Średniowieczne dzieje katolickiej parafii w Gajkowie

Abstract

Gajków appears in sources in 1276 and by K. Eisert in 1250. Gajków belonged at that time to Marshal Pakosław Zdzieszyc, after his death the goods inherited his son Bernhard. The pastor in Gajków was Peter, who originated from an influential family von Festenberg-Packisch. The origin of the pastor from that family raises the idea that the parish in Gajków was in Middle Ages one of the prominent parishes. During the rule of Bishop of Wrocław Przecław from Pogorzela there was a dispute about the right to present the priest, between the Bishop of Wrocław and the owner of Gajków – Hanko von Schellendorf. The diocesan canonical dispute about the right to presentation find his final in the conclusion of Pope Gregory XI. The dispute was also an opportunity for parishioners and farmers to avoid their commitments to the priest of parish in Gajków. The parish in Gajków was sold to the monks of Wrocław, to the Teutonic Order of the Red Star, who operated there the pastoral ministry until the time of the Prussian secularization in 1810. Analyzing tax districts it is possibile to reconstruct, with some margin, the parish circle which included Gajków, Chrząstawa Mała, Nadolice Wielkie, Nadolice Małe, Krietern, Kotowice, Chrząstawa Wielka, Ratowice, Kamieniec Wrocławski, Czernina, Dobrzykowice and not determined Latowicz village, which is confirmed by a report from the visit of 1666. The patrons of the church in Gajków were from Middle Ages the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Margaret, whose cult has developed along with the cult of St. Jadwiga.