DOI Artikel:
Adamski, Jakub: An allusion to a cathedral in a rural foundation: on the iconography of the architecture of the sixteenth-century parish church in Brochów
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51757#0019
AN ALLUSION TO A CATHEDRAL IN A RURAL FOUNDATION?...
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any corroboration in the contemporary written sources, of course, but the substantial size of the parish
(14 or 16 villages as of the 16th century) may indicate its 12th-century origins. In the latter half of
the 12th century the Brochów estate was owned by the voivode of Mazovia, Żyron, and his son Olt;36
afterwards, the ownership was transferred to the abbey of the Canons Regular in Czerwińsk, as recorded in
1198 and 1222.37 The existence of the Brochów church, under the patronage of the Czerwińsk monastery,
is confirmed by a document of the papal legate Opizo of Mezzano, drafted on 10 February 1254 in
Czerwińsk.38 Less than half a century later, ca. 1300, Brochów became the property of Jakub Świnka, the
archbishop of Gniezno, who in return turned over this village of Piotrowo to the Czerwińsk canons.39 The
hierarch soon sold the estate, however; its new owner was Duke Boleslaus II of Mazovia, who in 1304
gave the village as a fief to his close and trusted collaborator, knight Jan Sówka of the Prawdzie coat of
arms, the castellan of Dobrzyń.40 This is a historically confirmed point when Brochów became the seat
of the local branch of the Prawdzie family, which soon adopted the appellation Brochowski. This did not
change until 1661, when Agnieszka Brochowska, the great-granddaughter of the founder of the current
church, brought the estate as her dowry to Olbracht Adrian Lasocki, the land judge of Wyszogród, later
castellan of Inowrocław.41
When in 1551 Jan Brochowski, the wojski of Warsaw, began to build a new church in his ancestral
estate - a church which on the southern side was directly adjacent to the founder’s manor - Brochów
had been owned by the family for more than two and a half centuries. It is probable that the beginnings
of the Prawdzie family presence there had been mythologised in the family tradition, as indicated by the
armorial legend of its alleged ancestor Andreas von Dinhein, recorded in the 17th century. The family had
reasons for pride: three of Jan Sówka’s seven sons - Mikołaj (1365-1367), Stanisław (1368-1375) and
Dobiesław (1375-1381) - became successive bishops of Płock.42 This validates the supposition that Jan
Brochowski had good reasons to adorn his ancestral village with a church whose lavishness (achieved
by means of both its size and the complexity of its spatial programme) was a visible sign of the family’s
significance and Brochów’s long history as its seat.
This, however, is not enough to explain the structural complexity of this church. One of its most
characteristic features, and at the same time one heavily loaded with meanings, is its castellation, that is,
the fact that it had been given the features of military architecture: the walls have arrow-slits, a narrow
passage runs within the top section of the wall in the main nave and the chancel, and the towers are
relatively far removed from the main body of the church and are cylindrical, by which they resemble castle
towers more than church ones;43 finally, the entire complex was surrounded with a tall wall pierced with
arrow-slits and having “bastions” in the comers. In addition, the stereometric solids of which the silhouette
of the church is constructed are exceptionally simple; outside, the church has no decorations at all.
It had been correctly emphasised in the art historical literature that all these architectural solutions
would have turned useless when faced with a real siege, especially considering that the importance of
artillery was growing throughout the 16th century.44 The relatively low thickens of the church walls, the
large windows opening in them, and the peace and stabilisation which Mazovia had enjoyed since its
incorporation into the Crown of Poland in 1526 need to be taken into consideration as well. In practice, it
does not seem possible for Jan Brochowski and the architect in his employ to have envisaged the Brochów
church as being put to military use as a true stronghold, that is something more than a place refuge for
36 J. Nowacki, Archidiecezja poznańska w granicach historycznych i jej ustrój, Poznań 1964 {Dzieje Archidiecezji Poznańskiej,
vol. 2), p. 510.
37 Codex diplomaticus Poloniae, vol. 1, ed. L. Rzyszczewski, A. Muczkowski, Warsaw 1847, no. 15, pp. 26-27.
38 Nowy kodeks dyplomatyczny Mazowsza, vol. 2, Dokumenty z lat 1248-1355, ed. I. Sułkowska-Kuraś, S. Kuraś, Wrocław 1989,
no. 16, pp. 16-18.
39 Ibidem, no. 107, pp. 102-103.
40 Ibidem, no. 117, pp. 112-114.
41 See Herbarz polski..., pp. 293-294; Boniecki, op. cit., p. 122; Uruski, op. cit., pp. 389-390; Żmudziński, op. cit., pp. 16-21.
42 T. Żebrowski, Zarys dziejów diecezji płockiej, Płock 1976, pp. 40-42; A. Radzimiński, Stanisław zwany Sówką ze Szcza-
wina h. Prawdzie, [in:] Połski Słownik Biograficzny, vol. 42, Warsaw-Cracow 2004; Żmudziński, op. cit., p. 16.
43 It must be noted here that the circular shape of the Brochów towers may have been also associated with the cylindrical cor-
ner buttresses, a feature used in the second quarter of the 16th century on western elevations of several Mazovian churches: in Serock,
Pawłów, Zakroczym, Cegłów, Piaseczno and Węgrów. Giovanni Battista of Venice used such turret-like buttresses ca. 1560 on the tower
of the church in Głogowiec; see Galicka, op. cit., pp. 154, 162-163; Herrmann, Masowien, pp. 531-535.
