Brzesko i Zwierzyniec yet on the Origins of the Two Oldest Norbertine Monasteries in Little Poland

Abstract

The paper presents the theses which question Czesław Deptuła's conclusions, particularly in relation to the origins of the Norbertine abbey in Brzesko as well as the female provostry in Zwierzyniec near Kraków. Both monasteries were founded in the twelfth century, however no early documents have been preserved. Therefore there are numerous interpretative problems. In the case of the abbey in Brzesko the closest source of the foundation is only the papal edict of 1441. It reads that the monastery was founded by the knights Strzeszysław and Wrocisław, with Boleslav IV's consent. To my mind, Deptuła's reasoning lacks convincing arguments which could question the genuine character of the mention dated back to 1441. In the register of abbots (18th c.) we find a note about Wojsław, the first abbot who headed the abbey in Brzesko c. 1149. The note may be a valuable trace of tradition.

I have written several times in my earlier publications about the origins of the monastery in Zwierzyniec, and I still maintain my opinion that it was Jaksa who founded it and that the monastery was established c. 1158-1162. At the end of the twelfth century and at the beginning of the thirtienth century the whole of canonic formation was under the process of reformation in Poland, including the Norbertines. The network of female provostries in Little Poland, with Zwierzyniec at its lead, opposed the attempts to be subordinated to the abbey in Brzesko, for they feared that the relationships that had been established from the beginning of the foundation might be destroyed. In view of the tutelage of the abbots-fathers the prioresses of necessity had to lose their significance.