The process of implantation of the Cistercian abbey in Mogiła

Abstract

The article reassesses the history of the Cistercian convent at Mogiła until the middle of the 14th century in the light of Derwich’s model of implanta­tion. It refers to the process in the course of which a monastic community builds a network of two-way links with the outside world and gradually ‘grows into’ its natural and social environs. The aim of the article is to ver­ify Derwich’s model with respect to the history of the Mogiła convent. The results confirm the usefulness of the model, provided it is handled with some flexibility and tolerance for special circumstances. At the same time, it has to be said that this interpretation of the history of the convent at Mogiła is open to discussion, especially the problem of internal periodisation.By focusing on the convent’s endowments and its economy, the growth of its ties with local communities, and the progress of construction work on the Cistercian architectural complex it has been possible to divide the first one hundred years of the Mogiła convent into six phases. They are: (1) the foun­dation period proper, 1218-1225; (2) the settling-down phase of 1228-1241; (3) the consolidation of 1243-1286; (4) the age of prosperity, 1288-1304, a direct consequence of Mogiła’s siding with the victorious Czech claimant to the Polish throne; (5) the marginalisation phase, 1305-1319, after the ousting of the Czech party by Władysław Łokietek, and (6) ‘the crisis of the begin­nings’ which lasted from 1319 until 1349; it was in fact a period of transfor­mation and growth, which resulted in the great flourishing of the Mogiła con­vent in the second half of the 14th century.