IInd Congress of Polish Heraldry – “Heraldry and Religion” (Warsaw, 20-21 April 2023)

Posted on by Principal Secretary

Placed under the honorary patronage of the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage, the IInd Congress of Polish Heraldry – “Heraldry and Religion” (Warsaw, 20-21 April 2023) was hosted by the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw.

Due to the absence of 4 speakers it was decided to shorten the Congress to two days (out of three which were initially planned), however the division into thematic blocks was left intact.

In relation to the tradition of the first Congress, the event started with an award ceremony. The “Adam Heymowski Prize” was established in 1995 by the Polish Heraldic Society and it commemorates the patron, who was a leading heraldist, sociologist and librarian, member of the Académie Internationale d’Héraldique and a honorary member of Polish Heraldic Society. The awards are granted for outstanding books which were published in the antecedent year. Prizes from four years were given this year, since there was no possibility to present the awards due to the pandemic period.

For the year 2020, the awards were presented to Marek Adamczewski for Sfragistyka państwowa i samorządowa II Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Geneza niektórych rozwiązań prawnych [State and local heraldry of Second Polish Republic. Origin of some legal solutions], Warszawa 2019 and to Marek Wójcik for Pieczęcie rycerstwa śląskiego w dobie przedhusyckiej [Seals of Silesian knights in pre-Hussite times], vol. 1-2, Kraków-Wrocław 2018.

There was no award granted for 2021.

For the year 2022 only a distinction was presented to Maciej Woźny for [Knights of Duchy of Opole until the mid-fifteenth-century], Katowice 2020.

For the year 2023, the award was presented to Edward Gigilewicz for Heraldyka Episkopatu Polskiego w czasach PRL [Heraldry of Polish Episcopacy in Polish People’s Republic], Lublin 2022 and two distinctions for Jakub Rogulski for Insignia ducalis splendoris. Splendor rodziny książąt Sanguszków i środki jego manifestacji od XV do XVIII wieku [Insignia ducalis splendoris. Splendour of the Sanguszko family and medium of their manifestation from the 15th to 18th century], Kraków 2022 and to Krzysztof Pietkiewicz and Marian Wolski-Wołkowicz for Meysztowiczowie herbu Rawicz do początku XIX wieku [Meysztowicz family until the beginning of 19th century], Kraków 2021.

Then the main part began, the majority of lectures being presented in Polish and only two final lectures in English. The discussion was conducted after each lecture.

In the first part, “General issues”, two lectures were provided:

  • Marek CETWIŃSKI – “Dowolne hipotezy każdy stawiać potrafi”. Heraldycy polscy w poszukiwaniu symboli religijnych” ( = “Everyone Can Just Loosely Hypothesize”. Polish Heraldists in Search for Religious Symbols);
  • Przemysław MROZOWSKI – “Herb średniowieczny jako medium w sferze sacrum” (= Medieval Coat of Arms as a Medium of Sacrum).

In the second part, “Coats of arms of bishops and their dioceses”, four of the five previously planned lectures were provided:

  • Adam ŻUREK – “Recepcja herbów biskupów i biskupstw polskich w średniowiecznych i wczesnonowożytnych źródłach zachodnioeuropejskich” ( = Reception of Polish Bishops and Episcopal Sees in Western European Medieval and Early Modern Sources);
  • Maciej KOSSOWSKI – “Wielopolowy herb Michała Stefana Radziejowskiego manifestem ambicji i pozycji politycznej kardynała i prymasa Polski” ( = Complex Coat of Arms of Michał Stefan Radziejowiski as a Manifest of Ambitions and Political Position of the Cardinal and Primate of Poland);
  • Sławomir GÓRZYŃSKI – “Herby biskupów rzymskokatolickich w Galicji 1772-1918” ( = Coats of Arms of Roman Catholic Bishops in Galicia 1772-1918);
  • Paweł DUDZIŃSKI – “Heraldyka szlachecka w herbach polskiego episkopatu po reorganizacji struktur Kościoła katolickiego w Polsce w 1992 r.” ( = Heraldry of Nobility in Coats of Arms of Polish Episcopacy after the Reorganization of Catholic Church in Poland in 1992).

In the third part, “Varia”, two lectures were provided:

  • Tomisław GIERGIEL – “Zbiory heraldyczne w Muzeum Diecezjalnym «Dom Długosza» w Sandomierzu” ( = Heraldic Collection in Diocesan Museum „House of Długosz” in Sandomierz);
  • Edward GIGILEWICZ – “Problematyka heraldyczna w «Encyklopedii katolickiej»” ( = Heraldic Elements in “Catholic Encyclopaedia”).

At the end of the first day, a gala dinner was offered to the participants.

