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43-516: The cathedral is known for its twelfth-century (ca. 1175), two-winged bronze doors decorated with scenes of martyrdom of St. Adalbert of Prague and a silver relic coffin of that saint. The coffin was made by Peter von der Rennen of pure silver in 1662 after the previous one, established in 1623 by King Sigismund III Vasa himself, was robbed by the Swedes in 1655, during the Swedish invasion . The temple

86-560: A few years the temple was rebuilt in the Romanesque style and consecrated in 1064. Twelve years later King Bolesław II the Bold was crowned in Gniezno. At the end of the eleventh century the eastern part of the temple suddenly collapsed. In the years 1103–1104 a synod was held with the participation of the papal legate associated with the retrieval and placing of the precious relics of St. Adalbert in

129-525: A fire started in the temple and it took in seven years to repair the structure. In the year 1025 Bolesław the Brave was crowned as the first King of Poland in the Gniezno Cathedral. After his death Mieszko II Lambert succeeded to the throne. In 1038 Czech prince Bretislav I surrounded and conducted a siege of the city, destroying and robbing the borough and the precious treasures inside the cathedral. After

172-466: A novel subject. Devising new compositions was not part of their training. Some scenes adapt subjects from the life of Christ and other models. The left door shows his early life and life in Christian territory. The right door shows his missionary activities, apparently ignoring those outside modern Poland. Their iconography "clearly shows they were made as a political statement". The sequence starts from

215-578: A rare near-contemporary record of their appearance; the Prussians remained largely pagan at the time the doors were made. To illustrate the life of a single saint on such a monumental scale was most unusual at this period, and the doors are the only Romanesque ones in Europe with such a programme. The designs perhaps followed a now lost cycle in an illuminated manuscript of the life of the saint, though even in this sort of works such an extended pictorial treatment of

258-418: A saint's life was unusual. Two lives of Adalbert have survived, written around 1000, soon after his death, but no illuminated copies that throw light on the visual sources for the doors, though their texts help explain the scenes. Whatever the origin of the designs, the compositions show the borrowings from more common subject compositions to which early medieval artists usually resorted when confronted with

301-524: A single piece, which was considerably more difficult than the usual technique of earlier Italian bronze doors, which used bronze relief casts fixed to a wooden core. Plain doors with no figurative decoration had already been cast whole in Germany - for example for Charlemagne 's early 9th century Palatine Chapel at Aachen , following Roman techniques preserved by the Byzantines . The Gniezo left door follows

344-436: A small amount of lead, with some fine detail being added after casting by engraving tools. The left leaf was cast in one piece, but the right was made in 24 cast sections which were then soldered together. Both the lion-headed knockers, which do not align correctly, were also cast separately and soldered. The doors of Hildesheim Cathedral , of about 1015, had pioneered the casting of a large door mostly covered with reliefs in

387-409: Is made of marble and alabaster. The altar painting from 1646 has portraits of Łubieński family members. The cathedral is a three-nave basilica-looking structure with polygonal presbytery and ambulatory and many adjacent chapels of noble and aristocratic families, some personally funded by the head of the family or the monarch of Poland. Under the tiled floor several discoveries were made; these included

430-472: Is one of Poland's national Historical Monuments ( Pomnik historii ), as designated on September 16, 1994, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland . The religious temple dates back to the end of the ninth century, when an oratory was built in the shape of a rectangular nave. At the end of the tenth century Duke Mieszko I of Poland built a new temple on a cruciform plan and remodeled

473-426: The 14th century. The Gothic arcade has the remains of 14th-century Gothic sculptural ornamentation featuring hunting scenes engraved in artificial stone and a mid-16th century renaissance polychrome. The chapel is embellished with two precious renaissance tombstones: the first was sculpted from red marble by Bartolommeo Berecci and features the reclining figure of Abp. Andrzej Krzycki (d. 1573), humanist and politician;

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516-502: The Hildesheim method. The relief is also typically much higher on the left door, as much as 75% on some figures, where few on the right door reach 25%. Around the central panels runs a decorative frieze of Mosan-style " rinceaux ", or scrolling foliage, with small figures of astrological personifications and other subjects at intervals. Adalbert had been martyred trying to convert the pagan Prussians , who are shown in some scenes, giving

