THE POLANIAN DYNASTY 59have always given exclusive attention to the Roman obedience and to the Latin
rite. Yet, since the Polanians took their Christianity from Bohemia, it must be
remembered that until the end of the eleventh century, the Slavonic liturgy of
the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition co-existed in the Czech lands alongside the
German-sponsored Latin church. Although there is no direct evidence that the
baptism of the Vistulanian chieftain by Methodius left any lengthy imprint on
religious life north of the Carpathians, there is no doubt that much of the reli-
gious vocabulary of the Polish language was adopted from Czech and Slavonic
forms, not from German or Latin ones. Words such as Chrzest (baptism),
kazanie (sermon), kosciol (church), pacierz (Paternoster), and ksiadz (priest)
provide clear examples. Both Wojciech and his half-brother, Gaudentius, were
members of the noble Slavnik family which patronized the Slavonic rite, and
may be expected to have brought their sympathies with them into Poland.^3
Relations between the established Church and the nascent state were not easy.
In the first stages, the Piast princes badly needed the support of the bishops; but
sometimes reacted strongly against them. In 1079, Bishop Stanislaw of Cracow,
who repeatedly denounced the oppressions of King Boleslaw II and who had
fomented a baronial rebellion against him, was promptly condemned to be killed
and dismembered. The martyrdom of this Polish Becket ensured the success of
the rebellion, and the expulsion of the king. Later on, in the period of fragmen-
tation, the clergy increased their landed property, and were able to shed certain
princely controls. In 1180, at the Synod of Leczyca, Casimir the Just, Prince of
Cracow and Sandomierz, agreed to limit the jurisdiction of his officials over the
population of church estates and to waive his rights to the property of defunct
bishops. In the thirteenth century, on the initiative of Archbishop Henry Kietlicz
(1150-1219), the agent of the Gregorian Reforms, cathedral chapters assumed
the prince's right of appointing bishops. Canon law was extended throughout
the ecclesiastical possessions, and the clergy became a privileged, autonomous
estate. Divided against themselves, the princes could not resist. Their political
power was severely eroded by a united church which readily wielded the threat
of excommunication and the promise of coronations. Archbishop Jakub Swinka
(d. 1314) was one of several prince-making prelates. In response, the princely
families could do little but appeal to the Vatican over the heads of the bishops,
and quite incidentally to produce an unprecedented number of saints. There was
St. Jadwiga (1179-1243), wife of Henryk the Bearded, Prince of Silesia, canon-
ized in 1267; the Blessed Kinga (1234-92), daughter of Bela IV, King of Hungary,
who pursued the virgin life with her husband, Boleslaus the Shameful, Prince of
Cracow; and Saint Salomea (d. 1268), daughter of Leszek the White. There were
monastic saints - Bronislawa, a Premonstratensian nun, and Jacek, a Dominican
friar. Even a historian, in the person of the careful Bishop Kadlubek, was raised
to the ranks of the Blessed. Undoubtedly, however, the most important canon-
ization was that of St. Stanislaw in 1257. His dismembered body was seen as the
symbol of a divided country; and its miraculous recomposition was taken as a
prophesy of Poland's eventual resurrection.