In the fourth part, “Heraldic texts through the eye of literary scholar and historian”, five lectures were provided:

  • Bartłomiej CZARSKI – “Symboliczne i panegiryczne interpretacje herbów polskich dostojników kościelnych na przykładzie stemmatów z początku XVI wieku” ( = Symbolic and Panegyric Interpretations of Coats of Arms Used by Polish Church Dignitaries on the Example of Heraldic Poems (“Stemmata”) from the Beginning of the 16th Century);
  • Aleksandra OSZCZĘDA – “Krzyż w tarczy litewskiej Pogoni. Formowanie się legendy herbowej w polskim piśmiennictwie historycznym i heraldycznym 2 połowy XVI wieku. Dwugłos heraldyka i filologa” ( = A Cross in Lithuanian “Pogoń”. The Development of a Heraldic Legend in Polish Historical and Heraldic Texts of the Second HHHalf of 16th Century);
  • Barbara MILEWSKA-WAŹBIŃSKA – “Cytaty i parafrazy biblijne w dziele heraldycznym Szymona Okolskiego Orbis Polonus. Rekonesans” ( = Biblical Quatations and Paraphrases in Szymon Okolski’s Orbis Polonus. A Reconnaissance);
  • Iwona DACKA-GORZYNSKA – “Między sacrum a profanum – panegiryk herbowy dla Jana Tarnowskiego (1585?-1669) na objęcie arcybiskupstwa lwowskiego” ( = Between Sacrum and Profanum: a Heraldic Panegyric for Jan Tarnowski (1585?-1669) for Becoming Archbishop of Lviv);
  • Agnieszka ŻUREK – “Drzewo życia. Ze studiów nad heraldyką w literaturze fantasy” ( = Tree of Life. A Study about Heraldry in Fantasy Literatury).

In the fifth part, “Religious elements in municipal heraldry”, three of the four previously planned lectures were provided:

  • Marek ADAMCZEWSKI – “Karp, szczupak czy tilapia złota («ryba św. Piotra»). Uwagi o gatunkowej i w istocie o symbolicznej identyfikacji ryby w znaku miejskim Górzna” ( = A Carp, a Pike or a Tilapia (“Saint Peter’s Fish”)? A Few Remarks about Specific and Symbolic Identification of a Fish in the Coat of Arms of Górzno Town);
  • Artur GÓRAK – “Przemoc symboliczna Imperium Rosyjskiego wobec symboliki katolickiej w herbach miast Królestwa Polskiego” ( = A Symbolic Violence of Russian Empire against Catholic Symbolics in Municipal Coats of Arms in Congress Kingdom of Poland);
  • Łukasz KOREMBA – “Funkcje symboli i przedstawień świętych w treści komunikatu pieczęci i herbów miejskich w Księstwie Pomorskim” ( = Functions of Attributes and Representations of Saints in Municipal Seals and Coats of Arms in the Duchy of Pomerania).

In the sixth part, “Monastic heraldry”, 1 of the 2 previously planned lectures was provided:

  • Tomasz KAŁUSKI – “Heraldyka cysterskich klasztorów na Dolnym Śląsku w średniowieczu i czasach nowożytnych” ( = Heraldry of Cistersian Monasteries in Lower Silesia in Medieval and Early Modern Era).

In the seventh part, “Religious heraldry between denominations”, three of the four previously planned lectures were provided:

  • Vitaliy PERKUN – “Pieczęcie herbowe duchowieństwa prawosławnego na Ukrainie Prawobrzeżnej XVI-XIX w.” ( = Heraldic Seals of Orthodox Clergy in Right-Bank Ukraine between 16th and 19th Century);
  • Jovan JONOVSKI – “Catholic and Protestant Ecclesiastic Heraldry in Macedonia”;
  • Ivan NACEVSKI – “Religious orthodox emblematics in Macedonian heraldry”.

We plan to issue the complete Congress proceedings at the beginning of the next year. Apart from 20 papers which were spoken during the Congress three of the four papers which were not spoken (as the authors could not attend due to force majeure reasons) should be included: Piotr DYMMEL – “Herby biskupów lubelskich. Od godła rodowego do znaku religijnego” ( = Coats of Arms of Bishops of Lublin. From a Family Charge to a Religious Sign); Agnieszka GUT – “Treści religijne we współczesnej heraldyce samorządowej województwa zachodniopomorskiego” ( = Religious Elements in Contemporary Civic Heraldry in West Pomeranian Voivodeship); Andrij GRECZYLO – “Kształtowanie się współczesnego systemu heraldycznego Ukraińskiej Cerkwi Greckokatolickiej” ( = The Development of Contemporary Heraldic System of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church).

The organizers would like to stress that the Congress was entirely financed by the Polish Heraldic Society from its own resources (external financing was not granted and we did not charge the speakers as it could have negatively affected the frequency). It was possible only thanks to good financial management of the Society.