The Collection of Bishop Stanisław Karnkowski of 1579

Abstract

The proceedings of Tridentine Council (1545-1563) bore fruit in the form of a dynamic development of the reformatory activity of the Catholic Church. At the provincial synods of the Gniezno province a need was born to work out a new collection of church law on the basis of the Tridentine reformatory legislature. This work of codification was undertaken by the Bishop of Włocławek Stanisław Karnkowski in 1579. This paper discusses in turn the author of the collection, the causes for the collection, the sources of codification, the approval of the Holy See, the editorial method used in the collection and the legal value of the bills contained in it. The paper closes with a statement that the collection of 1579 was private, although it gained popularity in pastoral care, and even served as a point of reference for the new, official codification of Polish church law.