Papieska kanonizacja Pięciu Braci – przejaw naśladownictwa czy nowatorstwa? Wokół przemian kultu świętych na peryferiach chrześcijaństwa łacińskiego w X–XII w.
Papal canonization of the Five Martyred Brothers – a sign of imitation or innovation? On the transformations of the cult of saints on the periphery of Latin Christianity in the 10th–12th centuries

Author(s): Grzegorz Pac
Subject(s): Middle Ages, 6th to 12th Centuries, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: medieval history; church history; Christianity in the Middle Ages; religious culture; Poland during the Piast dynasty
Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the issue of the involvement of the papacy in the official recognition of sainthood in the period before the middle of the 12th century in the context of such a recognition of the cult of the Five Martyred Brothers murdered by robbers in Bolesław the Brave’s Poland. Asking the papacy to confirm their sainthood – a fact only to a small extent noted in Polish historiography – requires an explanation, as in the beginning of the 11th century this was in no way mandatory or standard practice. The author reflects on various possible reasons for such an early appeal to the pope in this case, considering potential doubts connected to the cult of the Five Brothers, taking a position on the thesis of the exceptionally early adoption of this custom in Churches located at the periphery of Christianity, and deliberating on the significance of the specifi c situation of Polish Church structures and their relations with the archbishopric in Magdeburg. Finally, the author points to the possible influence of two milieus in which the belief in the significance of papal canonization functioned very early on: the German episcopate and St Romuald’s circle. However, one can hardly talk about simple imitation in this case; seeing as we are dealing with such early stages of the discussed phenomenon, the ecclesiastical circles in Poland should be treated rather as participating in the birth of a new and original phenomenon, that is, the involvement of the papacy in issues related to the cult of saints.

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