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Nasza Przeszłość

Vol. 102 (2004): Our Past

Articles

The precedence of the bishops of Gniezno and Lviv metropolises in the first half of the 15th century

  • Tomasz Graff
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52204/np.2004.102.105-150  [Google Scholar]
Published: 2004-12-30

Abstract

The aim of the article is to reconstruct the rules of precedence observed by members of the Polish episcopate in the first half of the 15th century. It was a time of consolidation and growing prestige of the Archbishopric of Lwów, second in seniority in the united kingdom of Poland and Lithuania. This factor as well as the emergence of a number of new Latin bishoprics brought the problems of precedence back on the agenda. It was by no means a minor issue: the bishops were the monarch's closest advisors and would always come next to him, before all other lay dignitaries. Chronologically, this article covers the period from the early 1400s until 1454. The incorporation of Prussia in 1454 complicated the traditional hierarchical patterns because of the need to accommodate dioceses of the Archbishopric of Riga.

The article examines the role of the episcopal precedence tax paid to the Apostolic camera and the paths of preferment from less important to more prestigious sees so as to reconstruct the inner hierarchies within the Polish episcopate. To find out more about the dynamics of such vertical relationships the author has searched a range of contemporary sources for inconsistent presentation of episcopal gradations and has come up with three cases of disputed precedence. The first involved the bishop of Plock and the bishop of Poznań, who eventually won the dispute. The second case, by far the most complex, is discussed here at some length. The problem arose when Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Bishop of Cracow, was given the cardinal's hat in 1449. As cardinal he had precedence before all other church dignitaries - patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops and bishops - except, of course, the pope. The archbishop of Gniezno and the metropolitan of Lwów were touched to the quick by Olesnicki's elevation.

The tensions erupted into a bitter conflict in the first years of the reign of Kazimierz Jagiellończyk; it ended in 1451 with the Ruling of Piotrków, which gave precedence in the royal council neither to the Archbishop of Gniezno nor to the Cracow cardinal.

That piece of constitutional legislation did however confirm the exceptional status of the Primate of Poland and his exclusive right to officiate during the coronation. In spite of the guidelines of Piotrków, the dispute was not laid to rest. It flared up again during the wedding and coronation of the royal spouse Elżbieta in 1454. Eventually,

the rivalries and conflicts came to an end with the death of Cardinal Oleśnicki in 1455. The third case discussed briefly in this article concerns the argument between the dukes of Mazovia and some bishops about precedence in the royal suite. The article winds up with a short conclusion and a call for more research in this portion of the field of ecclesiastical history.

References

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