Publication details
The Establishment of an Ecclesiastical Organization in the Post–Carolingian Periphery
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Power in Numbers. State Formation and Christianization on the Eastern Edge of Europe |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1484/M.BBL-EB.5.135491 |
| Keywords | Christianization; church organization; medieval Bohemia; medieval Moravia; ecclesiastical history |
| Description | In this paper, we intend to provide the audience with basic information about the establishment and development of the ecclesiastical organization in the Přemyslid principality and its structural patterns between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. Therefore, this paper will be split into four parts. First, the beginnings of the Prague and Olomouc bishoprics will be discussed. The analysis of the foundations of these bishoprics also enables us to demonstrate the importance of princely power, contacts with the papacy and, finally, the influence of the head of the Holy Roman Empire on the high medieval Bohemian and Moravian Church. Second, a short overview of the written evidence for the local churches in Bohemia and Moravia will follow. Third, we will focus on the analysis of the existing written evidence. This will be confronted with other sources of information to determine to what extent this evidence is representative. Additionally, we will briefly discuss the relationship between the patrons and their churches, the beginnings of territorialization of the local churches, and the possible impact of the local churches on rural communities. Finally, this paper will briefly examine the embeddedness of three Benedictine monasteries, Vilémov, Kladruby, and Opatovice, and the Benedictine priories of Police and Broumov, subject to Břevnov Monastery, into the local and wider regional structures. Our analysis, based primarily on contemporary deeds and charters, will focus primarily on three issues. First, the evidence will be examined to demonstrate how exactly the newly established ecclesiastical foundations could have become foci for local elites of the Přemyslid realm. Second, the analysis results will also be used as a basis for reflections on how these institutions could have helped to establish the links between the local elites and princely power. Third, the proposed sample of ecclesiastical institutions will help us consider the dynamics of the integrating process. |