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Nasza Przeszłość

Vol. 94 (2000): Our Past

Articles

Pilgrimages of Poles to Rome in the 16th century. A contribution to the history of Christian jubilees

  • Janusz Smołucha
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2000.94.221-244  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2000-12-30

Abstract

The article is concerned with Polish pilgrimages to Rome in the 16th century. The main reason of these journeys, apart from the obvious devotional motivation, was a desire to travel, to gather new experiences, and to get to know other countries and people. About that time this type of interest became popular all over Europe and was closely connected with the development of humanism. The pilgrims saw Rome not only as the Holy See, occupied by St Peter's successor, or the place sanctified by the blood of Christian martyrs, but also a treasure-house of magnificent monuments of antiquity. As usual, the occasion for mass journeys from Poland to Italy were the Jubilee Year celebrations held in Rome every 25 years. According to Roman sources the largest number of Polish pilgrims arrived in Rome for the Anno Santo 1500; the celebrations in 1550 and 1575 were likewise well attended. The drop in the number of visitors in the 1520s and 1530s is attributed by the author of this article to the spread of antipapal attitudes in Poland in the wake of the Reformation. The article addresses also the issue of the origins of St Stanisław Hospice in Rome. Founded by Stanisław Hozjusz, it was formally opened in 1591 by the Cracow Cardinal Jerzy Radziwiłł. The Hospice offered not only accommodation and board, but soon became the most important Polish institution in Rome. Until Poland's partitions in the late 18th century, it operated as a de facto Polish consulate.

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