559-482: The Teutonic Knights, particularly that of Johannes Falkenberg . He offered Trąba the title of cardinal as a consolation, however Mikołaj refused, not willing to become a such close servant of the new Pope, accepting in exchange the honorary title of primate of Poland (Primas Regni); since then, all archbishops of Gniezno were also primates of Poland, which elevated them above the archbishops of Lwów . In Poland,

602-579: The area. In 1931, Pope Pius XI bestowed the title of minor basilica on the cathedral. In 1939, following the invasion of Poland , the Nazis converted the temple into a concert hall. In 1945, another fire broke out which was caused by the intentional incendiary artillery shelling by the Red Army . This partially ruined the Gothic vault and consequently also the pipe organs and other historical architectural details. The city

645-618: The bottom of the left door, going upwards, then to the right door going down. Adalbert ("he") is the centre of all scenes. Miko%C5%82aj Tr%C4%85ba Mikołaj Trąba ( Polish pronunciation: [miˈkɔwaj ˈtrɔmba] ; 1358 – 2 December 1422), of Trąby coat of arms , was a Polish Roman Catholic priest, Royal Notary from 1390, Deputy Chancellor of the Crown 1403–12, bishop of Halicz 1410–12, archbishop of Gniezno from 1412, and first primate of Poland 1417–22. Born in Sandomierz , he

688-676: The candidates for papacy , although historians still debate the reliability of this information. Certainly Trąba temporarily abandoned his support for the Polish cause, supporting pro-Teutonic candidate Oddone Colonna, the future Pope Martin V against pro-Jagiełło Antipope John XXIII . This would later cause him problems in Poland, as well as his lack of criticism of the sentence on Jan Hus , which caused further questions about his loyalties in Poland and Bohemia, especially when contrasted with strong defence of Hus by Włodkowic. He also strongly criticized

731-454: The cathedral stands the golden baldachin (based on the Bernini Altar ) and beneath it the silver gilded baroque reliquary – the coffin of St. Adalbert with a wooden, probably cedar, box dating from the twelfth century covered with reliefs with the remains of the saint inside. Behind the shrine stands a red marble medieval tombstone dating from 1480 commemorating the patron. On the north side of

774-650: The cathedral. The cathedral is a Gothic building which the doors predate, having been carried over from an earlier temple. The doors were made around 1175, in the reign of Mieszko III the Old , and are one of the most important works of Romanesque art in Poland . Locating the origin of the doors has been the subject of much discussion. It is clear that their style derives from the Mosan area in modern Belgium and France. Their place of manufacture has been argued to be Hildesheim (home of

817-487: The cathedral. The elliptical cupola covering the late-baroque Potocki Chapel , designed by Pompeo Ferrari and built 1727–1730, is the most beautiful in the cathedral. The parietal tomb of Archbishop Teodor Potocki (d. 1738), who pronounced Stanisław I Leszczyński king upon the death of Augustus II the Strong , and the epitaph of Ignacy Krasicki , poet and Archbishop of Gniezno (d. 1801). The 14th-century Kołudzki Chapel

860-477: The cathedral. A few years later, Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth donated a substantial sum of money for the preservation of his tomb as well as the structure. In the year 1127 celebrations were held in the cathedral commemorating St. Adalbert. In 1175 the famous bronze Gniezno Doors were placed in the cathedral and two years later, the Duke of Greater Poland, Mieszko III the Old , visited the site. After 219 years, in 1295,

903-411: The chancel (presbytery) there is a gold-plated stool with the emblem of Primate Stefan Wyszyński and above the throne hangs the coat of arms of the present Archbishop of Gniezno. In addition, at the end of the presbytery there is a large sacrificial altar with a relief of St. Adalbert. Above the altar is a rainbow beam with a precious Gothic crucifix from linden tree dating from around 1430. The rest of

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946-464: The collapse of both towers, the star vault as well as the chancel. In the next few years the interior was completely rebuilt in classical architectural style with small elements of the now diminishing baroque style. The reconstruction was initiated by Primate Władysław Aleksander Łubieński . In 1809, the French army installed a military warehouse in the cathedral which was removed when Napoleon's troops left

