EN
The foundation o f the Franciscans cloister in Gdańsk, realized with the support of the Teutonic Order was made in the first half o f XV century. This cloister similarly like the other abbeys located in the Teutonic Order State and functioned later in the Prussia belonged to Saxon province of the Franciscans Order. The contacts between the Franciscans and the local middle-class people, what certifies the agreement concerning the acceptance to the participation in spirituals goods o f the Order the members o f the butchers guild dated on 1381 (the edition of this document as the attachment). The monks realizing their mission in big Hanseatic city did not limit their religious activity only in the cloister. For example: the brothers from the Franciscans abbey in Gdańsk travelled also to Falsterbo in the Danish Kingdom, where took spiritual care of the merchants from Gdańsk, who were in the annual fair o f herrings. The monks exerted the influence not only on Middle-class people, but also on the local knighthood. In 1476 the guardian Jan Rolle, having the consent obtained from Saxon Province minister and the Holy Scripture lector Mikołaj Lackmann, accepted to the participation in spiritual goods of the cloister the knighthood from Gdańsk district. The Franciscans had the near relations with the peasants. In 1488 the provincial minister o f the Franciscans edited the document confirming the acceptance to the participation in spiritual goods of the Order the habitants of the village Zaroślak. Then in 1495 to the participation in spiritual goods of the cloister were accepted the members o f the guild o f cups and buckets manufacturers with their families. These examples show the wide backup of the cloister, which till the Reformation was supported by the municipal authorities. The close contacts o f the Franciscans in Gdańsk and the local Middle-class people were confirmed by many legacies made in the testaments for the Franciscans. All these examples confirm the success o f the cloister by the building big worshippers community often connected with the cloister by formal agreements. That, which was the strength o f the cloister became the weakness in the situation, when large majority o f the Middle-class people declared for the Protestantism. This situation deepened the difficulties o f the cloister and caused the internal problems and the crisis o f the Saxon Province o f the Franciscans and finally the decline o f the foundation.