Medieval Silesia

This is a description (longer than an abstract), and the front matter, of my third book: the annotated translation of the Henryków Book, prefaced by a long introduction. This document was sent to me by the publisher in the process of printing, so these pages are not numbered.

Submitted here is my introduction to my annotated translation of the Henryków Book, titled Local Society in Transition, whose reference matter appears in the Books section of this website. This introduction contextualizes the Book and its authors in the genres of historical writing of which it is an example, and in the monastic, political, economic, and seigneurial world of medieval Silesia, and Piast Poland in general. It is designed to offer an entrée into the history of those two polities, as well as of the text and the monastery. (My most recent book, The Text and the World, also represented in the Books section, takes these aims in several further directions.) I am most grateful to Fred Unwalla of the Pontifical Institute for Mediaeval Studies, for permission to place the entire text on this website.

A contribution to a festschrift for János Bak, this short article considers the level, type, and incidence of violence, as reflected in the Henryków Book and its local world. The piece was written at a time when the meaning, empirical reality, and—for us—accessibility of violence in the medieval past was a subject of important reconsideration. In that context, the article argues (without, I hope, polemical overstatement) in favor of the reality and accessibility of medieval violence—despite his full recognition of the rhetorical and partisan significance of its representation in our sources.

Due to the scarcity of archive sources related to Wodzisław Śląski, archeology plays a unique role in the investigation of the town's origins and subsequent development in the Middle Ages and modem times. The first research of Wodzisław area was carried out in the 19th century (G. Stóckel). When the town was being rebuilt after World War 2, basically no research was carried out, apart from archeological interventions of J. Szydłowski in the 1960's related to accidental findings in the
Franciscan cloister. The situation changed in 1971 upon the formation of Wodzisław Museum, which delegated Mr. Werner Pierzyna to carry out rescue research in the town area. Major scale works were launched in the 2ndpart of the 1990's, since when land development investments have been supervised
by archeologists. However, the nature of these works results from the need to protect the town's heritage and is not focused on solution of specific research problems.
The issue of settlements prior to the chartered foundation remains unexplained. Its alleged relation to the nearby "Grodzisko" should be excluded at this stage of research. So far, the oldest materials from the area of the chartered town were discovered near the Franciscan cloister. The issues related to the architecture of this facility need to be researched, just like the issue of the origins and architectural development of the parish church. Preliminary excavations showed another religious facility: the wooden Holy Cross Church, not existing anymore and originally situated outside the chartered town and accompanied by a cemetery (where most probably an Asian woman is buried in one of the graves). The castle is another item erected together with the town. Based on the research held in the 1970's and
in 1998 one can claim that originally the castle incorporated a wooden tower-like structure situated on a mound, which subsequently evolved into a stone building. In the 18th century the castle was demolished and replaced with the existing palace. Most information about the medieval residential precinct was gathered during the research of the area of today's presbytery and Zamkowa street, which also resulted in a large number of artifacts related to day-to-day existence, and gave much information about consumption and natural environment of medieval Wodzisław (archeological research by R. Abłamowicz, paleobotanical analysis by L. Trząski and dendrochronological analysis by M. Krąpiec). Numerous investments in municipal infrastructure made it possible to discover the remains of medieval and modern-time surfaces of roads and squares together with the accompanying infrastructure, such as sewage pipes, gutters, water ducts, etc.

