Colloquia Theologica Ottoniana (Jan 2018)
Mszał Gnieźnieński z Niederaltaich Missale Plenarium ms. 149 Vetusque Antiquissimus
Abstract
Missale plenarium ms. 149 is the oldest medieval codex located in the Gniezno Cathedral Museum. It was not until the turn of the nineteenth / twentieth century that it finally came under observation, and was later used in series of short reports. A more comprehensive study on ms. 149 by Biegański and Woronczak was done in the 1970’s. In the same years, the calendar, which is part of the missal, has become the subject of probably the first and perhaps the only master’s thesis so far. After years, the author of the mentioned work has been reminded of the history of the old cultural heritage of Poland, deepening the study of new reports on the whole Missal. This not yet fully known half a century ago manuscript, thanks to the efforts of researchers, has partially uncovered some of its secrets. Paleographic and comparative analysis with other monuments of this period allowed to establish the exact date and place of origin of the manuscript and the circumstances of its order and its being brought to Gniezno. This is extremely valuable and important information, given that it relates to the beginnings of the history of the Polish state and its cultural heritage brought about by the Catholic Church and the first rulers of our country, in this case, Władysław Herman, the founder of the Gniezno Missal and the principal donor for the cathedral renovation. Thanks to the scientific research for sources of Polish culture, we are recovering the old, often forgotten, and deliberately overlooked part of our national and cultural identity of not so long ago. It is without a doubt the Gniezno Missal 149, brought to Poland to celebrate the consecration of the Gniezno Cathedral, and today constitutes proof of the contribution of the Church and the nation to Western civilization.
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