Presentations & Publications
The following list describes the results of the project: papers presented on various conferences, as well as publications.
01
Epistola dedicatoria Mathildis Suevae (sent ca. 1025) – intercultural transmission of idea of christianization between Piasts and nobles of the German Reich
University of Warsaw, Inter-cultural Transmission of Intelectual Traditions in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. A Comparative Perspective, 29.09.2012
In my paper I analyze the passage from the letter of Mathilda to Mieszko II, in which she writes that Bolesław the Brave, father of the addresser, “forced ferocious and barbaric peoples to participate in the Holy Mass” (Nam quos sancti praedicatores corrigere non poterant uerbo ille insecutus est ferro, compellens ad caenam dominicam barbaras ac ferocissimas nationes). This sentence reflects the rhetorical phrase of "compelle intrare" which recalls the Augustinian theory of religious coercion. This rhetoric, however, influenced the religious and political culture about year 1000. Brun of Querfurt, who was murdered in 1009 during a mission to pagan Prussia, wrote just before his death a letter to German king Henry II. This letter was sent from Poland. In this epistle, Brun attempted to convince the German ruler to force the pagan Slavic tribes to convert to the Christian faith (hos tales propter christianismum glorioso certamine debellare, quod est iubente evangelio compelle intrare). Brun, however, did not use the phrase (compellens ad caenam dominicam) in his letter, which is highly atypical, since Mathilda stressed the sacrament of the Eucharist as the main criterion for Christianization. My aim was to explain why Mathilda associated two sacraments – baptism and Eucharist – when she spoke about mission to the pagans. This association, although obvious in theology, was not very common in literature about missions written in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
02
Missa regis. O sakralności władzy i liturgii eucharystycznej około roku 1000 na podstawie miniatury z Sakramentarza ratyzbońskiego (München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek,
Clm 4456, fol. 11r).
University of Warsaw, Sacrality of Royal Power in the Middle Ages, 27.01.2012
In my paper I argued that the illumination of the Henry II crowned by Christ is a visualization of the prayer for the king included into the Regensburg Sacramentary. The paper presented preliminary research on the royal imagery inserted to liturgical manuscripts in the Ottonian and Salian political culture, which I developed and presented during international conference in Gniezno on 25th of May 2013 r. The Polish text of those papers was published in "Historia Slavorum Occidentis".
03
Obraz władcy liturgiczną modlitwą za króla? Nowa perspektywa dla interpretowania miniatury koronacji Henryka II z Sakramentarza Ratyzbońskiego (München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4456, fol. 11r).
Historia Slavorum Occidentis, 2(7) 2015: 107-130.
04
Die neue Interpretation der Miniatur der Krönung vom Heinrich II. aus dem Regensburger Sakramentar
– liturgische Perspektive der ottonischen Buchmalerei.
Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, 37. Internationaler Wolfenbütteler Sommerkurs, 17.08.2012
Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-Universität, 4.09.2012
The papers presented on these occasions were developed version of the thesis presented in Warsaw and Gniezno, and were meant to acquaint German scholars with the results of the research already presented in Polish language.
05
Liturgiczne konteksty wizerunków władców w ottońsko-salickiej kulturze politycznej.
University of Warsaw, Colloquium of Prof. Henryk Samsonowicz, 20.05.2013
The paper was a continuation of the work on Ottonian images of rulers, and provided detailed analysis of the historiography of royal illuminations, as well as analysis of the coronation image of Henry II, and coronation image of Otto included into the Warmund's Sacramentary. The Polish text enriched with theoretical concept of the sacramental image was submitted to the redaction of Frühmittelalterlische Studien
06
(Review) W. E. Wagner, Die liturgische Gegenwart des abwesenden Königs: Gebetsverbrüderung und Herrscher-bild im frühen Mittelalter, Leiden-Boston 2010, s. 440.
Studia Źródłoznawcze 51 (2013): 208-212.
The review of the book by W.E. Wagner is not only a description of the thesis posed by Professor from Münster, but also a brief summary of the hitherto research on the medieval images of rulers included into liturgical books.
07
Relacja Thietmara z Merseburga na temat bitwy nad Lechem – przyczynek do dziejów ottońskiej liturgii wojennej
University of Warsaw, Between Mission and Crusade. Religious Confrontations in the Middle Ages, 07.06.2013
The paper discussed the Thietmar's narrative on the Lechfeld in 955. In the Chronicle of the bishop of Merseburg, king Otto I was about to receive a holy communion which was one of the most important reasons of the victory granted by God to the future emperor.
08
Imperia modlitwy – liturgiczne oracje za rządzących
w cesarstwie Ottonów i Salijczyków, czyli o konsensualności władzy średniowiecznej
University of Warsaw, Colloquium of Prof. Roman Michałowski, 29.10.2013
The paper discussed the political significance of the liturgical prayers for rulers in the Ottonian and Salian political culture. The analysis of the prayers supports the thesis on the consensual character of Ottonians and Salians, expressed recently by various scholars.
09
Zmysły, Władza, Eucharystia - diachroniczne ujęcie debaty nad kształtowaniem się teologii sakramentu ołtarza
University of Warsaw, The Senses in the Medieval Culture, 04.04.2014
The paper discussed the development of the Eucharistic doctrine since the Carolingian controversy up to the Berengarian one in the eleventh century. The paper unfolded the royal influences on the theology of the Eucharist as well as the role of the senses in the debate on the real & symbolical presence.
10
Rex quasi papa noster! O zapomnianej dyskusji nad średniowieczną teologią polityczną na podstawie źródeł liturgicznych od VIII do XIII wieku
University of Warsaw, Colloquium of Prof. Roman Michałowski, 08.04.2014
The paper elicited the political theology of medieval Europe based on the analysis of the liturgical prayers. Some of the prayers inserted to the Eucharistic liturgy had very sacralizing impact and were not yet sufficiently researched.