44 Kunkel, Architektura gotycka..., p. 58; Żmudziński, op. cit., p. 30, 46.
17
any corroboration in the contemporary written sources, of course, but the substantial size of the parish
(14 or 16 villages as of the 16th century) may indicate its 12th-century origins. In the latter half of
the 12th century the Brochów estate was owned by the voivode of Mazovia, Żyron, and his son Olt;36
afterwards, the ownership was transferred to the abbey of the Canons Regular in Czerwińsk, as recorded in
1198 and 1222.37 The existence of the Brochów church, under the patronage of the Czerwińsk monastery,
is confirmed by a document of the papal legate Opizo of Mezzano, drafted on 10 February 1254 in
Czerwińsk.38 Less than half a century later, ca. 1300, Brochów became the property of Jakub Świnka, the
archbishop of Gniezno, who in return turned over this village of Piotrowo to the Czerwińsk canons.39 The
hierarch soon sold the estate, however; its new owner was Duke Boleslaus II of Mazovia, who in 1304
gave the village as a fief to his close and trusted collaborator, knight Jan Sówka of the Prawdzie coat of
arms, the castellan of Dobrzyń.40 This is a historically confirmed point when Brochów became the seat
of the local branch of the Prawdzie family, which soon adopted the appellation Brochowski. This did not
change until 1661, when Agnieszka Brochowska, the great-granddaughter of the founder of the current
church, brought the estate as her dowry to Olbracht Adrian Lasocki, the land judge of Wyszogród, later
castellan of Inowrocław.41
When in 1551 Jan Brochowski, the wojski of Warsaw, began to build a new church in his ancestral
estate - a church which on the southern side was directly adjacent to the founder’s manor - Brochów
had been owned by the family for more than two and a half centuries. It is probable that the beginnings
of the Prawdzie family presence there had been mythologised in the family tradition, as indicated by the
armorial legend of its alleged ancestor Andreas von Dinhein, recorded in the 17th century. The family had
reasons for pride: three of Jan Sówka’s seven sons - Mikołaj (1365-1367), Stanisław (1368-1375) and
Dobiesław (1375-1381) - became successive bishops of Płock.42 This validates the supposition that Jan
Brochowski had good reasons to adorn his ancestral village with a church whose lavishness (achieved
by means of both its size and the complexity of its spatial programme) was a visible sign of the family’s
significance and Brochów’s long history as its seat.
This, however, is not enough to explain the structural complexity of this church. One of its most
characteristic features, and at the same time one heavily loaded with meanings, is its castellation, that is,
the fact that it had been given the features of military architecture: the walls have arrow-slits, a narrow
passage runs within the top section of the wall in the main nave and the chancel, and the towers are
relatively far removed from the main body of the church and are cylindrical, by which they resemble castle
towers more than church ones;43 finally, the entire complex was surrounded with a tall wall pierced with
arrow-slits and having “bastions” in the comers. In addition, the stereometric solids of which the silhouette
of the church is constructed are exceptionally simple; outside, the church has no decorations at all.
It had been correctly emphasised in the art historical literature that all these architectural solutions
would have turned useless when faced with a real siege, especially considering that the importance of
artillery was growing throughout the 16th century.44 The relatively low thickens of the church walls, the
large windows opening in them, and the peace and stabilisation which Mazovia had enjoyed since its
incorporation into the Crown of Poland in 1526 need to be taken into consideration as well. In practice, it
does not seem possible for Jan Brochowski and the architect in his employ to have envisaged the Brochów
church as being put to military use as a true stronghold, that is something more than a place refuge for
36 J. Nowacki, Archidiecezja poznańska w granicach historycznych i jej ustrój, Poznań 1964 {Dzieje Archidiecezji Poznańskiej,
vol. 2), p. 510.
37 Codex diplomaticus Poloniae, vol. 1, ed. L. Rzyszczewski, A. Muczkowski, Warsaw 1847, no. 15, pp. 26-27.
38 Nowy kodeks dyplomatyczny Mazowsza, vol. 2, Dokumenty z lat 1248-1355, ed. I. Sułkowska-Kuraś, S. Kuraś, Wrocław 1989,
no. 16, pp. 16-18.
39 Ibidem, no. 107, pp. 102-103.
40 Ibidem, no. 117, pp. 112-114.
41 See Herbarz polski..., pp. 293-294; Boniecki, op. cit., p. 122; Uruski, op. cit., pp. 389-390; Żmudziński, op. cit., pp. 16-21.
42 T. Żebrowski, Zarys dziejów diecezji płockiej, Płock 1976, pp. 40-42; A. Radzimiński, Stanisław zwany Sówką ze Szcza-
wina h. Prawdzie, [in:] Połski Słownik Biograficzny, vol. 42, Warsaw-Cracow 2004; Żmudziński, op. cit., p. 16.
43 It must be noted here that the circular shape of the Brochów towers may have been also associated with the cylindrical cor-
ner buttresses, a feature used in the second quarter of the 16th century on western elevations of several Mazovian churches: in Serock,
Pawłów, Zakroczym, Cegłów, Piaseczno and Węgrów. Giovanni Battista of Venice used such turret-like buttresses ca. 1560 on the tower
of the church in Głogowiec; see Galicka, op. cit., pp. 154, 162-163; Herrmann, Masowien, pp. 531-535.
44 Kunkel, Architektura gotycka..., p. 58; Żmudziński, op. cit., p. 30, 46.