Wstęp

• Authors: Wyrwa Andrzej Marek

Title variants

EN

Celebrations to Mark the 1050th Anniversary of Mieszko I’s Baptism

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

For many, 2016 was just another year, no different to previous ones. However, it had a special significance in the history of Poland. In the history of every nation and its cultural space there are some significant moments that illustrate and commemorate the ‘steps of past generations’, which have shaped both our former and current cultural and historical identity. Bearing in mind that it is the task of every generation to care about their heritage and embed the memory of an unbroken continuity, in 2016 the 1050th anniversary of the baptism of Duke Mieszko and the symbolic baptism of Poland was solemnly celebrated. With this act, our state and nation entered a new stage of development, which introduced our lands into a new cultural space of Europe. It set the path for dozens of generations, forming the cultural basis and the identity of our country. This was particularly important through difficult moments of our history, when Poland lost its independence. It is probably no exaggeration to say that the whole cultural and spiritual heritage of Poland, built in various dimensions over the millennium, has its roots in Mieszko’s decision taken in the year 966. Both as heirs and creators of works that we will be handed down to following generations, we need to unceasingly protect the memory of our historical origins, of all those who built the foundations of our cultural heritage, and safeguarded and defended our borders. Therefore, there have been numerous initiatives around the country to mark the anniversary, for: Hic vitae functi voce silente docent! Next to Gniezno and Poznań, the Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica, which is the custodian of the capital and residential centre at Ostrów Lednicki and ‘the Crown of the Piasts’, as the care of the heritage of this dynasty is symbolically called, was among the chief organisers of the central state and Church celebrations. The preparations began as early as in 2011 in direct cooperation with His Eminence Józef Kowalczyk, the Archbishop of Gniezno, the then Primate of Poland, and then with His Eminence Wojciech Polak, the Archbishop of Gniezno and the Primate of Poland. The celebration scenarios were still being polished when between 2013 and 2015 three great conferences were held. Attended by the most eminent Polish and foreign researchers, the meetings were intended to provide the historical grounds for the celebrations. Papers and debates addressed the current state of the historical research on the theology and liturgy of baptism, the ceremony of baptism, and the specificity of places used for baptisms in various chronological periods and regions, starting from Christian antiquity (the Act of Milan in 313) until modern times. The articles were published as the conferences’ proceedings2. Starting from April 2016, several exhibitions that visually depicted a number of aspects of the baptism and the beginnings of the Polish state were opened at the Museum of the First Piasts as well as other exhibition halls in Poland. The preparations culminated in state and Church celebrations held on 14 April 2016 at Ostrów Lednicki. These were attended by the representatives of the highest state authorities, the Episcopate of Poland, MPs, senators, the Governor and the local Self-Government ofthe Wielkopolska Region, the Polish army, local government authorities of various levels and the assembled guests. Thanks to the efforts of the staff of the Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica, who cooperated with the Metropolitan Curia in Gniezno, the Department of Culture by the Marshal’s Office, the authorities of the District of Wągrowiec and the Commune of Łubowo, the Polish army and the media, the celebrations were august and solemn. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all the people and institutions that helped organise the celebrations! In writing the fifteenth volume of Studia Lednickie we followed a maxim well-known, e.g. from medieval documents and chronicles: if not preserved in the testimony of writers for posterity to remember, the things that happen in time tend to eventually escape from human memory. Therefore the first part of this volume presents papers and chronicle excerpts relating to the act of Mieszko I of 966 and describes the activities undertaken 1050 years later at the Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica and its branches in Giecz, Grzybów and Radzim to commemorate the act. The second part presents a chronicle of this year’s museum events. It is hoped that the materials from this volume will be used for further studies and that they will help disseminate the knowledge about our thousand-year cultural traditions.

• Publisher: Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy
• Journal: Studia Lednickie
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 15
• Pages: 13-17

Dates

published

2016

Contributors

author

Wyrwa Andrzej Marek

• Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy
• Instytut Historii Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

Identifiers

ISSN

0860-7893