The following excerpt comes from the 1326 provincial statutes of the Uniejów synod (Statuta synodi provincials Uniejoviensis or Statuta synodu w Uniejowie). The synod which was presided by the Gniezno archbishop Janisław. The statutes were preserved, as far as is known, in two manuscripts. One of them remained in Gniezno until the Swedish Wars of 1655. At that point it was stolen by the Swedish army and moved to Upsala. However, in 1741 it was retrieved from Sweden by Joseph Andrew Załuski, a Polish priest. During the reign of the last Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski, the manuscript was placed by the monarch in the Załuski Library where it was part of the Załuski Collection (because of the Załuski bishops who were the original founders/owners) or Bibliotheca Zalusciana in Warsaw (hence some refer to it as a Codex Zaluscianus). As an aftermath of the Kosciuszko Uprising in 1794, the manuscript, along with the rest of the Załuski Collection was stolen by tsartist forces and removed to Petersburg. Some of them were returned by the Soviets in the 1920s during the feel-good days post-WWI. It is not clear whether this codex too was returned. In any event, the codices that were returned were destroyed by Nazi troops who set fire to Warsaw. Thankfully, the codex was rediscovered at the Imperial Library and some of it was published in 1856 by Romuald de Hube (a Warsaw University professor who was in Petersburg at the time) in his Antiquissimae constitutiones synodales provinciae Gneznensis maxima ex parte. At about the same time portions of the codex were also published by Antoni Helcel in his Monuments of Old Polish Law (Starodawne prawa polskiego pomniki). De Hube had available also another manuscript of the same from the Stronczynski collection – this manuscript appears to reside at the Wrocław University Library.
From the de Hube edition, the following excerpts found their way to Karl Meyer’s Fontes as Constitutio Synodalis Uniejoviensis.
Archbishop Janisław
Constitutio Synodalis Uniejoviensis
(Constitutio Janislai)
February 19, 1326
De ludo larvatorum
Quoniam sicut ad deceptionem nonnunquam angelus sathanae in lucis Angelum transformatur, sic profecto ad defuscationem imaginis paternae, spiritus creaturae rationalis, in qua divinae operationis effigies, per gratiam dignoscitur elucere, assumere censetur formas spirituum immundorum, statuismus ergo: ut nulli omnino clerici vel laici induti monstris larvarum, ecclesias vel coemeteria ipsarum ingredi praesumant, praesertim dum in illis divina officia peragrantur, quum per hujusmodi ludibriorum spectacula et fervor devotionis tepescat, et honestas ecclesiae et decor clericalis ordinis inquinetur; decernentes, clericos quoslibet et laicos monstruosas et detestabiles imagines hujusmodi deferentes, ipso facto, excommunicationis sententiae subjacere, ab illa, donec poenituerinti, nullatenus absolvendos. Adjicimus insuper: quod clerici vel laici ludos superstitiosos, juxta quorundam locorum abusum, in processionibus ecclesiarum ante natale domini* exercentes, eo ipso poena simili sint constricti.
On the Masked/Monstrous Games/Carollers
“Since sometimes an angel of satan is, as a deception, transformed into an angel of light, in the same way to obfuscate…** so therefore are needed these laws:”
“that neither clergy nor laymen should put on masks of monsters [or] enter [wearing them] into churches or cemeteries, especially while acting in the course of their official religious duties since this manner of games and spectacles reduces piety and lowers the respectability of the church and of the clerical order;”
“(1) we decree that those clergy and laymen who are accused of carrying these monstrous and odious images, become subject, by this reason, to the penalty of excommunication from which they should not be freed until they’ve suffered penance.”***
“(2) we further add that clergy and laymen should not conduct – for such abuses have taken place in certain places – superstitious spectacles/games during church gatherings before the birthday of the Lord and should they do so they will be subject to the same punishment.”****
Modern Carolers – note the rosette symbol
* The “ante natale domini” does not appear in the de Hube version.
** compare this with the statutes of Wrocław Bishop Nanker from the year 1331: “Quoniam sicut ad deceptionem nonnumquam angelus sathane in lucid angelorum transformatur, sic perfecto ad defuscacionem ymaginis paterne, spiritus creature racionabilis, in qua divine operacionis effigies per graciam dinoscitur elucere, assumere censetur forms spirituum immundorum, statuimus igitur [nulli omnin]o clerici vel layci induti monstris larvarum ecclesias…”
*** This 1326 prohibition against masked “caroling” and pagan “theatrical” plays (interestingly, as part of church services!) is basically a repetition of the prohibition issued by Innocent III in 1207 with respect to Polish territories (per insolentiam corundum [that is folio rum clericorum] interdum ludi fount in ecclesia theatrales et… ad ludibriorum spectacle introducuntur monster larvarum…). It also encapsulates additional concepts found in the prohibitions of Pope Clement V found in his Gravi nimirum turbatione.
**** This 1326 prohibition against pagan games during church processions that took place during the last days of the Advent and during Christmas Eve. Similar practices are also reflected in Clement V’s Gravi nimirum turbatione. The same admonitions are repeated in Poland in the 1420 statutes of Bishop Andrew nearly 100 years later (De ludis festorum – Item in vigilia Nativitatis Christi prohibeantur ludi et superstitiosae opiniones, quae – proh dolor! – in hac vigent patria.).
Janisław’s seal
For more on the rosette symbol in the star above, see here.
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