The Knightly Family of Pannwitz and its Probable Artistic Foundations in the Kłodzko (Glatz) Region in the Middle Ages
The Pannwitz family, one of the most important in the Kłodzko land, appeared here around 1300, arriving from Upper Lusatia through Silesia. Representatives of the Pannwitz family held official functions in the structure of territorial authority, as well in the Church as clergy of various ranks. Family and feudal relationships connected them with the Bohemia and Silesia. According to sources, the local Pannwitz representatives funded altars, masses, and liturgical equipment in Kłodzko, Bystrzyca, Duszniki, Żelazno, Waliszów. This family had the patronage over some churches, and the representatives of this family were parsons in Krosnowice, Stara Łomnica, Szalejów Górny. In these churches gothic sculptures have been preserved, the creation of which can be combined with the initiative of representatives of that family. From Krosnowice the sculpture of the Madonna on lions from 1360/1370 was bought into the Germanisches National-Museum Nürnberg. The form and iconography of this work belongs to an elite style. As the initiator of the foundation can be considered Dr. Nikolaus von Pannewitz († 1375), cantor and custodian of the Wrocław cathedral, with contacts with the Bohemian court and Johann of Neumarkt, or Matthias von Pannewitz († 1385), canon of the Wrocław cathedral and St. Johnʼs knight, parson in Krosnowice from 1366. In this church the Madonna figure survived from around 1480. At that time, the owner of Krosnowice and the patron of the church was Hans Pannwitz the Younger, associated with the Poděbrad family, and from 1477 the governor of Kłodzko and Ziębice. In turn with Johann von Pannwitz († 1446) one can combine two sculptures in two churches, where he was a parson. In Łomnica it is the Enthroned Madonna from around 1400, and in Szalejów Górny the Pietà group modeled on the famous sculpture at the Augustinians in Wrocław. The circumstances of the creation of the presented sculptures should be analyzed taking into account the context of patrons belonging to the Kłodzko- Silesian-Bohemian intellectual and knightly elite.

Wrocław formierte sich im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert zum wirtschaftlichen Dreh- und Angelpunkt Schlesiens. Zwei städtische Märkte und die Position an der Hohen Achse machten die Rolle als Umschlagplatz für Waren von Ost nach West möglich. Im Zuge der städtischen
Entwicklung, formierten sich Handwerker verschiedenster Gewerbe in den Suburbien der Stadt. Seit Beginn, aber spätestens zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts war die Organisationsform der Innungen im schlesischen Raum bekannt.
Mit dem Mongoleneinfall 1241 wurde diesem Prozess ein jähes Ende gesetzt, erst mit der Kolonisationsbewegungen aus dem westlichen Europa konnte an den Status von 1240
angeknüpft werden. Im Zuge der Neustrukturierung Wrocławs entstanden Gewerbeverbände. Für diesen Prozess stehen exemplarisch die Kürschner als eine der frühesten Zünfte (1273) der Stadt. Die Zunftgewerbe entwickelten sich in den Gebieten östlich der Elbe ähnlich den gewerblichen Vereinigungen im süddeutschen/westdeutschen Raum.
Die Zünfte hatten für den städtischen Raum eine große Bedeutung, dies zeigt die große Anzahl von
Handwerksgruppen, um 1300 waren es 28 verschiedene Handwerkszweige. Wrocław wurde im Laufe des 14. Jahrhunderts zu einer bedeutenden Handelsstadt - sowohl
die innerstädtische Wirtschaft als auch der Fernhandel florierten. Von dieser Symbiose zwischen „internem“ und „externem“ Handel profitierte das städtische Gewerbe, indem es Waren aus dem Fernhandel bezog, gleichzeitig für den überregionalen Handel produzierte.
Wrocław behielt bis zur Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts seine Bedeutung als Transitstation von Waren aus dem Osten (bis zur Herrschaft der Habsburger 1526-1742), danach kam es zu einer Verschiebung des Warenhandels in den Süden Europas. Nach den Ereignissen des
Dreißigjährigen Krieges konnte sich das produzierende Gewerbe rasch erholen, einzelne Gewerbezweige wie Goldschmiede und Kürschner fertigten Waren für den überregionalen Handel. Mit der preußischen Machtübernahme (ab 1742-1815, danach bis 1915 als „Preußisch Schlesien“) hielt die Protoindustrialisierung Einzug in Schlesien und verdrängte im Zuge der
merkantilistischen Interessenpolitik die Zünfte aus der überregionalen Produktion zu Gunsten günstigerer Massenwaren. Dennoch behielten die produzierenden Gewerbe ihre Bedeutung für den innerstädtischen Raum bis zum Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts.

