The Bernardine Monastery and Church of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kretinga , Lithuania , is one of the oldest churches and the first monastery in Samogitia . The masonry buildings of the monastery and the church were built in 1605–1617. They were sponsored by a nobleman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , Jan Karol Chodkiewicz , on his wife's initiative, and the development of the whole town of Kretinga is directly tied to the establishment of the Bernardine monastery.
33-504: The monastery and the church were raided by the Swedish army in 1659 and again in 1710; however, the post-Chodkiewicz ruler of Kretinga – Kazimieras Povilas Jonas Sapieha – took care of repairing the buildings and renewed the altar of the church. In 1907–1912 the church was rebuilt, two side naves were annexed and a spacious masonry transept was built, as well as a new wooden tower. In the early 19th century, priests who had been condemned by
66-722: A result of its defeat in the Lithuanian Civil War . In 1768, members of the Sapieha family obtained recognition of the princely title from the Polish Sejm . After the partitions of Poland , the family appeared in the list of persons authorised to bear the title of Prince of the Kingdom of Poland in 1824. The title was recognised in Austria in 1836 and 1840, and in Russia in 1874 and 1901. In 1905,
99-485: A varying amount of money, and nobody who planned on coming back could afford to be mean. Of much smaller importance were the local, provincial chancelleries, which mostly served as archives for copies of various documents. Besides their official functions, the royal chancelleries functioned as a kind of semi-official, very prestigious schools. The officials of the chancelleries, who often started their work after their studies, after several years of work, often went forward in
132-642: A village owned in fiefdom by knights subject to the Polish Crown . Their family could be involved in the Baltic-Volga trade, as many Pomeranian families. The family descended from Ukrainian boyars subject to Lithuania. The creator of the fortune and power of the Sapieha family was the Court and Great Chancellor and Great Hetman of Lithuania, Lew Sapieha . The princely title of the Sapieha-Kodenski branch
165-717: The Grand Chancellor of the Crown between 1385 and 1795, was one of the highest officials in the historic Crown of the Kingdom of Poland . This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795. A respective office also existed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since the 16th century. Today the office of the chancellor has been replaced by that of
198-511: The Prime Minister . The Chancellors' powers rose together with the increasing importance of written documents. In the 14th century the office of Chancellor of Kraków ( Polish : Kanclerz krakowski ) evolved into the Chancellor of the Crown ( Polish : Kanclerz koronny ) and from that period the chancellor powers were greatly increased, as they became responsible for the foreign policy of
231-713: The Sejm (Parliament) session. From the 15th and 16th centuries, after the reforms of Alexander, Sigismund I and the Union of Lublin, the power and importance of the Chancellor's office was stabilised, as a senatorial office lesser than that of the hetmans (military commanders who had, however, no right to vote in the Senate) and the Grand Marshals , but more important than that of the Grand Treasurers , Court Marshal and others. By custom,
264-558: The 15th century, the Chancellor's office was split into that of the Grand Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor. The Vice-Chancellor was, however, not a subordinate of the Chancellor and his independence was specifically confirmed by the laws passed during the reign of king Alexander Jagiellon . The Sejm of 1504 confirmed the Chancellor's office as well as its powers and responsibilities for the first time, specifically stating that one person cannot hold both Chancellors' offices, and established
297-581: The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary mainly has Gothic and Renaissance features; however, Baroque characteristics are also present. In total, seven altars were created in the church during the 17th to 18th centuries, with carvings, sculptures, a decorated pulpit and painting of St. Anthony. Within the church some of the oldest organs in Lithuania can be found, which have been dated to 1774. Under
330-599: The Chancellor as the king's hand, eye and ear, translator of his thoughts and will. From 15th century onward there were two separate Chancellor offices, neither of them subordinate to the other: Grand Chancellor ( Polish : Kanclerz wielki ) and Vice-Chancellor ( Polish : Podkanclerzy ). In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, there were four Chancellors: Grand Chancellor of the Crown ( Polish : Kanclerz wielki koronny ), Grand Chancellor of Lithuania ( Polish : Kanclerz wielki litewski ), Vice-Chancellor of
