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The Cathedral Of Poznan, Bishop Unger And The Benedictine Church In Memleben Before The Year 1000

100%

Bukowska A.

Modus. Prace z historii sztuki

2009

vol. 8-9

285-302

The article presents a new interpretation of the remains of the first cathedral buildings which were excavated during the post-war dig in the vicinity of the Gothic cathedral, carried out under the supervision of Krystyna Józefowiczowa. One can clearly distinguish here the remains of a three-nave corpus of the basilica with a three-part eastern division projecting outside the main walls of the corpus and closed with an apse along the axis; whereas in the previous research, the complex sequence of parallel walls in the western part, adjacent to the nave complex, made it difficult to discern the original form. The hypothesis concerning the close affinity of the Poznan basilica with the Benedictine church in Memleben is less surprising if one places it in the historical context. The second abbot of the newly founded abbey in Memleben was Unger, identified with the missionary bishop Unger and subsequently the bishop of Poznan. The program and proportions of the Poznan basilica, modeled upon that of Memleben, betray the origin of the bishop. It seems that the Poznan basilica took over the imperial program of a representative two-choir church with the features of a cathedral program corresponding to the requirements of a foundation, whose aim was, among others, to prepare a burial place for the ruler, I would also be inclined to associate the initiative of constructing the cathedral with bishop Unger. A certain time framework is provided by the dates of his assumption of duties in the early-Piast state (since 982 or 984 and at the latest since 992), and right until 1004 when he was imprisoned in Magdeburg. The archeological analyses (Z. Kurnatowska, M. Kara, T. Janiak) also define the date of the beginning of the construction at the earliest as the eighties of the 10th century (putting emphasis on the date of death of Mieszko I - 992) and its completion until the year 1000. Taking into account the accepted start date of the church in Memleben as the eighties of the 10th century, a lot seems to indicate that the construction of this monumental church was begun or continued precisely by abbot Unger. The original layout of the cathedral was repeated in phase Ib; for some unclear reasons, the construction was begun anew on the previously built foundations. Changes in the organization of the interior of the western part, with a clear layout of pilasters and the central circular support separating the two-arcade passage to the central part of the western section (phase Ic), most surely took place after the renovation of the cathedral around the middle of the 11th century. The last pre-Gothic church was erected in the first half of the 12th century, also taking advantage of the older foundations of the corpus (II Cathedral). Within its corpus, the system of supports was reorganized - the preserved lower parts of the pillars make up a system of rectangular spans, while the span of the rectangular western section corresponds to the dimensions of the rectangular spans of the main nave.

The Architecture of the Stone Tower at Stolpie near Chelm - An Outline of Research Issues

63%

Bukowska A., Graczynska M.

Modus. Prace z historii sztuki

2005

vol. 6

163-186

A stone tower at Stolpie, located in the immediate proximity of the main route from Lublin to Chelm, a mere few metres south of the edge of the road, is incorporated into the north-eastern edge of a mound-like bank. This paper gives a brief presentation on the state of the research work aimed at reconstructing the original form, dating, and interpreting the architecture of the Stolpie tower. The tower was built of stone dressed into irregular ashlars, only the interior of the top storey being faced with fingerprint-marked brick. All the elevations of the tower are pierced with numerous openings on various levels. The tower is entered through an opening in the west wall, reached from the present level of the mound. The earliest source information about Stolpie can be found in the Halicz-Volhynian chronicle and refers to the first quarter of the 13th century. The next reference, in the 1359 document, concerns Chotko of Stolpie. In 1440 an Orthodox priest, Vavila, from the Church of Our Saviour (Spas) is mentioned in the first source reference to an Orthodox church with this dedication, located near the donjon (stolp). In turn, Jakub Susza (1864), the Uniate bishop of Chelm, gives several versions of the local oral tradition regarding the towers at Stolpie and near Chelm.The earliest studies of the Stolpie tower appeared in the first half of the 19th century. The majority of researchers consider the layout to have been homogeneous and to have functioned in one period, although considerable difficulties arise on account of the brick-faced interior on the top storey of the tower. Rappoport dates the Stolpie tower to the second half of the 13th and first half of the 14th centuries, whereas Kutylowska indicates the time bracket between the 10th and late 12th centuries, in her final conclusion dating it at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries but abstaining from an unequivocal suggestion as to the founder of the structure. The Ukrainian scholars I.R. Mogitic and R.I. Mogitic date the tower to the end of the 12th century and point to Roman Mstislavovich as its founder. Their and other scholars' views are considered in detail. Depending on how the origins and function of the Stolpie tower are viewed, its dating ranges from the 10th to 14th centuries.Two main concepts of its formal-stylistic origins may be distinguished. Accordingly, at one pole of the present state of research is a view about a fortified tower connected with a system of defences and at the other the prevailing interpretation which emphasizes the definitely religious role of the tower and its immediate surroundings. Attempts to indicate its formal-stylistic origins are based above all on analysis of the upper storey and are limited to placing the Stołpie tower in the group of the so-called 'Volhynian-type' towers or within the general classification of centrally-planned structures with a religious function since the Early Christian period. Problems with the clear-cut definition of the type of the top-storey interior and with the reconstruction of its original form lead either to a firm conviction that it is of Eastern (Ruthenian-Byzantine or Byzantine) origin or to emphasis on its Early-Piast roots linked with Western civilization. These divergent findings underlay the ongoing research project..

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2 Modus. Prace z historii sztuki

2 Bukowska A.

1 Graczynska M.

1 2009

1 2005

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The Cathedral Of Poznan, Bishop Unger And The Benedictine Church In Memleben Before The Year 1000

The Architecture of the Stone Tower at Stolpie near Chelm - An Outline of Research Issues