Relations between the Cistercian abbey in Lubiąż and its branch in Byszewo

Abstract

The presentation of the relationship between the Cistercian monastery in Byszew and its mother monastery in Lubiąż first and foremost requires a reconsideration of the origins of this Cuiavian foundation. The statute of the General Chapter seems to argue for Sulejów as the mother monastery of this Cistercian filiation; however, it should by no means be regarded as clear and definitive, as subsequent reports rather speak for the Lubiąż origin of the Byszew Cistercians, as originally mentioned in the Annales Cistercienses. Additional confirmation of this fact lies in the close ties between Duke Kazimierz I of Kuyavia and Silesia, as well as the events related to the forced transfer of Sulejów monks to Byszew in the 1180s. It seems highly improbable that the mother monastery was instructed to move to its own filial monastery and that the abbot of the latter was entrusted with the role of the mother monastery's visitor. The dispute over ownership rights to Byszew, where monks from Sulejów were forcibly resettled, was resolved by a commission of abbots no later than 1289 in favor of Lubiąż. From that time on, the abbots of the Silesian monastery by the Oder River were obliged to visit their filial monastery, confirm major commercial transactions, and preside over the election of abbots there. Sources from the 13th and 14th centuries may also attest to the fulfillment of the first two tasks. Serious crises in the 15th century, which Lubiąż had to overcome, led to a cooling of mutual relations, such that the leadership of the order had to repeatedly remind the prior of the abbot's duties towards all the monasteries under his care, including Byszew/Koronowo. However, these ties did not completely sever, so an attempt by the abbot of Sulejów to take over rights over Byszew in the years 1490/91 failed. The rights to Byszew remained formally in the hands of Lubiąż until the middle of the 16th century. Only in the second half of the 16th century, during the period of the regional ecclesiastical administration of Polish kings, were all ties with Polish monasteries abroad severed, and Polish monasteries fell to the status of royal commands.