Długoszowy żywot biskupa krakowskiego Iwona Odrowąża

Abstract

DŁUGOSZ’S BIOGRAPHY OF THE KRAKÓW BISHOP IWO ODROWĄŻ

The present study is a source analysis of the biography of Bishop Iwon Odrowąż in Katalog biskupów krakowskich [“The Catalogue of Kraków Bishops”] by Jan Długosz, in the context of all the information about him contained in Długosz’s Roczniki [Annuals] and Liber beneficiorum dioecesis Cracoviensis. The author attempted to identify the sources of specific information about Iwon’s life and work collected and used in these works. He found out that Długosz used a variety of sources of biographical data concerning Iwon Odrowąż, including his official documents, Rocznik kapituły królewskiej [“The Annual of the Kraków Chapter”], Żywot św. Jacka [“The Life of St. Hyacynht”] by Stanislaw, a Kraków lector, the original source (so called archetype) of the V Katalog biskupów krakowskich [“The Fifth Catalogue of the Kraków Bishops”] by an anonymous author from the circle of Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki, a lost Dominican chronicle from the first half of the 13th century, probably written by Marcin [Martin] of Sandomierz, as well as various documents from Małopolska monasteries and other unrecognised medieval records. The author emphasised the significant influence of the archetype of “The Fifth Catalogue of the Kraków Bishops” on Długosz’s biography of Iwon. The author confirmed the reliability of much of the information on the life and work of Bishop Iwon cited by Długosz. Finally, he described the almost exemplary image of Iwon Odrowąż as a bishop of Kraków emerging from Długosz’s works.