Ciało moje grzeszne oddaję ziemi”. Dyspozycje pogrzebowe szlachty w aktach sądowych lwowskich i przemyskich z pierwszej połowy XVIII wieku

• Authors: Oksana Vinnychenko

Title variants

EN

MY SINFUL BODY I COMMIT TO THE EARTH”. FUNERAL DISPOSITIONS IN TESTAMENTS OF THE NOBILITY RECORDED IN THE TOWN BOOKS OF LVIV AND PRZEMYŚL IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 18TH C.

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Funeral dispositions were among the most important decisions stated in testaments. This is also the case in the last wills of the nobility which registered their testaments in the town books of Lviv and Przemyśl in the first half of the 18th c. This group of nobility was a culturally distinct community, which followed from the contacts of nobles of two denominations: Catholic and Orthodox (later Uniate). Funeral dispositions were an important part of a Christian last will, in both the mediaeval and the modern era. They stated where the testator wished to be buried and why this particular place was chosen, specified some details of the funeral ceremony and the ways to help the salvation of his/her soul. The most important disposition concerned the place of burial. In the modern era nobles usually chose Catholic, Orthodox or Uniate churches or cemeteries, depending on their denomination and parish affiliation. Most of the testators chose Dominican churches. Roman Catholics seem to have been more loosely connected with a particular parish, while Orthodox nobles were usually more attached to their parish church. An important characteristics of early modern noble community was the wish to be buried close to one’s relatives. Therefore, the testators usually chose to be buried next to their children, wives, parents and siblings. The funeral was usually described as modest, without pomp and procession, but accompanied and followed with a large number of masses for the testator’s soul. Each testator had a different idea of a “modest” ceremony – for some a funeral “without wordly pomp” cost up to one hundred zloties, for some it was several thousand. The sums allocated for the funeral depended on the testator’s financial situation. The testaments reveal valuable information on the nation’s material culture, as they describe burial clothing, artefacts placed in coffins and coffins themselves. The funeral culture of the Commonwealth was largely dependent on the financial position of particular groups of nobility (magnates, affluent nobles, petty nobles) and this was reflected in funeral ceremonies.

Keywords

EN

FUNERAL; TESTAMENTS; WRITTEN SOURCES

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 60
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 297-311

Contributors

author

Oksana Vinnychenko

• ydział Humanistyczny, Ukraiński Uniwersytet Katolicki, ul. Il. Swencickiego 17, Lwów, 79011, Ukraina