Negotiations of power in a medieval society: Ecclesiastical authority and secular rulership in little Poland, 1177--1320

This dissertation reconstructs the strategic aims and tactical methods of negotiating power by episcopal leaders of the Polish bishopric of Krakow between 1177 and 1320. It explains the mechanism of securing ecclesiastical privileges in an era of emerging regional lordships and provincial centers of authority. The interdependence of ecclesiastical and secular instruments of episcopal power forced the bishops to constantly negotiate their status with three agents of public power: territorial secular rulers, episcopal peers and the papacy.;The dissertation demonstrates that the unique methods of securing power by the bishops of Krakow were the product of a particular combination of local circumstances and general pan-European currents that affected Krakow's status in the hierarchy of public power. These included competition within the Polish episcopal hierarchy, the influx of ecclesiastical reforms favoring papal centralization, dynamic economic expansion and the gradual transfer of the attributes of public authority to ecclesiastical courts during unstable ducal rulership. The bishopric's major objective in public discourse was the appropriation of effective instruments of enforcing power in both the ecclesiastical and secular dimensions.;In the course of exercising decisive leadership, the bishops of Krakow defended the elevated status of their see by obtaining concrete juridical rights and stressing religious patronage. Despite ideological pressure to confront lay leaders over ecclesiastical liberties, the bishopric favored a strong and stable secular authority. The recognition of the bishopric as a reliable ally by competing dukes led to the rise of the see's incipient military force. The bishops were able to exercise seigneurial powers in select districts, but these were never consolidated into a large sovereign territory.;The study illuminates the mechanisms of negotiating power between leading institutional authorities during the High Middle Ages, as well as the rise of privileged churches on the eastern fringes of Latin Europe despite their failure to create episcopal principalities. It also traces the distinct course of power relations in a large Polish province and demonstrates how the practical implementations of the ideas of the liberated church and clerical leadership depended on specific local circumstances and the personal qualities of individual bishops.