Ewangeliarze wawelskie biskupa Piotra Tomickiego

Abstract

In the archives and the library of the Wawel cathedral in Cracow are preserved two peculiar liturgical books, which the bishop of Cracow Piotr Tomicki (1524-1536) ordered for the cathedral liturgy. According to their contents these manuscripts are called evangeliaries. From them the pericopes were read for a given day or liturgical festivity. However, these two presented manuscripts are different in almost everything except from the name and the time of their origin. The difference becomes obvious after even rough acquaintance with their contents. Each of them was used for the same purpose, that is for reading passages of the Gospel within the liturgical celebration. One of them was used for the Masses throughout the whole year and the other only for the procession during the Corpus Christi octave in the Wawel cathedral. The first was used frequently and the other only once a year. Because of their refined appearance and artistic beauty, they prove Bishop Tomicki’s great care for the shape of the cathedral liturgy as well as they constitute a precious and interesting witness of it.