierz, Saint Kinga of Poland. The building also holds the grave of the foundress,
a testimony to the efforts to canonize the saintly ruler, which were began already in
the Middle Ages, albeit were successfully concluded as recently as the twentieth cen-
tury. There is no doubt, however, that the present existing church was built - or at least
completed - many years after Saint Kingas death. For that reason, the foundation of
the tempie is sometimes linked to Władysław Łokietek (Władysław the Short) and his
wife Jadwiga. In this study, I would like to present some remarks and diagnoses, which
show that art history research, despite the existence of fairly abundant literaturę, can still
provide important insights about the time and circumstances of the churchs creation.
Saint Kinga exercised undivided power in Stary Sącz already before the founding
of the convent, which she was to join in the futurę. In 1257, she received the Sącz
castellany from her husband, Bolesław the Chaste, which later became a specific
monastic dominiom1 According to the tradition preserved in her Vita (Saints Life),
Kinga and her sister Jolenta decided to join the convent of Saint Clare just after the
death of Bolesław the Chaste, announcing their intention during the Dukes funeral.2
The formal foundation of the convent in Sącz (at that time there was merely one
town of that name) took place in 1280.3 Five years later, Archbishop Jakub Świnka
* The article was written as part of the project financed by the National Science Centre grant No.
DEC-2016/21 / b / HS2 / 00598, supervised by Jakub Adamski, PhD.
1 F. Piekosiński (ed.), Kodeks dyplomatyczny Małopolski (further: kdm), vol. 2:1153-1333, Kraków
1886, issue 452.
2 Żywot świętej Kingi księżnej Krakowskiej. Vita sanctae Kyngae ducissae cracoviensis, published
and translated by B. Przybyszewski, Tarnów 1997, p. 58.
3 kdm, vol. 2, issue 487; primary sources relating to the history of church construction are col-
lected in: Z. Beiersdorf, B. Krasnowolski, Stary Sącz. Zarys historii rozwoju przestrzennego.
modus
prace z historii sztuki
art history journal
xviii, 2018
0
Wersja polska - str. 5
PIOTR PAJOR
1. Stary Sącz, the church of
Poor Clares, view from the
monastery yard.
Photo by Piotr Pajor.
-> see p.5
ARTICLES
21
circumstances of the construction
and architectural form
of the Order of St. Clare church
in Stary Sączw
In the picturesque situation at the forking of Dunajec and Poprad rivers, in Stary Sącz,
we find one of the most fascinating medieval buildings in all Lesser Poland region -
the church of the Order of Saint Clare (see: Fig. i), constituting the main element
of the convent founded by the Hungarian princess and the Duchess of Kraków and
Sandomierz, Saint Kinga of Poland. The building also holds the grave of the foundress,
a testimony to the efforts to canonize the saintly ruler, which were began already in
the Middle Ages, albeit were successfully concluded as recently as the twentieth cen-
tury. There is no doubt, however, that the present existing church was built - or at least
completed - many years after Saint Kingas death. For that reason, the foundation of
the tempie is sometimes linked to Władysław Łokietek (Władysław the Short) and his
wife Jadwiga. In this study, I would like to present some remarks and diagnoses, which
show that art history research, despite the existence of fairly abundant literaturę, can still
provide important insights about the time and circumstances of the churchs creation.
Saint Kinga exercised undivided power in Stary Sącz already before the founding
of the convent, which she was to join in the futurę. In 1257, she received the Sącz
castellany from her husband, Bolesław the Chaste, which later became a specific
monastic dominiom1 According to the tradition preserved in her Vita (Saints Life),
Kinga and her sister Jolenta decided to join the convent of Saint Clare just after the
death of Bolesław the Chaste, announcing their intention during the Dukes funeral.2
The formal foundation of the convent in Sącz (at that time there was merely one
town of that name) took place in 1280.3 Five years later, Archbishop Jakub Świnka
* The article was written as part of the project financed by the National Science Centre grant No.
DEC-2016/21 / b / HS2 / 00598, supervised by Jakub Adamski, PhD.
1 F. Piekosiński (ed.), Kodeks dyplomatyczny Małopolski (further: kdm), vol. 2:1153-1333, Kraków
1886, issue 452.
2 Żywot świętej Kingi księżnej Krakowskiej. Vita sanctae Kyngae ducissae cracoviensis, published
and translated by B. Przybyszewski, Tarnów 1997, p. 58.
3 kdm, vol. 2, issue 487; primary sources relating to the history of church construction are col-
lected in: Z. Beiersdorf, B. Krasnowolski, Stary Sącz. Zarys historii rozwoju przestrzennego.
modus
prace z historii sztuki
art history journal
xviii, 2018
0
Wersja polska - str. 5
PIOTR PAJOR
1. Stary Sącz, the church of
Poor Clares, view from the
monastery yard.
Photo by Piotr Pajor.
-> see p.5
ARTICLES
21