On the case of functioning of the administrators of the city at the hospital of The Holy Spirit in Cracow

Abstract

Stanisław Piekarczyk, over half a century ago, carried out research on the issue of city administrators at the hospital of The Holy Spirit in Cracow. By analyzing most of the available source material, mainly created by local urban authorities, he has painted a picture of a role of the representatives of the Cracovian councilors which they had played in the management of the hospital properties. In accordance with the Stalinist historiography, he has placed emphasis on the participacion of the townsfolk in the organization of the social welfare in the medieval Cracow, marginalizing thus role of the Orden of Canons Regular of the Holy Spirit de Saxia. However, looking closer at the issue, we can notice that not all of the Piekarczyk’s theses can be fully defended when confronted with the sources provided by the monastery, especially the modern ones, which present the role of the city in the management of the hospital properties in a different light. Moreover, his focus merely on the Middle Ages, which resulted in disregarding of early modern agreement between the monastery and the council, has led him to partially wrong conclusions.
It is hard to determinate the range of competence of the Cracovian councilors in the management of the hospital of the Holy Spirit, especially since it was under constant evolution since the fire in 1528, at which time the office of the administrators was definitively established in return for the help of the city in the reconstruction of the building complex of the Order of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, two periods of the functioning of the city administrators were specified: from 1324 to 1528 and after 1528. This article focuses on triangular relationship between the city, the hospital and the monastery. In this article an attempt was made to see in what extent the monastery was involved in the management of the hospital, and in what extent the city.
After analyzing the source material, we can say that till 1528 the city council, defined as “caretaker of the sick” in the documents, has been choosing the administrators who were handling estates in the name of the council. However, they were supervising only those properties, which have been directly given to the councilors to manage, while they didn’t have any influence on the management of the hospital. After 1528, the city council definitively took control over the management of the hospital to such a degree that the Order of the Holy Spirit had no influence on the decision-making. At that time there occurred a conflict between the Order and the administrators, who were proven to be guilty of embezzlement of the hospital properties. However, the monks remained in the hospital as the organizers of the spiritual care. They have also supervised ongoing activities in the orphanage located by the hospital.

medieval hospitals