The residential tower in Siedlęcin (Boberröhrsdorf ) near Jelenia Góra (Hirschberg) and the murals decorating its walls are commonly ranked among the most important medieval monuments in Poland. The tower was founded by Duke Henry I of Jawor (Jauer) in the 2nd decade of the 14th century. The polychrome paintings created before the mid-14th century are the oldest murals of a non-religious nature in Poland and feature, among others, scenes from the legend of Sir Lancelot of the Lake (the only surviving example in the world of wall paintings of such an early date depicting this subject). They were commissioned by Duke Henry, the founder of the tower, or his successor Bolko II the Small.
more: https://jagiellonian.academia.edu/PrzemyslawNocun

The article deals with the transformations of tableware vessels (ceramic, wooden, metal, glass) which took place in the late medieval Silesian towns in connection with various aspects, such as legal changes, colonization, urban development etc.

SUMMARY
The article discusses a wall painting from
the beginning of the16th century, discovered
in 2007 in the church of St George in
Dzierżoniów (Germ. Reichenbach) in Lower
Silesia. It is placed on the east wall of the
south nave. In the niche of the wall substantially
smaller, quasi-panel painting was found
showing half-length representation of Madonna
and the Child, characterized by late-
-Gothic stylistics. The author of the painting
in Dzierżoniów copied a specific model of the
Netherlandish provenance. A few analogical
images are presented by the paintings on canvass
of the so-called Master of Madonna of
Dijon and the works of art imitating them by
anonymous painters from c. 1500. These are
the paintings copying an unpreserved today
cult painting. Around the niche with Madonna
we can find a frame painted at the same
time as the niche. Unlike the image of Maria,
it has an early-Renaissance character and is
created by candelabra-shaped and floral motifs
and a slung curtain. This explicit stylistic
contrast is not resultant upon a coincidence.
Its aim is to emphasise a difference between
the “old” cult painting and a contemporary
frame. In both cases the illusion was used:
the illusion of the panel painting is accompanied
with the illusion of a quasi-architectonic
retable. The reality of the latter was implied
by its author by a topical motive of a fly. The
whole is formed by a composition in a type
of a retable, despite the fact that in this very
place there was no brick altar stone. The creation
of the painting can be linked to the activities
of the confraternity dedicated to Jesus
Christ and Virgin Mary, for whom a new
confirmation with privileges were issued in
1510 by Bishop of Wrocław Jan Thurzo. The
activities of the confraternity, manifested by
singing and praying for the souls of the dead,
were not inter rupted by the Protestant period
in the history of the church. Subsequently,
in around 1719 the painting with the image
of Mary received a Baroque, engraved frame
in the form of a retable.

A fragment of a 13th–14th century painted mosque lamp was identified in the collection of archaeological glass from Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław, held by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Research Centre on Late Antique Culture and the Early Middle Ages). An analysis of glass chemical composition as well as the decoration of this fragment showed that it was made of sodic-calcic-silica glass, and that part of the ornament covering it was finished with gold. A comparative study indicated that the artifact had been made in the Middle East, most likely in a glass workshop in Syria or Egypt. Another example of this type of Islamic glass was discovered in Poland during the excavation in the 1930s of Ostrówek in Opole. Large fragments of a painted glass bowl were found there and identified as a mosque lamp. Since then the object has been lost. The fragments of glass mosque lamps from Wrocław-Ostrów Tumski and Opole-Ostrówek will be discussed here in the context of basic raw material studies and chemical composition analyses.

This article is concerned with the analysis of the underdrawings discovered in the painted panels of the following late 15th-century panel paintings: the polyptych from the church of SS. Peter and Paul in Legnica (1466; National Mu-seum in Warsaw); polyptych of the Breslau Goldsmiths from the church of St Mary Magdalene  in Wrocław  (1473,  National Museum in Wrocław); retable wings from Corpus Christi  Church  in Wrocław  (ca. 1475, Srchdiocesan Museum in Wrocław), St Hedwig’s triptych (ca. 1470-1480, National Museum in Wrocław); altarwings with the figures of saints from St Elizabeth’s church in Wrocław (ca. 1470-1480, National  Museum  in Warsaw);  panels with the Throne of Mercy from Byczyna (1480s,  National  Museum in Poznań); panel with the Legend of St Valentine from Toszek (1480s, Archdiocesan Museum in Wrocław);  and  the  relics  of  the  triptych with St Anne from  Leśnica  (ca.  1470-1480, Archdiocesan Museum in Wrocław). These works have been hitherto attributed to two workshops operating in Wrocław: one of Nicolaus Obilman the other of the Master of the Annunciation Altarpiece.

