Nobilitacja mieszczan przez sztukę sepulkralną XIV-XVI wieku na przykładzie Kościoła Mariackiego w Krakowie

Abstract

Situated in the north-east corner of the Market Place in Cracow the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (St. Mary’s) achieved the rank of the burghers’ church and Cracow’s parish church in the Middle Ages. To the end of the 14th century it remained under the patronage of the bishop of Cracow, and after 1415, of the Polish king, who was, nevertheless, not very interested in it. Town councillors took advantage of the situation and practically took over the patronage of the main church of Cracow. In this way, as early as the 15th century St. Mary’s church assumed the role it had aspired to: that of a parish church for the most populated and richest part of the town, a town’s “cathedral”, in a way resembling the Wawel Cathedral. This was confirmed by many foundations of Cracow’s burghers - an expression of special patronage over this church. Church authorities allowed for some of these founders to be buried inside the church. Tablets and tombstones made at that time were perceived as ennoblement of the persons buried inside the church and through them also the houses to which they belonged. The article presents people whose burial inside the church was consented to in the period from 14th to 16th century as well as tablets, tombstones and epitaphs which commemorate them. The data was collected on the basis of the actual inscriptions as well as references in archives and arranged chronologically: 14th-15th century tablets, 16th century tablets and epitaphs. The third part of the paper offers a summary of the presentation of these tombstones and compares preserved monuments of medieval sepulchral art in St. Mary’s church in Cracow with types of representations of the time. On the basis of this analysis it is shown that ennoblement of Cracow’s burghers manifested itself through the choice of burial place and, to a great extent, through adopting various artistic sepulchral depictions of the dead, including forms which were many a times reserved for higher social strata.