989-557: The commission, perhaps easier than transporting the single piece of the left door, either in wax or bronze form, across much of Europe. At this time the Polish church had strong links with the Archdiocese of Cologne and the home area of Mosan art , which led Western European metalwork at this date. The question has not been settled by the discovery during restoration work in 1956 of partly effaced inscriptions reading "me fecit me...us", "petrus" and "bovo luitinius/latinus", probably giving

1032-516: The country in Rome as cardinals. The first appointed primate of Poland and cardinal was Mikołaj Trąba . In 1613 a fire destroyed the spires, roof and two frontal towers of the temple. Seven years later, Adam of Wągrowiec came to the cathedral to try out the newly installed pipe organs . In the years 1641–1652 Primate Maciej Łubieński conducted a reconstruction project of the interior in the baroque style. In 1760, another fire broke out which resulted in

1075-536: The creation of the manuscript Cronica conflictus Wladislai regis Poloniae cum cruciferis, Anno Christi 1410 , and promulgated the Statutes of Trąba in 1420. The statutes became an important body of legal precepts lasting for many centuries. While on a diplomatic mission to Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor , he died on 2 July 1422 in Hungary; his body was brought back to Gniezno by the knight , Jan of Tuliszków . Trąba

1118-503: The existing nave oratory. In the year 977 Duchess Dąbrówka , the wife of Mieszko I, was buried here. Before the arrival of St. Adalbert of Prague in Gniezno, Prince Bolesław I the Brave , later the first king of Poland , rebuilt the temple according to the plan of a rectangle, elevating it later to the rank of a cathedral. In the year 999 the funeral of St. Adalbert took place and later also his canonization by Pope Sylvester II . In March 1000 Emperor Otto III came to Gniezno to pray at

1161-444: The famous Bernward Doors of about 1015), Bohemia , Flanders (perhaps Liege ), or locally. Swartzenski says "design and wax model, Liege (?)" but "cast in Gniezno (?)", "soon after 1127", but this date now seems very much a minority view - it was the year when St Adalbert's head was "recovered", not having been with the initial batch of relics. Another possibility is that the artists and craftsmen were imported from further West for

1204-475: The good of his country. In 1418 Pope Martin V was elected to that office, and quickly annulled Antipope John XXIII 's papal bulls supporting Poland against the Teutonic Knights . Mikołaj and other members of the Polish delegation felt betrayed and demanded reparations, at one point forcing an entry into a papal audience. Eventually Martin condemned some of the more vocal and "anti-Polish" declarations of

1247-546: The help of queen Jadwiga of Poland he was allowed by Pope Boniface IX to undertake higher Holy Orders . He was known for his opposition to the Teutonic Knights , and become trusted advisor of the king who often would discuss his plans only with him and his cousin Vytautas the Great . Trąba accompanied the king into many battlefields, including the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, where he

1290-507: The marriage of king Jagiełło to 45-year-old Elisabeth of Pilica and criticized his rival, the Archbishop of Lwów , Jan of Rzeszów , who remained in Poland. Some speculate that his stance was motivated by a desire to become pope, and that he hoped that after his election he would be able to reverse all the damage he had caused; others, that he put the elimination of the Western Schism over

1333-422: The meaning is even less clear, but this is regarded as the less likely reading. Neither name is known in any other contexts. The left door (facing the reliefs from outside the cathedral) is 328 cm high and 84 cm wide, the right 323 cm high and 83 cm wide. Both are between 1.5 and 2.5 cm thick. They were cast in bronze using the lost wax casting technique in a mixture of copper, tin with

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1376-459: The name of the craftsman in charge of the casting. These mean "made by" ... "Peter" ..." of ? [place]", with the "luitinius" location probably referring either one the four Lutins in modern Poland (not all possible candidates at this date), or Lille in northern France not far from the Mosan region, or Lucino near Como in northern Italy. If the reading is "latinus", or "Peter the Latin made me",

1419-598: The nave consists of chairs for the faithful and a small room for church officials. Gniezno Doors The Gniezno Doors ( Polish : Drzwi Gnieźnieńskie , Latin : Porta Regia ) are a pair of bronze doors placed at the entrance to Gniezno Cathedral in Gniezno , Poland . They are decorated with eighteen bas-relief scenes from the life of St. Adalbert (in Polish , Wojciech ), whose remains had been purchased for their weight in gold and brought back to, and enshrined in ,