ARTISTIC RELATIONS BETWEEN PRAGUE AND WROCŁAW IN THE LAST THIRD OF THE 14TH CENTURY. SCULPTURE AND VAULTS
The issue of artistic relations between Bohemia and Silesia, and especially Prague and Wrocław, in the Luxembourg era requires a differentiated point of view – because we have hitherto only dealt with a rather one-sided interpretation in whose framework the dominant position of the Prague artistic centre excluded any possibility that works of the highest quality could have originated from the local Silesian workshops. We do not attempt to lessen the inspirational role that Prague artists played in relation to Silesian art. There are, however, predictors that allow for viewing the Wrocław artistic centre in the last third of the 14th and in the early 15th centuries as an environment capable of actively forming a style which was characteristic of Central Europe in that period. This was undoubtedly possible thanks to the very close and varied contacts linking the Silesian capital with the capital of the Bohemian Crown. The essay also takes the issue of import into consideration, making difference between the delivery of completed works and the migration of artistic potential from Bohemia. The tomb of the Wrocław bishop, Preczlaus von Pogarell (died 1376) in the Wrocław cathedral has always been perceived as an import from the St Vitus’ cathedral lodge in Prague. The tomb figure is, however, sculpted of material which undoubtedly originates from the Episcopal quarries in the Jeseniky massif in the Moravian-Silesian borderland. This allows us to formulate the presumption that the work was executed in Wrocław – by a group of artists summoned from Prague. It is also possible that more sculptures could have been created there on the occasion of that sojourn. The Pietą from the church of St Elisabeth in Wrocław, mentioned in a 1384 document, was commissioned from the de Nissa (von der Neisse) family. These patricians maintained various business as well as political contacts with Prague and the local royal court. It cannot be excluded that the family exported the sculpture from Prague on the basis of these contacts. The Wrocław elites also pursued vigorous contacts within the territory of the Teutonic Order in Prussia and with the local businessmen. This is why we also must take into account the possible role of a mediator between Bohemia and Prussia, which Wrocław could have played. Let us mention in closing that sculptors trained in Prague – in a workshop which worked on the sculptures decorating the OldTown Bridge Tower – undoubtedly participated in creating part of the architectonic sculpturing in the church of St Cross in Wrocław.

