The Status of Bishops As Crown Chancellors and Deputy Chancellors in the Second Half of the 15th Century

Abstract

In the second half of the 15th century eleven crown chancellors and deputy chancellors out of the total number of fourteen were religious people. Out of this group of heads of the royal chancellory as many as eight were bishops. Moreover, only three of them had only one episcopal see, the remaining five in their career would take over a second of even third bishopric. Most often they had the most rich and significant episcopal sees in the country, i.e. Gniezno, Kraków, and especially Włocławek, where as many as six heads of the chancellory were bishops. Most often the status of bishops was combined with the function of a chancellor or deputy chancellor. Such was the situation in the case of five bishops. It is interesting to note that they all of them in the short or long run combined their managerial posts in the royal chancellory with the status of Włocławek bishop. The above facts point to a closer relationship between Włocławek bishop and the posts of a crown chancellor and deputy chancellor in the second half of the 15th century. What is equally important is the claim that the ultimate functions in the royal chancellory were the simplest way to gain the status of bishop.