11
King’s Communion. Transpersonal Significance of the Royal Religious Acts in Early and High Middle Ages
University of Florida, Vagante Conference, 22.02.2015
The religious acts of kings had a broad impact on medieval society. Royal foundations of churches were meant to provide God’s salvation for the entire subject people. But what was the transpersonal significance for the community of the fact that kings themselves received communion? This paper proposed to answer this question.
On the one hand, communication during mass was by its physical nature a highly individual act. Royal religious practices had, however, a public character and therefore could have been interpreted as surpassing the individualized scope of pious practices. Helgauld of Fleury, by stressing in his writings the eucharistic piety of Capetian king, Robert, was in fact elevating the monarch to supernatural position. Receiving communion could have been a sign of the special sacral character of an individual king, especially if it was connected with the special royal rituals which were performed during a mass.
On the other hand, some narratives suggest that religious actions undertaken by the head of the realm directly brought salvation to all subordinated people. The report by Thietmar of Merseburg about the battle at the river Lech in 955 is an noteworthy example of such attitude. In Thietmar’s view, only the communion of Otto I before the combat against Magyars brought victory for the whole imperial army. Thietmar’s assertion contrasts with the narratives that were circulating in Ottonian centers at the time and that were used by Thietmar himself.
This paper surveyed these sources and many others in order to reach a coherent view of the transpersonal significance of the king’s communion in the early and high middle ages. For the act of royal communion served not only religious purposes but was used as a tool in political culture. By analyzing cases of royal communion, this paper aims to elicit this political theology.
12
Forging Consensus on Sacral Kingship. Evidence from the Prayer for the Ruler in the Roman Canon of the Mass
(’’Te igitur clementissime Pater”).
Princeton University, Rulers, Kingship, and Legacies of Power, 10.04.2015
Bernd Schneidmüller in his inspiring 2000 essay emphasized the role of consensus in medieval political practices of government and in the election of monarchs. Since then many scholars have stressed the role of consent in medieval political culture, although few have considered the consensual character of the phenomenon of sacral kingship. In my paper I argue that the sacrality of kings/queens and of emperors/empresses was the result of a debate between various figures and of the consensus they needed to reach. In order to prove this I analyze the tradition of prayers for rulers in the beginning of the Roman canon of the Mass (’’Te igitur clementissime Pater”) – a piece of evidence that is yet to attract the necessary attention.
Such prayers provide an effective tool for accepting or rejecting the notion of sacral kingship in the early and high Middle Ages. Charles the Bald was among the first to recognize this. He began a new liturgical tradition of prayers for rulers in medieval Latin Christianity, by ordering the addition of the commemoration of the title “king” to the Roman canon of the Mass. This is first attested by ms. Paris, BnF, Latin 1141, the so-called “Sacramentary of Metz”, which was used for his royal coronation in the year 869. After this point, the title ’’king” was expected to be included in the prayers of the most sacred celebrations, alongside with the titles of the pope and of the local bishop. In doing so, Charles strived to elevate the position of the anointed ruler in the Church and to provide him with the most holy place of commemoration during the Mass. During the ninth and tenth centuries, the appearance of the prayer for rulers in the Roman canon of the Mass was still exceptional, whereas by the thirteenth century its absence would be unusual. The royal innovation of Charles the Bald even survived the Gregorian reform which had questioned the supernatural character of royal power.
Based on the analysis of over four hundred liturgical manuscripts, my paper surveyed the history of the expansion of the aforementioned prayer and its importance for ’’consensual sacral kingship” in medieval Europe. It traced this liturgical innovation from the first Carolingian manuscripts to those produced in the realms of the Ottonians, Salians, and Capetians. It provided statistical research on the dissemination of these prayers throughout the Latin liturgy and it focused on specific ecclesiastical centers and figures by analyzing causes for accepting or rejecting the innovation in the liturgical books of: Warmund and Oger of Ivrea, Bernward of Hildesheim, Thietmar of Merseburg, Sigebert of Minden, Hugo of Nevers and many monasteries. Finally, my paper examines the surprising response to this new tradition of prayer by the Gregorian reformers.
13
Liturgical Prayers for Rulers in the Roman Canon of the Mass: Origins of an Overlooked Tradition and Its Consequences for Medieval Political Theology during Reforms of the Church
University of Leeds, International Medieval Congress, 06.07.2015
Charles the Bald commenced a new liturgical tradition in medieval Latin Christianity by ordering the addition of the title of 'king' to the Roman canon of mass in the Sacramentary of Metz (Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Latin 1141). In the 9th century the presence of oration for rulers during in primis was exceptional in liturgical books for mass whereas in the 13th century its absence was unusual. The paper, based on analysis of over 400 liturgical manuscripts, surveyed the history of the expansion of the aforementioned prayer. It examined the consequences of this new tradition for ecclesial and political life as well as the surprising response to such innovation by the Gregorian reformers.
14
Rex quasi episcopus: A View on the Sacralization of Kingship from the perspective of the Prayer for the Ruler in the Canon of the Mass
article submitted to the redaction of Speculum
15
Das sakramentale Herrscherbild in der politischen Kultur des Frühmittelalters
article submitted to the redaction of Frühmittelalterliche Studien
16
Król i Ciało Chrystusa. Esej o sakralności władzy wczesnego i pełnego średniowiecza
article submitted to the redaction of Kwartalnik Historyczny
17
Liturgiczne księgi a sakralność piastowskiej władzy, czyli o konieczności edycji i studiowania rękopisów z czasów pierwszej i drugiej monarchii
article sumibtted to the redaction of Studia Źródłoznawcz