Cracow burghers 'bequests to the observants' friary in Stradomin the second half of the 15th c.

Abstract

The article is aimed at analysing late-mediaeval testaments of Cracow burghers which included bequests to the Observants’ church and friary in Stradom (a suburb of Cracow). The source basis are testaments recorded in Cracow municipal books, most of them in the Liber Testamentorum kept by the city council (The National Archives in Cracow, Records of the City of Cracow, manuscript 772). The Observant friary in Stradom was founded in 1453, following a religious stir induced by a visit to Cracow made by the famous Italian preacher John of Capistrano, an Observant friar. There are 58 last wills from the second half of the 15th c., made by 54 testators, which include bequests to the newly-founded friary. This is a significant number as compared with the number of surviving wills from the second half of the 15th c. including bequests to orders long established in Cracow, the Grey Friars and Dominicans (30 and 22, respectively). The number of bequests from the first two decades of the friary’s functioning is definitely higher than in the later years. In this early period it was common for testators who left legacies to several Church institutions (a typical situation) to endow the Observants with a larger bequest. This might have resulted from the burghers’ interest in a new institution among Cracow’s religious houses. It can be also supposed that the new friary was supported by the municipal authorities. Still, most of the donors were craftsmen, from both richer (e.g. goldsmiths) and less affl uent (e.g. oil makers) groups, although the majority represented low-status professions. This might have been due to the Observants by rule doing the ministry among the poorer. The bequests were usually money, intended generally for the needs of the church, the friars and the friary, sometimes specifi cally for food. Rarely can it be concluded that the testator re-ally knew the current needs of the friary but there are several examples of bequests for liturgical books, vestments and paraments.