Lata święte w XV i XVI wieku

Abstract

The paper in a synthetic way describes the events of the Holy Years both in Rome and in Poland, from the last Jubilee of the 33-year cycle till that of 1600. The jubilee indulgence of 1450 was of special importance. It was celebrated in a messianic atmosphere of expected renewal of the Church after the period of dissention and decay. This jubilee attracted many Poles to the Holy City; moreover, since Pope Nicholas V extended it over to Poland in the next year, the jubilee became the first Remittance Year in the Church history by which the whole Polish nation could benefit without visiting Rome. The next jubilees, in particular the first of the 25-year cycles (1475), did not arouse such enthusiasm; it was only in the Holy Years of 1575 and 1600 that a large number of pilgrims gathered in Rome — the centre of the post-Trent Catholicism regenerating triumphally. And again, after a hundred years’ period, the grace of the last Holy Year in the 16th century became extended to Poland. In 1603 in Kraków all Poles could obtain the jubilee indulgence. According to the chroniclers of that time, spiritual fruits of that jubilee were extraordinarily great. In conclusion, the Holy Years history of the 15th and 16th centuries reveals the source and the principal, perennial sense of the jubilee indulgences, including that of Anno Sancto 1975.