Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej (Jul 2014)
Funkcjonowanie wiejskich cmentarzy parafii katolickichw dobie przedrozbiorowej na przykładzie dekanatów Nowa Góra, Skała i Proszowice z okolic Krakowa
Abstract
The functioning of Catholic country parish cemeteries before the partitions of Poland : illustrated with the deaneries of Nowa Góra, Skała and Proszowice near Cracow The functioning of country cemeteries before the partitions of the Commonwealth is rather poorly researched. The article presents results of a preliminary analysis of data from parish records of funerals, which have proved an excellent source for the topic. The source basis was supplemented with records of bishops’ visitations from the Archives of the Archdiocese Curia in Cracow. The area analyzed, the deaneries of Nowa Góra, Skała and Proszowice comprising 35 parishes, is north of Cracow. The oldest early-Christian skeleton burials in Little Poland come from the turn of the 11th century. As the network of parishes developed in the 13th c., the dead began to be interred in churches and in cemeteries located next to churches. There were also mass graves for epidemic victims on the outskirts of settlements; dissenters were buried in unconsecrated ground (at crossroads, near roadside figures, in wastelands). Churches became burial sites for priests and the nobility, but sometimes also peasants, especially those of the country elite and church attendants. The church cemetery had burial places regarded as honourable (e.g. close to the church entrance) and places for average people. Burial fees differed according to the age of the deceased person, the location of the grave and the season of the year. As burial grounds were limited, remains were periodically exhumed and transferred to a mortuary, which was usually a wooden building next to the cemetery wall. When the mortuary was filled, the bones were reburied in a new mass grave, which was an occasionfor a solemn parish celebration. The cemetery was taken care of by the parishioners; for example they had to maintain the cemetery wall in good order. Gravediggers came from the poorer parishioners. They usually lived close to the church and usually rendered other services to the temple in addition to burying the dead. The parishes in question were unusual in that they quite often had to bury travellers, especially during epidemics or natural catastrophes, which was connected with the closeness of Cracow. At the turn of the 19th century cemeteries began to be moved further from human dwellings.
