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

• Authors: Bukowska Aneta

Title variants

PL

Przed rokiem 1000? Katedra w Poznaniu, biskup Unger i kosciól benedyktynski w Memleben

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

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.

Keywords

EN

BISHOP UNGER; MEMLEBEN); ROMANESQUE ARCHITECTURE (POZNAN)

Discipline

• ARTS_&_ARCHITECTURE: ARTS & ARCHITECTURE

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Jagielloński
• Journal: Modus. Prace z historii sztuki
• Year: 2009
• Volume: 8-9
• Pages: 285-302
• Document type: ARTICLE

Dates

published

2009

Contributors

author

Bukowska Aneta

• Instytut Historii Sztuki UJ

• Aneta Bukowska, Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, Instytut Historii Sztuki, ul. Grodzka 53, 31-001 Kraków, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

10PLAAAA082820