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Dominican-Jesuit Rivalry and the Politics of Catholic Renewal in Poland 1564–1648

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2011

P. T. STOLARSKI
P. T. STOLARSKI
Affiliation:
22 Hereford Road, Acton, London W3 9JW; e-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Highlighting some of the tensions within Catholicism in Poland-Lithuania after the Council of Trent, this article offers a corrective to the traditional Jesuit-centred paradigm of Catholic renewal. While long held to be central to the successes of the Counter-Reformation, the Jesuits were opposed by large sections of the Catholic nobility, a paradox that has never been adequately explained. By exploring the conflicts between the Jesuits and the more established Dominican order, the phenomenon of Catholic anticlericalism can be understood as part of a wider dissonance in Catholic culture, and integral to the accommodation of noble and Catholic culture after Trent.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 2011 , pp. 255 - 272
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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References

1 DAC, ms Kr. 777, unpaginated. All translations in this article are my own.

2 Ibid.

3 The Commonwealth created by the Union of Lublin (1569), comprised the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, with a common elective monarchy based on Aristotelian principles (‘monarchia mixta’) and the bicameral diet (Sejm). The lower chamber of the diet was made up of noble envoys elected by local assemblies (dietines) at palatinal level, while the advisory senate consisted of sixteen bishops and the royally-appointed ministers, castellans and palatines. ‘Poland’ also refers to those lands of modern Ukraine transferred from the grand duchy to the crown by King Zygmunt ii in 1569 (the palatinates of Volhynia, Bracław and Kiev). ‘Małopolska’ included the south-eastern palatinates of Kraków, Sandomierz, Lublin, Ruthenia, Podolia, Bełz and the newly conjoined Ukrainian territories; ‘Wielkopolska’, the western and northern Polish palatinates, excluding Prussia. ‘Poland-Lithuania’ refers to the Commonwealth as a whole; the monarch was also grand duke, and Lithuania retained some national autonomy.

4 This term is used to signify post-Tridentine Catholicisation generally in contrast to integral, internal reform and rejuvenation (‘Catholic renewal’).

5 See S. Załęski, Jezuici w Polsce, Lwów 1900; Janusz Tazbir, Społeczno-polityczna rola Jezuitów w Polsce (1565–1660), Warsaw 1958; and Stanisław Obirek, Jezuici w Rzeczpospolitej obojga narodów w latach, 1564–1668, Cracow 1996.

6 Anna Sucheni-Grabowska, ‘Obowiązki i prawa królów polskich w opiniach pisarzy epoki odrodzenia’, in Anna Sucheni-Grabowska and Małgorzata Żaryn (eds), Między monarchią a demokracją, Warsaw 1994, 99.

7 Obirek, Jezuici w Rzeczpospolitej, 152.

8 A legal, sworn, association of nobles to redress perceived public wrongs: Norman Davies, God's playground, Oxford 1981, i. 339–43.

9 Anon., Inwentarz Voluminów Legum, Część I, St Petersburg 1860, 85.

10 Henryk Gapski, Klasztory krakowskie w końcu XVI i w pierwszej połowie XVII w., Lublin 1993, 74.

11 CLC, ms 2729 iv, 22.

12 Inwentarz Voluminów, 85; CLC, msiv 123, 777.

13 See Pisma polityczne z czasów Rokoszu Zebrzydowskiego 1606–1608, ed. Jan Czubek, Cracow 1916–18, and Davies, God's playground, i. 340–3.

14 JULC, ms 107, 1026–31.

15 Wanda Dobrowolska, Młodość Jerzego i Krzysztofa Zbaraskich, Przemyśl 1926, 175–90.

16 CLC, msiv 119, 649–54.

17 Ibid. ms iv 1577, 122.

18 Ibid. 119–23.

19 Ibid. 119.

20 Piotr Skarga, Obrona Jezuitów, Warsaw 1814, 106–9.

21 Obirek, Jezuici w Rzeczpospolitej, 128.

22 Henryk Barycz, Rozwój i upadek Akademii Krakowskiej, Cracow 1931; Bronisław Natoński, Jezuici a Uniwersytet Krakowski w XVI wieku, Cracow 2002.

23 Obirek, Jezuici w Rzeczpospolitej, 80. See also JULC, ms 227, fo. 1060.

24 Hajdukiewicz, Leszek, ‘Jakub Najmanowic (Najmanowicz)’, PSB xxii (1977), 641Google Scholar.

25 JUCL, ms 1170 iv t. 1, fo. 75v.

26 The Carmelites, linked to the Dominicans by their use of Thomism, were close allies in the conflict with the Jesuits, often preaching inside the Dominican church or hosting Dominican sermons: Jan Wielewicki, Dziennik spraw domu zakonnego OO: Jezuitów u ś. Barbary w Krakowie, Cracow 1881–1999, iv. 277; v. 441.

27 Kazimierz Gumol, ‘Oratorium Św. Różańca Akademii Krakowskiej czyli akademickie bractwo różańcowe u ojców dominikanów’, Rocznik Teologiczny Śląska, Op. 1 (1968), 175.