Celem zrealizowanego w latach 2014-2017 projektu pt. „Przemiany społeczno-gospodarcze dobry przełomu lokacyjnego w świetle znalezisk szklanych z ośrodków rezydencjonalnych Śląska..”, finansowanego przez Narodowe Centrum Nauki (nr umowy UMO-2013/09/N/HS3/01001) było pokazanie, że zabytki szklane mogą zostać wykorzystane jako narzędzie służące rozwiązaniu szerszego problemu historycznego bądź społecznego. Do odpowiedzi na pytania związane z charakterem owych przemian, wykorzystano przedmioty szklane i szkliwione, znalezione w obrębie jego głównych ośrodków rezydencjonalnych – Wrocławia, Opola, Legnicy, Głogowa i Raciborza. Podstawę źródłową stanowiła biżuteria szklana (paciorki, pierścionki z oczkiem, pierścionki-obrączki, kółka, bransolety), szkło naczyniowe i witrażowe, pionki do gry oraz szkliwione pisanki, grzechotki i ceramika naczyniowa pokryta barwną glazurą, datowane od X do XIV wieku. W trakcie realizacji grantu zinwentaryzowano ponad 12 tysięcy zabytków i ich fragmentów, a  362 z nich (115 paciorków, 60 pierścionków-obrączek, pierścionków z oczkiem i kółek, 2 bransolety, 4 pionki do gier planszowych, 89 fragmentów szkła naczyniowego, 46 fragmentów szkliwionej ceramiki, w tym 6 pisanek i 1 kulkę, 28 płytek witrażowych),  przebadano pod względem składu chemicznego, uzyskując 1128 analiz. Przeprowadzone kwerendy muzealne, analizy i studia porównawcze pokazały, że rozwój miast i rzemiosła, wzrost znaczenia handlu i placów targowych oraz napływ i hierarchizacja ludności, jak również zmiana stylu życia i asortymentu używanych produktów, dokonujące w dobie (re)ewolucji XIII wieku na Śląsku, znajdują swoje odzwierciedlenie w szkle archeologicznym.
Zachodzące przeobrażenia widoczne są w pierwszej kolejności w samym szklarstwie (organizacji rzemiosła, stosowanych recepturach, asortymencie wyrobów). Wczesnośredniowieczne pracownie szklarskie, najprawdopodobniej o czasowym i wędrownym charakterze, lokalizowane były niemal wyłącznie w głównych ośrodkach życia gospodarczego i politycznego kraju. Wytwarzały one drobną galanterię ze szkieł wysokoołowiowych, bazując najprawdopodobniej na półproduktach i podstawowych „technikach palnikowych” (nawijania, na rożnie, z tzw. kropli, wyciągania, mozaiki oraz odlewu w formie). Do lokalnych wyrobów tego okresu można zaliczyć: jednobarwne paciorki jednosegmentowe (kuliste, płasko-kuliste, stożkowate, beczułkowate) i miniaturowe, monochromatyczne pierścionki z oczkiem, pierścionki – obrączki i kółka, a także pierścionki – obrączki z nacięciami lub dodatkowo zdobione natopioną nitką, ceramikę szkliwioną wykonaną w nurcie garncarstwa wczesnopolskiego pokrytą oliwkową wysokoołowiową polewą. W 2. poł. XIII w., wraz z rozwojem i silną specjalizacją opisywanego rzemiosła, przystąpiono do lokacji hut szklarskich na terenach leśnych,  z dala od zwartego osadnictwa, stanowiących dla nich bazę surowcowo-opałową. Biżuteria szklana zostaje wówczas zastąpiona przez naczynia dekorowane natapianymi aplikacjami – głównie puchary typu czeskiego – wykonywane w technikach hutniczych (wydmuchu swobodnego, bądź w formie), ze szkieł o recepturze potasowo-wapniowej.
Rozwój miast przyczynił się także do zmiany, a w zasadzie znacznego poszerzenia kierunków handlowych. Początkowo na Śląsk docierały importy niemal wyłącznie ze Wschodu (Rusi, południowo-zachodniej Azji, Bizancjum) przejawiające się we fragmentach naczyń wykonanych ze szkieł wysokoołowiowych, ołowiowo-potasowych, ołowiowo-sodowych, sodowo-wapniowych, bogato zdobionych paciorkach, dużych paciorach i paciorkach o recepturach sodowo-wapniowych, bransoletach i szkliwionych pisankach. Proces lokacyjny przyniósł wyspecjalizowanie się zawodu kupca, którego działalność opierała się głównie na międzynarodowej wymianie towarów. Następuje wówczas otwarcie na nowe kierunki handlowe, mianowicie zachód i południe Europy oraz tereny bliskowschodnie. Świadczą o tym znaleziska naczyń takich jak: emaliowane i szlifowane szkła islamskie (w tym lampy meczetowe i puchar św. Jadwigi), pucharki wykonane z transparentnych, bezbarwnych szkieł o recepturze sodowo-wapniowej typu: aldrevandini, schlaufenfadenbecher, nuppenbecher, rippenbecher, a także konwie. W XIII i XIV wieku nie brakuje również importów z krajów ościennych (Czech i Niemiec) w postaci flasze z wewnętrzną kryzą, butli z żeberkami odciśniętymi w formie czy innymi formami naczyń zdobionych natapianymi aplikacjami.

