There is no man in the world who is more dangerous than him - said Zdzisław, the provost of Sandomierz, about Jan Muskata in 1306. On the other hand, in the "5 Katalog biskupów Krakowowskich" publication, the bishop appears in the form of a bloodthirsty wolf with a crosier in his mouth. No clergyman in medieval Poland aroused such fear.
Jan Muskata was one of the most energetic and talented bishops of Kraków. In line with the interests of the German bourgeoisie, sought to unite Poland with the Germanizing Kingdom of Bohemia - first under the Přemyslid, then Luxembourgish.
He ruthlessly fought against the young Władysław Łokietek, and he was audacious and disrespectful towards his superior - Archbishop Jakub Świnka. His contemporaries agreed:the bishop had no moral principles.
The right hand of the Czech king
Wenceslaus II elevated his protégé to the dignity of the Bishop of Krakow. It doesn't matter if it is a request or a threat, the reason Muskata has made it.
Muskata stayed in the See of Peter for a long time. He was a gifted, knowledgeable and learned man, so the Pope entrusted him with the lucrative function of the SanFiat Collector throughout the entire Polish ecclesiastical province.
Around 1292, Muskata approached Wenceslas II and became the chaplain of the King of Bohemia. He chose his protector wisely. It was the period of the greatest successes of the Przemyślids. Wacław had just captured Lesser Poland and was slowly making his way to the coronation of the Polish king.
Faithful service to the Czech ruler quickly began to pay off. Under pressure from Wenceslaus II and reportedly not without bribing the canons Muskata was elected bishop of Krakow. Thanks to this, at the beginning of 1295, became the second person in the Polish Church , right after the archbishop of Gniezno.
As a backbone of the Czech rule, he was granted the right to fortify several towns and strategically important castles in Lipowiec and Biecz from the king of Přemysl. In this way, the entire military system was created, providing the ambitious bishop of Krakow with a powerful base of armed force.
A streak of success and a bitter taste of failure
In 1301 Wenceslaus became interested in the throne of the Arpads and sent Muskata to Hungary with the prince, future Wenceslaus III, who was to reign there. The bishop was given the title of vice-chancellor of the kingdom, along with the function of the de facto regent of Hungary. These beautiful plans failed due to pressure from Pope Boniface VIII who opposed the Czech succession in Hungary.
The Krakow Wawel was a witness of considerable disputes between its secular and clerical superior.
Muskata had to return to Lesser Poland and settle for exterminating the opposition here and then fights with Władysław Łokietek returning from exile. He was sure of his position - after all, Wenceslaus II was crowned Polish king in 1300. This is probably why Muskata did not care for the orders of the Archbishop of Gniezno, Jakub Świnka. The man, being his superior, led the canonical process against him without success. He accused Muskata of bribery, illegally taking over the episcopal see and disobeying the archbishop as the head of the Polish ecclesiastical province.
Muskata's situation in 1305 changed radically. Only 34-year-old Wacław II died unexpectedly. His immature son, Wacław III, inherited the throne, but he too quickly gave up his spirit. He died at the hand of assassins in 1306.
Who is the first to curse?
Now Władysław Łokietek has entered the decisive offensive - in 1304 he returned from exile to the country and settled in Sandomierz, and in 1306 he entered Kraków as its rightful ruler.
Wenceslaus II. A Czech king who was faithfully served by Jan Muskata.
Muskata was unable to come to terms with this development. Luck, however, turned its back on him. Archbishop Świnka took advantage of the fact that Muskata spent most of his time either in Wrocław or in the bishop's castle in Lipowiec, and first took over the management of the Krakow diocese, and then cleared the local chapter of Muskata's German supporters. He was obviously on the side of Łokietek, not the Germanized bishop.
Finally, he resumed the canonical process against Muscat. The bishop was just getting ready to curse Łokietek, but he was late because he himself was cursed and by the sentence of the archbishop of June 1308 suspended from office.
