Studia Waweliana (20/21.2022)

Jerzy T. Petrus
Wawel Royal Castle
Honor of the Cathedral Chapter in Wilno and Biatystok
The higher clergy in the Roman Catholic dioceses were distinguished by cere-
monia! dress of a specific form and color. This group of clergy who sat in ca-
thedral chapters, also used distinctoria (badges that distinguish canons) from a
certain point onwards. This was a type of order insignia, worn on a ribbon or
chain around the neck. Only the pope could confer the decoration. In the Pol-
ish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the first to receive the distinction was the cathe-
dral chapter of Kraków, which obtained it in 1732. Five years later, the privilege
was granted to the Primate s chapter in Gniezno, and in 1740 to the canons of the
Kujawy chapter in Włocławek. Always trying to match the Kraków chapter, the
canons of Wilno (today Vilnius) began their endeavors to obtain the distinction
at the beginning of 1742. With the support of Bishop Józef Sapieha, Canon Jan
Dominik Łopaciński, later Bishop of Samogitia, led the undertaking in Romę. It
took very little time. The buli of Benedict XIV, bearing the datę of February 2,1742,
defined the shape and ornamentation of the decoration, the rules for its use, and
the associated special privileges for canons. It was to be a gold cross, on one side
enameled in red with the figurę of St. Casimir in the center, and on the other the
monogram S. C. beneath the ducal cap, and fleurs-de-lis in the corners between
the arms of the cross. Unfortunately, unlike the Kraków buli, the papai document
did not include an image of the decoration. Its appearance is known from a later
drawing in the collection of the Library of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the
Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences in Kraków. It is worth noting that, unlike the
Kraków and Gniezno decorations, it featured a heraldic eagle, a direct allusion to
the royal Order of the White Eagle, established by Augustus n in 1705. This was
probably a deliberate action to emphasize the independence of the Lithuanian
diocese from the Crown structures. The provisions established by Romę and con-
tained in the buli were not always observed to the letter in Wilno. For example,
the chapter agreed to the use of the papai decorations by clergy not entitled to it.
The incorporation, as a result of the Partitions of Poland, of the diocese of Wilno
into the Russian empire triggered Russification measures in relation to the Catholic
Church. One of these was the tsar s decree of 1800, standardizing the appearance of
decorations in Catholic dioceses. This also affected Wilno. By a decision of the sec-
ular authorities, changes were madę to the design and the Polish eagle was replaced
with a Russian double-headed eagle with a representation of St. George on its breast.
This form of distinction is found on many portraits of Wilno canons. An original
example is kept in the collection of Emeryk Hutten-Czapski of the National Muse-
um in Kraków [the Czapski Museum, a branch of the National Museum in Kraków].
After Poland regained independence in 1918, the Wilno chapter abandoned the
Russian version of the order and returned to the original design. The new deco-
rations differed slightly from the original. Over time, these became scarce. Defi-
ciencies were filled by successively produced decorations, which, however, were
not of the same ąuality. Interwar distinctions were used by Wilno canons residing
in Vilnius and later, when they were forced to move to Białystok after the war. The
appearance was not affected by the changes in the organization and units of the
church administration and the canonical college as a result of the transformation
of the apostolic administration into a diocese (1991) and then into the archdiocese
of Białystok (1992). This was because the new chapter considered Wilnos “history,
traditions, and customs to be its own” (1993). When the archdiocese was reestab-
lished in 1991 in Yilnius, Lithuania, no cathedral chapter was set up.