Leonard Jan Józef Lepszy

“ Andrew, the cult of this Saint seems to have been introduced into Poland. In walking down Grodzka ulica (Castle Street) , we see from afar two slender towers pointing heavenward: they belong to St. Andrew's Church, built by the Benedictine monks of Sieciechów (illustration 3) . It was a court church of three naves, forming part of the gateway buildings of the Castle, and containing a princely dwelling in its interior; one great loft above the low side-aisle served for the prince's retinue and could hold some 150 persons. ”

“ Casimir found Poland devastated by the internal troubles under Mieszko II, and saw its waning importance in politics and for civilization; he therefore endeavoured to raise the general standard of culture by means of settling foreign monks all over the country, which procured him the surname of the Monk. On the Wawel, next to his royal residence, he settled a colony of Benedictines called from Liège. The abbot of this convent, Aaron by name, became at the same time Bishop of Cracow, and bore the title of archbishop. ”

“ The bishops' residences and the Benedictine and Cistercian abbeys were, besides the princes' courts, the main channels through which the civilization of Western Europe spread in Poland. The illuminated liturgical MSS. for the use of Polish churches were at first all imported from abroad, e.g. the eleventh century homilies now in the archives of the Cathedral. But very early—in all probability as soon as the eleventh century—the art of illuminating began to be practised in the convent cells of Poland by the foreign monks. ”

“ In prehistoric times, the caves in a range of hills extending to the north of Cracow were the oldest dwellings for the men of the Jura limestone period. The country all round the present site of the town is traversed by charming glens, overshadowed with woods and enlivened by rippling rivulets: such are the Czerna Valley near Krzeszowice, the Pradnik Valley with its ruins of Ojców Castle and "Dog's Rock" (Pieskowa Skala) , the Mników Valley extending to the south. Within the precincts of the town, several hills arise: the Castle Hill called Wawel, the Skalka, the Krzemionki, and St. ”

“ This is a masterpiece of twelfth-century art; it exhibits in particular a highly developed sense for the formal beauties of the human body,—just what might be accounted for by a sculptor sharing in the work;—for models, it shows the influence of the Celto-Carolingian patterns. ”

“ At this time also the archbishopric of Gniezno was founded, whose sphere included the diocese of Cracow. The Bishop of Cracow occupied the first rank, under the Metropolite of Gniezno, in the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Poland. His residence was on the fortified Skalka (nowadays St. Michael's Church of the Pauline Fathers) , where a deep pond at the foot of the rocky mound became the first natural baptismal font of Cracow; here the common people washed off their heathendom. The temporal monarchs resided on Wawel Hill, opposite this seat of the spiritual power. ”

“ General culture is increasing: Polish students attend foreign universities, particularly that of Bologna; schools connected with monasteries and parishes are growing in number. But these germs of an independent civilization were soon to be destroyed, A terrible tempest of Mongolian invasion broke from the East; it swept like an avalanche over the country, changing it into a desert; Cracow, in that unfortunate year 1241, was turned into a heap of ruins; only the castle on the Wawel and the gateway buildings with the fortified church of St. ”

“ One and the same mason's guild at Cracow, superintended by the Benedictines and acting in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, seems to have completed all the other Romanesque buildings, which fell into line, along Castle Street, with the original settlers' dwellings, built of wood. ”

“ The news of the Saint's death produced a great impression over all Europe; the Emperor Otto III, who had been his personal friend, undertook, A.D. 1000, the famous pilgrimage to the martyr's tomb at Gniezno and visited the Polish monarch Boleslaus, on whose royal head he set, on that occasion, a golden crown, presenting him also thelance said to have been St. ”

“ Emmeram, for which reason it is usually called the Emmeram Gospels. It is probable that the Regensburg influence, through Judith and her Suabian chaplain Otto (afterwards Bishop of Bamberg) , asserted itself also in the building of the new basilica in Romanesque style; the more so as the architectural activity of the prelate just mentioned was further manifested in the building of Speyer Cathedral. The building of this Romanesque cathedral extends over a long period of time. ”