KOŚCIÓŁ WOBEC FOLKLORU W POLSCE XIV I XV WIEKU
THE CHURCH TOWARDS THE FOLKLORE IN POLAND IN THE 14TH -AND 15TH CENTURIES

Summary/Abstract: Primary sources leave little doubt that annual rites and traditional practices of ancient Slavonic origin coexisted with the Christian faith on Polish territories through the end of the Middle Ages. Studies on the process of the deeper penetration of the Polish society by Christianity in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries bring to mind reflections on religious syncretism. Magical practices functioned within the annual life cycle in connection with the religious cult because, it seems, they were viewed as an additional means of ensuring the care of the supernatural beings as well as that of Jesus, Mary and the saints; additional to fulfilling Christian practices. The encounter of Christianity with traditional folk culture was not always antagonistic. The Church accepted certain traditional agrarian customs and others folk practices.

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