DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41959#0115
Ewa Smulikowska
Warsaw
Religi mis Sanctuaries — National Sanctuaries
In order to evalute properly the scale of this problem in the Polish terri-
tories (from the late 18th to the first two decades of the 20th century rent bet-
ween three partitioning powers — Bussia, Austria, and Prussia) it is necessary
to go back to history and to supplement the generally known facts by a handful
of details.
The custom of making mass pilgrimages to sacred places in Poland goes
back to the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century1. This does
not mean that the mediaeval loca sacra were not visited by pilgrims earlier but
that then those journeys were of a more individual character. With the passage
of time the range of particular cults, at first limited, became more and more
varied2. The centres of cult, arising in Poland in the Middle Ages, were dedica-
ted to different saints, the earliest, though, being connected with the martyrs,
with the places of their burial and of the keeping of their relics. The cult of St
Stanislas the Bishop spread in Little Poland, its main centre being Cracow
with two smaller ones — Piotrawin on the Vistula and Łąka Święta near Brzeź-
nica 3. In Great Poland, the most widespread was the cult os St Adalbert with
its centre in Gniezno, while in Mazovia, in Płock it was the cult of St Sigismund,
which, similarly as that of St Florian in Cracow and of St Vincent in Wrocław,
was based on the presence of the relics brought from the West4. These problems
have been studied by scholars representing various disciplines, some of the sac-
red places radiating an intense religious life till today.
In Little Poland, the first half of the .15th century was the beginning of the
mass cult of the Virgin Mary. This phenomenon could be observed earlier, in
the second half of the 14th century, in the Buthenian territory which had be-
come part of the Polish Kingdom joined with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
into one Catholic monarchy by the union of Krevo in 1386 5. Soon this cult be-
came so widespread in Poland as to be sometimes described as a specific trait
of Polish religiousness6. One of the manisestations of the cult was the constantly
growing number of miraculous images of the Virgin Mary, which were surroun--
ded with a particular veneration and became the goal of pilgrimages.
As early as the 17th century, out of nearly 500 functioning local sanctuaries
in Poland, 400 were devoted to the cult of the Virgin Mary 7. These characteri-
stic proportions have not changed until the present time.
8 — Seminaria Niedzickie, t. V
113
Warsaw
Religi mis Sanctuaries — National Sanctuaries
In order to evalute properly the scale of this problem in the Polish terri-
tories (from the late 18th to the first two decades of the 20th century rent bet-
ween three partitioning powers — Bussia, Austria, and Prussia) it is necessary
to go back to history and to supplement the generally known facts by a handful
of details.
The custom of making mass pilgrimages to sacred places in Poland goes
back to the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century1. This does
not mean that the mediaeval loca sacra were not visited by pilgrims earlier but
that then those journeys were of a more individual character. With the passage
of time the range of particular cults, at first limited, became more and more
varied2. The centres of cult, arising in Poland in the Middle Ages, were dedica-
ted to different saints, the earliest, though, being connected with the martyrs,
with the places of their burial and of the keeping of their relics. The cult of St
Stanislas the Bishop spread in Little Poland, its main centre being Cracow
with two smaller ones — Piotrawin on the Vistula and Łąka Święta near Brzeź-
nica 3. In Great Poland, the most widespread was the cult os St Adalbert with
its centre in Gniezno, while in Mazovia, in Płock it was the cult of St Sigismund,
which, similarly as that of St Florian in Cracow and of St Vincent in Wrocław,
was based on the presence of the relics brought from the West4. These problems
have been studied by scholars representing various disciplines, some of the sac-
red places radiating an intense religious life till today.
In Little Poland, the first half of the .15th century was the beginning of the
mass cult of the Virgin Mary. This phenomenon could be observed earlier, in
the second half of the 14th century, in the Buthenian territory which had be-
come part of the Polish Kingdom joined with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
into one Catholic monarchy by the union of Krevo in 1386 5. Soon this cult be-
came so widespread in Poland as to be sometimes described as a specific trait
of Polish religiousness6. One of the manisestations of the cult was the constantly
growing number of miraculous images of the Virgin Mary, which were surroun--
ded with a particular veneration and became the goal of pilgrimages.
As early as the 17th century, out of nearly 500 functioning local sanctuaries
in Poland, 400 were devoted to the cult of the Virgin Mary 7. These characteri-
stic proportions have not changed until the present time.
8 — Seminaria Niedzickie, t. V
113