Sesje Kapituły Katedralnej Wileńskiej w okresie przedrozbiorowym
Sessions Held by the Vilnius Cathedral Chapter Before the Partition of Poland

Summary/Abstract: Cathedral chapters were colleges appointed to help bishops govern their dioceses. As such, they functioned according to collegiate principles. These principles presupposed that all decisions were to be made during collegiate meetings, which were generally referred to as sessions or chapters. These meetings primarily served as a means for the participants to come to mutual agreements and to adopt appropriate resolutions regarding how the chapter functioned as a college and its activities outside of the college. The Cathedral Chapter of Vilnius modeled itself after the royal chapter. From the 15th to the 18th centuries, the general chapter sessions and individual meetings, which included both weekly sessions as well as extraordinary sessions that convened to discuss pressing matters, took place two to three times each year on specific days. The extraordinary sessions also included urgent meetings known as sessiones repertinae, which differed from the other sessions primarily because of topics they addressed, the type of resolutions that were to be adopted, how frequently these resolutions were to be implemented, and the extent to which the prelates and canons were obliged to be present. During the pre-conciliar period, the meetings of the general Vilnius chapter were occasions to discuss and resolve more important and essential matters in accordance with statutes and adopted practices, while the individual sessions were dedicated to less important matters and often dictated by the college’s ongoing needs.

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