363-426: The Crown ( Polish : Podkanclerzy koronny ), and Vice-Chancellor of Lithuania ( Polish : Podkanclerzy litewski ). During the times of fragmentation of Poland , each Polish prince had his own chancellor, but with the reunification of Poland , the office of Chancellor of Kraków (contemporary capital of the Kingdom of Poland) became dominant and other, local chancellors disappeared by the early 15th century. Also in
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#1732876565270396-448: The Czar of Russia settled there, along with the monks of other monasteries that had closed. However, the cultural significance of the monastery grew in the 20th century, when a modern school was built in the inter-war period: St. Anthony's Mission College, St. Anthony's Palace. At that time, the monastery had its own press and book bindery, a wealthy library and even a movie theatre; therefore, it
429-718: The Grand Chancellor of the Crown directed the Commonwealth foreign policies towards the west – Western Europe and south – Ottoman Empire , while the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania the policies towards the east – Muscovy (later, the Russian Empire ). The Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor were responsible for the work of their chancelleries , Grand and Deputy respectively. They were supposed to be in constant contact and develop common policies, since their powers were equal. They were specifically forbidden from issuing illegal and contradictory documents, and could judge any documents contrary to
462-562: The Grand Lithuanian Chancellor's office. The Lithuanian Vice-Chancellor was created later, in the mid-16th century After the Union of Lublin in 1569 there were four Chancellors (one Grand Chancellor and one Vice-Chancellor for Crown, and another pair for Lithuania). At first, the Chancellor's office was always given to an ecclesiastic person. From 1507, Sigismund I the Old decided that
495-452: The administrative hierarchy, often reaching important posts of bishops or other ecclesiastic or secular offices. Many enlightened chancellors did not restrict the positions in their staff to nobility ( szlachta ), and often sponsored intelligent applicants from other social classes, not only by hiring them to the chancellery but by paying for their studies at universities in Poland and abroad. Among
528-602: The archives – books called Metrics (Polish: Metryki ), who were taken care of by the two metricans (2 in Poland and 2 in Lithuania respectively). The Metrican of the Grand Chancellor was called the Grand Metrican, one serving the Vice-Chancellor was a Minor Metrican. The Chancellery staff had no wages, just like the Chancellors, but in the middle of each reception room was the box into which all clients were supposed to deposit
561-544: The central altar, members of the Chodkiewicz family , the founders of the church, are buried along with the Franciscan monks. Sapieha The House of Sapieha ( [saˈpʲjɛxa] ; Belarusian : Сапега , romanized : Sapieha ; Russian : Сапега , romanized : Sapega ; Lithuanian : Sapiega ) is a Polish-Lithuanian noble and magnate family of Ruthenian origin, descending from
594-499: The country. There was the Chancellor of the Queen. He had much less power than other (King's) Chancellors, he guarded the queen's seal and was the second most important official of her court, after her Court Marshall. He had no right to a seat in the Senate. Even less important were the chancellors of crown princes and princesses, first introduced around the reign of Sigismund I. Then there was
627-544: The entire Kingdom (later, the Commonwealth). The Chancellor was also supposed to ensure the legality of monarch's actions, especially whether or not they could be considered illegal in the context of pacta conventa (an early set of documents containing important laws, in some aspects resembling today's constitutions ). Finally, the Chancellor was also responsible for his office, the chancellery ( Polish : kancelaria ). A 16th-century Polish lawyer, Jakub Przybylski, described
660-427: The existing law 'irrelevant and without power'. In theory, the power of the Chancellors were equal. In practice, much depended on their personalities and political influence. Conflicts between Chancellors, while rare, when it occurred, could paralyse the entire country. This was the case during the conflict between Krzesław z Kurozwęk and Maciej Drzewicki between 1501 and 1503. Among their other responsibilities were
693-465: The family obtained the qualification of Serene Highness in Austria. The maternal grandmother of Queen Mathilde of Belgium was a Princess of the house of Sapieha. The Sapieha family used the Polish coat of arms named " Lis ". Chancellor (Poland) The Chancellor of Poland ( Polish : Kanclerz - Polish pronunciation: [ˈkant͡slɛʂ] , from Latin : cancellarius ), officially,
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#1732876565270726-415: The king died, the seal was destroyed during the funeral and a new one given to him by the succeeding king. The seal's importance gave a rise to another name for the Chancellor – the sealer (Polish pieczętarz ). Due to their important power the Chancellors were considered the guardians of the king and country, making sure a king's folly would not endanger the country by forcing it into an unnecessary war (among
