Culture of Medieval Poland - Early Centuries (10-12th)

Early Centuries (10-12th)

The christianization of the Kingdom of Poland (baptism of Poland) led, as in the rest of Europe, to the supplementation of previous pagan Slavic mythology-based culture Polanie with new Christian culture of the Kingdom of Poland under the Piast dynasty. Around the 12th century, the ecclesiastical network in Poland was composed of about one thousand parishes grouped in eight dioceses.

The new customs spread as the Church also acted as the state's educational system. Church run schools with Latin trivium (grammar, rhetoric, dialectic) and quadrivium (mathematics, geometry, astronomy, and music) and was helped by various religious orders which established monasteries throughout the countryside. By the end of the 13th century, over 300 monasteries existed in Poland, spreading Catholicism and Western traditions: for example, the first Benedictine monasteries built in the 11th century in Tyniec and Lubin spread new Western agricultural and industrial techniques.

Another powerful tool employed by the Church was the skill of writing. The Church had the knowledge and the ability to make parchments, and scribes created and copied manuscripts and established libraries. Thus the earliest examples of Polish literature were written in Latin. Among them were the Gospels from Gniezno and Płock, Codex aureus and Codex aureus Pultoviensis, dating from around the late 11th century. Other notable examples of early Polish books include the Bishop Ciołek's Latin Missal and Olbracht's Gradual. Also famous are the chronicles of Gallus Anonymus and Wincenty Kadłubek.

While folk music did not disappear during this time, relatively little of the early Polish music is known. Musical instruments, commonly homemade (e.g., fiddles, lyres, lutes, zithers, and horns) were used. The Gregorian chorales and monodic music appeared in Polish churches and monasteries at the end of the 11th century.

The architecture of Poland was also transformed. Over one hundred buildings have survived which provide a testament to the popularity of the new, monumental style of Romanesque architecture. The style was influenced by Cologne, particularly early on. Among those is the Crypt of Saint Leonard at Wawel Hill in Kraków and the Cathedral of Płock, built in 1144. Many similar churches from that era, usually round or square with semicircular apses, can be found throughout Poland, in towns like Ostrów Lednicki or Giecz. Another example is the brick Church of St. Jacob in Sandomierz, founded in 1226 by Iwo Odrowąż and built by his nephew St. Jacek Odrowąż (its campanille however was built in early Gothic style in the 14th century). At the Cathedral in Gniezno is an important example of Romanesque art, the bronze Gniezno Doors (ca. 1175). It is recognized as the first major work of Polish art with a national theme. Their relief depicts eighteen scenes of the life and death of Saint Adalbert.