In 1163, immediately after her return from exile, the sons of Vladislav II release Benedictines from abbey in Leubus - the Cistercians from Pforta on the Saale took their. Some time later, around 1193, the same fate befell the powerful Elbinger Abbey in Wroclaw – the Benedictines were replaced by premonstratensians. That way it disappeared last Benedictine monastery in Silesia.
Why was it different in Silesia? The author thinks that the reason was the reluctance to the Benedictines on the part of the Piasts line: the sons of Vladislaus II the Exile. The environment where they grew up, ie Saxony, could have some influence on it - at that time, the new Benedictine foundations were no longer here, but the Cistercians and premonstratens enjoyed popularity. This would be well explained by the lack of proper foundations of Benedictine monasteries, but it does not explain why the Benedictines were removed from the only two abbeys that they had in Silesia. The author believes that the decisive role in this case was the reluctance of the sons of Vladislaus II to the founders of these abbeys, namely Peter Wlast (founder of the abbey in Wrocław) and prince Bolesław IV the Curly (founder of the abbey in Leubus), who contributed decisively to defeat and exile their father.
The situation changed only in the middle of the 13th century, when in Silesia the power of the great-grandchildren of Vladislav II took over.

During the archaeological-architectonical research in the proximity of the All Saints' Church, the scientists came across the remnants of a multilayered Church cemetery, which was functioning in the medieval and later times. Due to the funeral ritual of those times, the majority of graves lacked any kind of furnishings. Still, the researchers managed to acquire fragments of dresses (buttons, bolt buckles) and coins from the medieval layer of the cemetery, and from the later layer - devotional items, small fractions of remnants of haberdashery - parts of dresses or bedhead covers, as well as coffin upholstery fabrics were found.
Among the collection of antiques there are those that deserve the most attention: holy medals, crosses, a reliquary and rosary beads. Seven out of eleven holy medals were discovered in graves and four, definitely turning from destroyed graves, were found in the cemetery layer. Formally, they can be divided into cross - shaped holy medals, oval classical ones, and polygonal. The non-ferrous (noble) metals were dominant in the production of holy medals; however, a single glass holy medal with a paper picture (destroyed) in a metal frame.
As far as iconographical character and artistic level of the items found is concerned, they are very similar to devotional articles gained from other archaeological research.
Images on the pendants correspond to the generally accepted and often copied designs. The most common group is constituted by the Virgin Mary's presentations (mainly on the obverses) as the Heavenly Queen in a crown with a radiating aureole, holding the Baby Jesus, the Mother of God of Seven Pains (Mater Dolorosa) - with her heart pierced with arrows, the Mother of God the Major and of Immaculate Conception - Immaculata. They are connected with the cult of Mary and its promoters - the Jesuits. Equally numerous are images of the Saviour - mostly the passion ones - crucifixes, but also portrayed as the Baby Jesus with the Mother and St. Josef. The holy medals also depict: St. Benedict of Norcia, St. John.
of Nepomuk and patrons saints of the Jesuits Monastery: St. Ignacio Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. The reverses, on the other hand, represented the following scenes: the Holy Sacrament Adoration, Three Kings, Bow or Offertory in the Temple The group of the passion images, apart from the Crucified Jesus, includes the symbols of five wounds of Christ, situated on the reverses.
The holy medal with an IHS inscription, a crucifix and three nails symbolizing The Passion of Christ, is connected with the activities of the Jesuits. The same symbolic meaning is conveyed by a reliquary in the shape of an oval tin made of bronze (unfortunately severely damaged), with IHS engraved on the obverse, and AVE on the reverse Inside there were pieces of haberdashery, fragments of a copper volute and a calendar card dated January 1755, as well as a 3 cm tall figurine of a woman, wrapped in cloth.
The group of holy medals may be generally dated for the 16th - 18th centuries. In most of the cases we deal here with imported articles or their local imitations. Relatively numerous are the holy medals connected with the cult of the Mother of God, the Jesuits and the Benedictines. Some are related to the pilgrim movement or to the membership in various fraternities and religious unions.