28 Wielewicki, Dziennik, iii. 170–2; iv. 9.

29 Ibid. iii. 296–7.

30 Ibid. iv. 16.

31 Ibid. iv. 17.

32 Ibid. iv. 151.

33 Ibid. iv. 155–7.

34 Ibid. iv. 250.

35 Ibid. v. 67.

36 Ibid.

37 The Dominicans' 1631 Warsaw provincial chapter delegated him to scan Jesuit publication for anything insulting to the Dominicans: ‘Acta capitulorum Provinciae Poloniae Ordinis Praedicatorum’, ed. Romanus Fabianus Madura, ii. 475 (typescript, DAC).

38 Wladyslaw iv to Fr Jan Dionizy Moszynski, Lwów, 23 Oct. 1634, in Władysława IV Króla Polskiego Wielkiego Xiążęcia Litewskiego &. listy i inne pisma urzędowe, ed. Ambroży Grabowski, Cracow 1845, 22–3. Władysław persisted in supporting Dominican preachers for the post at St Mary's (1634–5). Wielewicki presents these appointments as impositions contrary to the wishes of the burghers who are said to have always desired a Jesuit preacher: Dziennik, v. 344, 363–7.

39 Gumol, ‘Oratorium’, 186.

40 Ibid. 193–4.

41 JULC, ms 227, fo. 182v.

42 Ibid. fos 511, 516v.

43 Wielewicki, Dziennik, iv. 59–60.

44 Ibid. iv. 131–2.

45 JULC, ms 227, fo. 220v.

46 Philadelphia sive erectio confraternitatis quatuor ordinum mendicantium, in Concilio Basiliensi institua, Cracow 1615, irregular pagination.

47 Ibid.

48 Ibid.

49 Biblioteka Naukowa PAN i PAU, Cracow, ms 5074, 358–9.

50 DAC, ms Kr. 3, fos 60–7, describes the ‘persecution’ of the mendicant orders (attacks on Dominican privileges and exemptions, pertaining to the rosary, masses, public processions and land, across Europe) by the laity, universities, clergy, prelates and synods, including in Poland.

51 In 1603, on account of the great number of mendicants, Pope Clement viii prescribed norms for the granting of licences to build new monasteries: Państwowe Archiwum Narodowe, Cracow, Oddział iii, ms Aug 25, fo. 4.

52 Jan Czerkawski, Humanizm i scholastyka: studia z dziejów kultury filozoficznej w Polsce w XVI i XVII wieku, Lublin 1992.

53 Ibid. 160.

54 They held that there was a real and not merely mental difference between being and essence: ibid. 162.

55 Ibid.

56 R. R. Ruether, ‘Immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary’, in Alan Richardson and John Bowden (eds), A new dictionary of Christian theology, London 1996, 286–7.

57 The Polish provincial chapters forbade preaching against the Society on pain of excommunication in 1586, 1593 and 1599: Acta capitulorum provinciae Poloniae Ordinis Praedicatorum, ed. Romanus Fabianus Madura, Rome 1972, i. 458–9, 489, 540–1.

58 DAC, Cracow, ms Pp. 10, unpaginated.

59 Ibid. ms Kr. 3, fos 54–9.

60 Czerkawski, Humanizm i scholastyka, 168.

61 Ibid. 168–74.

62 See Świętochowski, Robert, ‘Seweryn Lubomlczyk’, PSB xviii (1973), 69–70Google Scholar, and Mazur, Zygmunt, ‘Bernard Pegasius’, PSB xxxv (1980), 540–1Google Scholar.

63 Thomas de Lemos op (d. 1629).

64 O Stanie Societatis y Prywatnych Monitach Przemowa (1644), CLC, ms 2343 ii, 46.

65 Ibid. 45.

66 Czerkawski, Humanizm i scholastyka, 169. See also Mazur, ‘Bernard Pegasius’.

67 CLC, ms 2343 ii, 46.

68 Barycz, Rozwój.

69 Lu Ann Homza, Religious authority in the Spanish Renaissance, Baltimore–London 2000.

70 Wielewicki, Dziennik, iv. 308 (referring to events of 23 Oct. 1628).

71 Ibid. iv. 99–104 (July 1622); also formally boycotted by the mendicants' philadelphia.

72 Dobrowolska, Młodość, 86–101. He may also have studied briefly under Lipsius at Louvain, which like the Sorbonne and the University of Cracow was opposing the Jesuits (pp. 123–4).

73 Ibid. 113–14.

74 Ibid. 175–90.

75 JUL, ms 3404, 1–23. Damned by the nuncio as ‘impious and sacrilegious’ in 1615 (Wielewicki, Dziennik, iii. 163), and later published in more than 50 editions, it was extremely popular in Poland-Lithuania and Germany: Janusz Tazbir, ‘Literatura antyjezuicka w Polsce’, in Ludwik Grzebień and Stanisław Obirek (eds), Jezuici a kultura polska, Cracow 1993, 311–33.