Male fame, or irrefutable evidence
Muskata was accused of a whole catalog of crimes committed during the civil war in Małopolska, which was to decide who would be the uniting of the Polish kingdom. He was accused, inter alia, of passing death sentences, encumbering church property, monasteries, desecrating cemeteries, imprisoning people in churches and holding them until they redeem.
The article was inspired by the latest novel by Elżbieta Cherezińska, "Invisible Crown" (Zysk i S-ka Publishing House 2014).
In addition to the aforementioned, the list of his crimes included plundering and destroying the country, causing scandal with a dispensation from fasting for German soldiers who were ravaging the land of Krakow, and efforts to remove Władysław Łokietek and Poles and to introduce foreigners in their place. Witnesses testified that Muskata handed his mercenaries the ax, saying:
You have the Saint key here. Peter, who will open the churches for you.
This key was to open the churches and buildings that were held by the followers of Łokietek and closed to the bishop's henchmen.
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We also know from the trial files from 1308 that Muskata:
disgraced himself with debauchery and infamy with Gerussa, daughter of the late Nowy Sącz attorney .
Which meant no more or less a blatant violation of celibacy. The dispute was close to the papal legate to Hungary and Poland of Gentilis.
Then guilty or not guilty?
On the basis of the collected evidence, Archbishop Jakub Świnka found Muskata guilty of, inter alia, trading in church dignities, murder, breaking oaths, offending majesty or extravagance of church goods. He announced that the Holy See should remove him from the episcopal dignity.
On his way, Jan Muskata could not deal with only one person - his superior Jakub Świnka.
Since he was suspended, excommunicated and banned from serving, Pig took his administration in spiritual and material matters and annulled all the grants that had been effective since Muscat had been subject to church penalties.
It cannot be denied that the trial before the archbishop's court had a political purpose - Muskata was dangerous and defiant, he wanted to overthrow the rule of Łokietek and therefore had to be removed. When the wife of Duke Władysław, the pious Duchess Jadwiga, tried to persuade Muskata to return to Lesser Poland, the bishop was to reply:
Look for another bishop and I will look for another prince and I will not return to Krakow, except with another ruler.
When the bishop finally came to Krakow at the turn of 1308 and 1309, was imprisoned by the people of Łokietek during dinner at the Dominican monastery. In the end, he promised faithfulness and obedience, admitted his guilt, undertook not to leave the diocese without the prince's consent and to release the castle in Lipowiec. Of course, the rebellious Muskata played the prince on the nose. At the first occasion, he fled and complained to the pope about the unjust sentence of Archbishop Świnka and about the rape of Łokietek. These complaints were reconsidered by the papal legate, Gentilis.
When Jan Muskata died to the great relief of Jakub Świnka and Władysław Łokietek, he was replaced by Nanker (image on the seal). The new bishop acted in the opposite way to the old one and became a promoter of Polishness.
During a trial in Bratislava from autumn 1309 to June 1310, cleared Muskata of all charges and punishments, for which he found Łokietka guilty of rape and excommunicated him, and introduced a ban on religious ceremonies in his country. However, the verdict was issued too late to reverse the course of history - Poland was basically united and Łokietek was one step away from the coronation.
Muskata triumphed, but only for a moment. He was forced to make amends for the suspensions and excommunications placed on him. He was also supposed to go to Jakub Świnka to ask for forgiveness and grace for himself and his supporters. In the end, he was defeated. Although he still dreamed of placing on the Polish throne the new Czech king, John of Luxembourg but had no tools to do so. On January 20, 1320, he reluctantly took part in the coronation of Władysław the Short. He died two weeks later.
With his Czech project for the future of Poland, the Piast project won. The question is, what would today's reality be like if Muskata emerged victorious from this dispute?
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The article was inspired by the newest novel by Elżbieta Cherezińska, "Invisible Crown" (Zysk i S-ka Publishing House 2014).