Stan archidiecezji gnieźnieńskiej w świetle „Brevis descriptio historico-geographica ecclesiarum archidioecesis gnesnensis et posnaniensis” Jana Korytkowskiego z 1888 r.

Abstract

This article is an analysis of Jan Korytkowski’s work entitled Brevis descriptio historicogeographica ecclesiarium archidioecesis gnesniensis et posnaniensis of 1888. This work is still a valuable resource for research in the organization and the estate structure of the oldest Polish dioceses of Gniezno and Pozna at the time after the Kulturkampf. The work under analysis is not confined to basic data of the sort available from ecclesiastical schematisms. Instead, the work also presents short histories of each parish and with its church, schools, orphanages and ecclesiastical fraternities. Moreover, it lists villages and towns that territorially belonged to each parish. Thanks to the data in Brevis descriptio, it is possible to precisely determine that in 1888, the oldest Polish Archdiocese had 16 deaneries, 207 parishes, 32 filial churches, 36 altarages, 54 oratories and public chapels, 389 parish schools and 28 hospitals. The Archdiocese gathered 354815 souls. Pastoral and state offices were occupied by 211 priests.