The Main Portal of the Church of St George in Dzierżoniów (Reichenbach) – Form and Chronology

Large parts of the stone walls, dating from the 13th century, have been preserved in the church of St George in Dzierżoniów. These walls can be dated to the church’s oldest phase when this church was one of Silesia’s early roofed hall churches. Its priest was mentioned in 1258. Its western portal of sandstone blocks was considered an integral and original part of the façade and its form became the basis for specifying the chronology of the oldest part of the church. The profiles of the jambs that go directly into the archivolts suggest that the oldest part was built at the end or the last quarter of the 13th century. The debatable part of the portal is its jamb pedestal with a base equipped with claws, which could indicate an even earlier origin. Until 2015, the jambs and archivolts had been covered with a thick layer of plaster. Its removal showed that the plaster created the form. Almost no original elements were found in the jambs. They had been replaced by shaped bricks with completely different profiles. The original archivolt profiles have, however, completely been preserved. A comparison with the jamb pedestal shows that these two parts do not come from the same construction phase. The oldest part which can be connected with the construction phase of the original hall, perhaps before the middle of the 13th century, is the jamb pedestal with a still Romanesque-like, recessed layout and with a base with claws. The proportions of the entrance opening were probably changed at the end of the 13th century when the jambs and archivolts were completely replaced. For reasons unknown, the jambs were replaced, probably in the middle of the 16th century. At the same time, construction work on the vaults of the elevated central nave as well as on the new western gable, was done. A large gallery was built in 1586 in the western part of the nave, which required additional lighting. As a result, the old door was replaced and a skylight secured by a grid preserved to this day, was created in the upper area of the archivolt.

ARTISTIC RELATIONS BETWEEN
PRAGUE AND WROCŁAW
IN THE LAST THIRD
OF THE 14TH CENTURY.
SCULPTURE AND VAULTS
The issue of artistic relations between Bohemia and
Silesia, and especially Prague and Wrocław, in the Luxembourg era
requires a differentiated point of view – because we have hitherto
only dealt with a rather one-sided interpretation in whose
framework the dominant position of the Prague artistic centre
excluded any possibility that works of the highest quality could have
originated from the local Silesian workshops. We do not attempt to
lessen the inspirational role that Prague artists played in relation to
Silesian art. There are, however, predictors that allow for viewing
the Wrocław artistic centre in the last third of the 14th and in the
early 15th centuries as an environment capable of actively forming
a style which was characteristic of Central Europe in that period.
This was undoubtedly possible thanks to the very close and varied
contacts linking the Silesian capital with the capital of the Bohemian
Crown. The essay also takes the issue of import into consideration,
making difference between the delivery of completed works and
the migration of artistic potential from Bohemia.
The tomb of the Wrocław bishop, Preczlaus von Pogarell
(died 1376) in the Wrocław cathedral has always been perceived as
an import from the St Vitus’ cathedral lodge in Prague. The tomb
figure is, however, sculpted of material which undoubtedly
originates from the Episcopal quarries in the Jeseníky massif in the
Moravian-Silesian borderland. This allows us to formulate the
presumption that the work was executed in Wrocław – by a group
of artists summoned from Prague. It is also possible that more
sculptures could have been created there on the occasion of that
sojourn. The Pietą from the church of St Elisabeth in Wrocław,
mentioned in a 1384 document, was commissioned from the de
Nissa (von der Neisse) family. These patricians maintained various
business as well as political contacts with Prague and the local royal
court. It cannot be excluded that the family exported the sculpture
from Prague on the basis of these contacts. The Wrocław elites also
pursued vigorous contacts within the territory of the Teutonic Order
in Prussia and with the local businessmen. This is why we also must
take into account the possible role of a mediator between Bohemia
and Prussia, which Wrocław could have played.
Let us mention in closing that sculptors trained in Prague
– in a workshop which worked on the sculptures decorating the Old
Town Bridge Tower – undoubtedly participated in creating part of
the architectonic sculpturing in the church of St Cross in Wrocław.