759-410: The matters of foreign policy (correspondence with other countries) and to a smaller extent, internal affairs, as they had also judiciary powers, presiding over the ' assessors' courts ' (Polish: Asesoria ), that were the highest appeal courts for people subjected to crown laws (i.e. not subjected to ecclesiastic or magnates courts, but when a chancellor was an ecclesiastic person, he could judge
792-461: The medieval boyars of Smolensk and Polotsk . The family acquired great influence and wealth in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the 16th century. The first confirmed records of the Sapieha family date back to the 15th century, when Semen Sopiha ( Belarusian : Сямён Сапега ) was mentioned as a writer (scribe) of the then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania , Casimir IV Jagiellon ( Polish : Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk ) for
825-510: The most esteemed 'graduates' of chancelleries were Jan Długosz , Martin Kromer and Jan Zamoyski . The Chancellor often gave speeches representing the royal will. The symbol of their office was the seal , which was used to seal all documents passing through his office. He also sealed documents signed by the monarch and could refuse to seal a document he considered illegal or damaging to the country (such documents had no power without his seal). When
858-476: The period of 1441–49. Semen had two sons, Bohdan [ pl ] and Iwan [ pl ] . Possibly, the family of Semen Sopiha owned the village of Sopieszyno near Gdansk , which they left because of the Teutonic invasion. Sopieszyno is one of the oldest Pomeranian villages. The records have it that already in the 11th-12th centuries it was a knightly estate. It was then mentioned in 1399 as
891-525: The priests of the king's court). They could judge in various cases, with the exception of when the sides had already reached a compromise or in cases of territorial disputes. The Chancellors' offices were the chancelleries (Crown and Lithuanian respectively). Chancelleries were staffed with officials known as the chancellists (Polish: kancelista ): the regent ( regent kancelarii ), secretaries ( sekretarz in Crown) , writers ( pisarz in Lithuania, equivalent to
924-418: The secretary in Crown), archivists (Polish: archiwista), metricants (Polish: metrykant) and other clerks . The Regent divided the work between the clerks. 2 secretaries (one responsible for private correspondence , the second for official) presented prepared letters to the king for his signature. Writers designed the letters; clerks readied the final drafts . No copies were made, but were instead entered in
957-498: The title of Grand Chancellor of the Crown would be rotated between secular and ecclesiastic nobles, and at least one Chancellor (both in the Grand and Deputy pair and in the Crown and Lithuanian one after the Union of Lublin) was required to be a secular person. Chancellors, as most of the other offices in Poland and later, the Commonwealth, were nominated to the office for life by the King during
990-534: The wars prevented by the chancellors was a great crusade against the Ottoman Empire planned by King Władysław IV in the 1630s). The chancellor's powers combined with the fact that wars required funds which were given by the Senat . The nobles (the szlachta ) who controlled the Senate were usually unwilling to increase taxes and levied upon them, which meant that Poland very rarely declared wars on its own. Usually it
1023-454: Was attacked by its neighbors, and while it repelled all attacks till the end of the 18th century, it almost never utilized any of its victories. The army was undermanned and under equipped (since usually any suggestion of bigger military budget when enemy was not on the doorstep was labeled as warmongering) and lands of Rzeczpospolita were constantly ravaged by new invasions, crippling its economy. There were many less important chancellors in
Kretinga Bernardine Monastery - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-448: Was considered to be the administrative and spiritual centre for Lithuania's Franciscans. In mid-20th century, the church was damaged by the fire and was also partially damaged during World War II. Finally, the Soviet government confiscated the property and limited the church's activities. In 2008, the church building complex was declared as a state-protected cultural monument. The Church of
1089-570: Was recognized in Poland in 1572 and in Austria-Hungary in 1845, while that of the Sapieha-Rozanski line was officially acknowledged in Russia in 1880. On 14 September 1700, Michał Franciszek Sapieha had obtained the title of prince from Emperor Leopold I , but the title became extinct upon his death on 19 November 1700. That year, the family lost its dominant position in the Grand Duchy as
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