76 Responsio ad famosum libellum a patribus Societatis Jesu in Academiam Cracoviensem scriptum (1622). About 500 copies were published in Warsaw with the help of the courtiers Jerzy Nowodworski and Gabriel Prewancjusz Władysławski (a staunch supporter of the university and childhood tutor to Prince Władysław): Barycz, Henryk, ‘Bartłomiej Nowodworski’, and ‘Jerzy Nowodworski’, PSB xxiii (1978), 356–60Google Scholar, 366–7. Wielewicki implicates the Warsaw Dominicans in the affair: Dziennik, iv. 129–30.

77 Wielewicki, Dziennik, iv. 136 (21 May 1623).

78 Urszula Augustyniak, Informacja i propaganda w Polsce za Zygmunta III, Warsaw 1981, 202.

79 JUL, ms 922, fos 12–13.

80 Wielewicki, Dziennik, iv. 231–2 (20 Nov. 1625). His speech incited the nobility against the Jesuits and cancelled out Bishop Szyszkowski's appeal.

81 JUL, ms 59, fos 359v–360v (1627), accusing the Jesuits of tyrannical aggrandisement, absolutism, and ‘ugly jubilation’ at the Rota's decision, while reminding them of their subordination to bishops.

82 CLC, msiv 119, 131–4 (dated 1627).

83 Wielewicki, Dziennik, iv. 75.

84 Ibid. iv. 88.

85 Ibid. iv. 291–2, entry for 8 Feb. 1628.

86 Jerzy Kłoczowski, ‘Zakon braci kaznodziejów w Polsce, 1222–1972, zarys dziejów’, in Jerzy Kłoczowski (ed.), Studia nad historią dominikanów w Polsce, 1222–1972, Warsaw 1975, i. 58–101.

87 DAC, ms Kr. 602, details a 1,000 zloty annuity from 16,700 zloties secured on land for upkeep of the chapel.

88 Długosz, Józef, ‘Sebastian Lubomirski’, PSB xviii (1973), 40–2Google Scholar; DAC, ms Kr. 27, p. 25.

89 Długosz, ‘Sebastian Lubomirski’.

90 Wielewicki, Dziennik, v. 366–7.

91 Warsaw provincial chapter (1616) in Acta capitulorum provinciae poloniae, ii. 222.

92 Wołyniak [J. M. A. Giżycki], Wykaz klasztorów dominikańskich prowincji ruskiej, Kraków 1923, ii. 125–34; Szymon Okolski, Russia florida rosis et liliis hoc est sanguine, praedicatione, religione et vita, antea FF. Ord. Praed. Peregrinatione inchoata, nunc conventuum in Russia stabilitate fundata, Leopolis 1646, 122.

93 Zebrzydowksi was marshal of the Proszowice dietine which pledged to support the university in 1625 and 1626. He is mentioned in the suffragia vivorum prayer-list of the Cracow provincial chapter acta (1627): Acta capitulorum provinciae poloniae, ii. 426.

94 JUL, ms 227, fos 997–8.

95 See DAC, ms Kr. 14, fos 7v, 47; Lublin provincial chapter (1607), Acta capitulorum provinciae poloniae, ii. 68; and Michalewicz, Jerzy, ‘Józef Latoszyński’, PSB xvi (1971), 572Google Scholar.

96 For the nobility's consensual and elective political culture see A. S. Kamiński, ‘The Szlachta of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and their government’, in I. Banac and P. Bushkovitch (eds), The nobility in Russia and Eastern Europe, New Haven 1983, 17–45.

97 Bibl. PAN i PAU, ms 8323, passim.

98 Ibid. mss 3262, 3263, 3279 t. 1.

99 The Jesuits initially emphasised royal authority (if not absolutism), only gradually changing their tone with regard to noble political culture, largely on the basis of Thomism, in the context of rivalry with the Dominicans and Cracow University: Stanisław Obirek, ‘Jezuicka Filozofia Państwa w Polsce w Latach, 1564–1668’, in Forum philosophicum fac. philos. SJ, Cracovia-Kraków T. 1., n.p. 1996, 235–63, and Wizja Kościoła i państwa w kazaniach ks. Piotra Skargi, SJ, Cracow 1994, 59–61.

100 See Iacinth Mijakowski, Interregnum albo sieroctwo apostolskie, osierociałey koronie polskiey, po śmierci naiaśnieyszego monarchy, Zygmunta Trzeciego polskiego y szwedskiego krola, Lublin 1632, passim.

101 CLC, msiv 129, 747–52.

102 See papal privilege for the resolution of tithe disputes (1634), ibid. ms 2095 iv, 477.

103 Pope Urban viii had banned the clergy, on pain of punishment, from purchasing land in Poland-Lithuania on 18 February 1634, unless with express papal permission: Bibl. PAN i PAU, ms 8391, 51.

104 These confirmed the legality of annuity agreements on noble lands for the benefit of convents: Volumina legum, iii, St Petersburg 1859, 402–7.

105 Jan Dzięgielewski, O Tolerancję Dla Zdominowanych: polityka wyznaniowa Rzeczypospolitej w latach panowania Władysława IV, Warsaw 1986, 206.