1462-462: The penultimate royal coronation of Prince Przemysł II took place at the Cathedral of Gniezno. Five years later, Czech prince Wenceslaus II of Bohemia forcibly entered the town and was crowned king. It was the last royal coronation held in Gniezno. In 1331, the Teutonic Knights pillaged and destroyed the temple. Ten years later, on the same site of the former cathedral, a Gothic temple was built under

1505-404: The personal supervision of Archbishop Jarosław Bogoria Skotnicki. The same Archbishop welcomed King Casimir III the Great , who donated a substantial sum of money and greatly contributed to the reconstruction of Gniezno. At the end of the fourteenth century the construction of the chancel and large nave was completed. In 1419 the archbishops of Gniezno were given the title of primate and represented

1548-411: The relics of earlier pre-Romanesque buildings and several tombs of former archbishops. In the crypt of the cathedral there is a 1006-year-old sepulchral stone inscription on display, the oldest of its kind in the country, discovered by archeologists. Other aspects of the crypt may include the remaining fragments of the walls of the first temple funded by Mieszko I of Poland. In the center of presbytery of

1591-610: The second was for Abp. Mikołaj Dzierzgowski (d. 1559), a supporter of Queen Bona Sforza , and was sculpted from sandstone and red marble by Hieronim Canavesi. There is also a round tondo with the Madonna of Giovanni Maria Padovano in the copestone. The Łubieński Chapel was created in 1642–1648 by joining two medieval chapels and restructured along early-classicist lines in 1778. The early-baroque portals from c. 1640 are made of marble and closed with renaissance grilles from Gdańsk . The early-baroque tomb of Archbishop Maciej Łubieński (d. 1652)

1634-489: The title of primate gained much importance, as the primate presided over local synods , crowned kings and even ruled if no king was present (as an interrex ). Upon his return to Poland, Trąba was faced with many challenges, among them the accusation of treason, especially from the angry nobility ( szlachta ) eventually, he succeeded in clearing his name; ironically, he was defended by his rival, whom he had criticized at Konstanz , Archbishop Jan of Rzeszów . He ordered

1677-523: The tomb of now blessed St. Adalbert. He then called the Congress of Gniezno, where Polish Prince Bolesław I the Brave and the Emperor discussed plans to create a joint kingdom of Germany, France, Rome, England and Slavic States. He initiated the creation of the Archdiocese of Gniezno and the first metropolis church in Poland, subordinate only to the pope. The first appointed archbishop was Radzim Gaudenty . In 1018

1720-633: Was one of his chief clerks and officials. Because of Jagiełło's support, he became the bishop of Halicz from 1410 to 1412, and later an archbishop of Gniezno from 1412 onwards. As the leader of the Polish delegation to the Council of Constance (1414–1418) (along with Andrzej Łaskarz , Jakub z Korzkwi Kurdwanowski , Paweł Włodkowic and Zawisza Czarny ), he was part of the larger German delegation. After they arrived in Konstanz in 1415, Trąba was, according to Ioannes Longinus , briefly considered as one of

1763-454: Was renovated in 1647 with consistent interior furnishings. The four corners of the world are personified on the mid-18th-century polychrome vault. The early-baroque portal with its 17th-century renaissance grille from Gdańsk is one of Poland's greatest blacksmithing achievements. The foundation plaque of the chapel has Szymon Kołudzki's (d. 1656), portrait, epitaph and tombstone. St. Nicholas Chapel, also known as Dzierzgowski Chapel , dates from

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1806-563: Was retaken by the Soviets without any resistance offered by the Germans. At the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, the temple was fully restored in the Gothic style and all baroque architectural elements were subsequently removed from the nave and the temple itself, giving it a more medieval look to specifically resemble the original structure present during the coronation of Polish monarchs eight hundred years earlier. On 3 June 1979 Pope John Paul II visited

1849-411: Was the son of priest Jakub of Collegiate Chapter, and was adopted into the nobility ( szlachta ). He was one of the advisors of king of Poland , Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło) , becoming his confessor in 1386 and accompanying him during the baptism of Lithuania in 1387. At court he held the titles of Royal Notary from 1390 and Deputy Chancellor of the Crown from 1403 to 1412. In 1391 with

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