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Vol. 98 (2002): Our Past

Articles

The endowments of Kazimierz, Duke of Kujawy, to the Church in Lesser Poland

  • Gerard Kucharski
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2002.98.197-257  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2002-12-30

Abstract

The endowments of Kazimierz (son of Konrad I of Mazovia) to the Church in Lesser Poland are known to us from a number of extant deeds. For instance, in the years 1242-1262, he was the main benefactor of the Cistercian monastery at Sulejów (his contacts with Sulejów date back to 1227). The majority of his gifts were relatively small: they were grants or extensions of immunities for various monastic estates or confirmations of donations made by his predecessors. Other church institutions received one-off donations from Kazimierz. In 1249, he granted a number of privileges to the Cistercian monastery at Jędrzejów, and the following year to the Norbertine monastery at Witów. In 1251, responding to a request from Bishop Prandota, Kazimierz handed back the village Czyżemin to the Krakow bishopric and liberated the peasants from their burdens; in 1257, he ceded a section of the Warta with the right to hunt beavers to the monastery of Regular Canons at Mstów. Kazimierz also remembered other monasteries in Małopolska, e.g., the Miechów outpost of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the Benedictine nunnery at Staniątki, the Benedictines of Tyniec, and the Clarisses of Zawichost. His endowments appear to follow a carefully planned and well-organized policy aimed, to a large extent, at strengthening his position both nationwide and internationally. Kazimierz of Kujawy's donations to the Church in Małopolska resulted from a combination of motives and intentions. It would be impossible to rank them, let alone decide which of them—religion, politics, concern with economic and social advancement—dominated in any particular donation. As the political situation on the territories controlled by Kazimierz kept changing, it looks likely that the political factor played an ever larger role in his decisions. The response of the beneficiaries of his policy was nonetheless unreservedly positive as it helped them to consolidate their foundations and get on with their work.

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