 Reference Base  Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604), Bishop Stanislaw of Crac... |
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Figurski, P., 2024. Pope Gregory the Great (d. 604), Bishop Stanislaw of Cracow (d. 1079), and the Unbound Rhinoceros. In: Zupka, D. (ed.), Continuity and Change in Medieval East Central Europe. Routledge, pp. 1-15 (chapter 10)
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Museums |
| Subject: |
History |
| Species: |
Indian Rhino |
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This chapter focuses on a turbulent episode when the imagery of the rhinoceros played a significant symbolic role in early medieval Poland. In particular, a prayer from the 11th-century Pontifical from Cracow references the animal in a context that could have contributed to the rebellion against King Boles?aw II. In this chapter, I explain the provenance and dating of the manuscript that contains the rhinoceros prayer to place this too-often-overlooked source in the context of the crisis that led to the expulsion of Boles?aw II from Poland. Next, I ponder the possible functions of the liturgical text for one of the adversaries of the King. Finally, I pinpoint the unnoticed hermeneutic circle in which it is necessary to interpret the liturgical prayer in the series of events that led to the fall of the anointed monarch in 1079. Overall, this paper aims to provide a deeper understanding of the symbolism of the rhinoceros in the Pontifical of Cracow and its possible role in a significant political crisis in early medieval Poland.
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