Miejsce męczeństwa św. Stanisława w kulturze i w świadomości narodowej Polaków

The Place of Martyrdom of St. Stanisław in the Culture and National Consciousness of the Poles

Summary: Skałka as the place of death of the main Patron Saint of Poland as well as the national Pantheon has always interested not only chroniclers and historians but also writers and poets. The cult of St. Stanisław in different period increased or decreased. The 13th century histories of the life of St. Stanisław put an end to the written and oral tradition of the life and activity of the bishop. The hymn Gaude Mater Polonia dates back to the middle of the 13th century. In the period from the 13th until the 15th centuries a number of pieces and works were written and the 15th century brought an incredible number of the songs, sermons and other works about St. Stanisław, both in Latin and in Polish.
Especially during the Partition period the figure of St. Stanisław was vivid in the legends and patriotic conceptions, ideas and images. He became a personification of the freedom ideas. National pilgrimaging to Cracow was considerably easy during the Cracow Republic and especially during the Galicia autonomy. It increased when the crypt of the Poles illustrious luminaries of the culture and science was founded. In the 19th and 20th centuries Wawel and Skałka became unusually present in the literature and art. Various reknowned writers wrote about the bishop Stanisław: Józef Ignacy Kraszewski, Bogusław Sujkowski, Karol Bunsch, Teodor Parnicki. Stanisław Wyspiański wrote a special drama entitled Skałka about the place of martyrdom of the bishop. The echoes of the conflict between the bishop and the king have been artistically expressed in the poem of Juliusz Słowacki Król Duch [‘The Spirit King’]. Also Karol Wojtyła in his poem Stanisław tried to understand the tragic conflict.
In the post-war years in the official propaganda bishop Stanisław was considered a symbol of the attempt of the domination of the Church upon the secular authority. The priest Karol Wojtyła as the archbishop metropolitan of Cracow invited the Episcopate of Poland for the celebrations devoted to St. Stanisław. For many years the Primate of Poland cardinal Stefan Wyszyński said from Skałka his messages to the nation. Soon after his election to Rome the Polish Pope came to his fatherland for the 900 years anniversary of the death of St. Stanisław. During the ceremony on Cracow Błonia he conducted the Confirmation of ages. On 8 June 1979 Pope John Paul II visited Skałka where he met people of culture and science as well as the young people of Cracow.
Skałka is still hiding the secret of the conflict between the king Bolesław and the bishop Stanisław. It continues to inspire scholars, writers, musicians, painters as well as politicians.

Peregrinus Cracoviensis, 2003, z.14, s. 35-53.

Instytut Geografii i Gospodarki Przestrzennej UJ

ISSN 1425-1922

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