Zasoby Archiwum Kurii Metropolitalnej w Krakowie

Abstract

The oldest archival fund in the A.M.C. form Act: official – Acta officialia (1410–1796, 206 v.) and episcopal – Acta episcopalia (1466–1800, 116 v.). First came into existence in Cracow resulting from the activities of the general consistory, secondly in the bishop curia situated in the place of his temporary stay. They both contain the administrative and tribunal groundwork and therefore form the institution called the Church (parish, chapel, hospital, canonry, etc.) donations for these, beneficiary of the institution, testamentory matters, marital, penalty (particularly clerical), oblates. Administrative Acts – Acta administratoralia (1533–1759, 28 v.) which have been left by those who ruled the dioceses being vacant are of similar nature. There are still left many rough copies of the three kinds of books making main class in the A.M.C. as well as several hundred fascicles of so called Producta i. e. enclosures (various affidavits, writs, official records of examination of witnesses, letters, etc.). One of the largest Polish collection of official records of bishops inspections made either by themselves or by their substitutes kept in the A.M.C. refers to the period between 1565 and 1795. It contains rich sources to make a study religions life and sacral art and many other problems. The earliest bishop Padniewski inspection (1565–1570) includes 328 churches in Cracow diocese consisting of ca. 1000 parishes. Card. Radziwiłł inspection (1595–1599, 13 v.) includes 916 churches and bishop Załuski inspection (1746–1748, 21 v.) includes 753 parishes. In orders register dates from 1575. Up to the XIXth c. the records we’re talking about were situated in the archive repository near by the consistory office in Kanonicza St. inside the building bought from Jan Długosz in 1460. The oldest parchment documents are stored in the Archives of the Metropolitan Chapter in Wawel. In the years 1796 and 1824 a list of the inventory of consistory archives was made. From 1800–1814 Kazimierz Lukański was making a catalogue of Acta episcopalia (4 v.), officialia (12 v.) and administratoralia (1 v.). In the XIXth and XXth cc. the documents (mainly fascicles) were set in chronological and subject order. There are also day books and their year indexes that concern the period. A part of documents concerning the end of the XVIIIth c. and the XIXth c. was exchanged by neighbouring dioceses while they were changing their frontiers. Records of the XIXth–XXth cc., earlier unified documents and single books that do not belong in any category under consideration in this paper must be listed according a modern standard.