Inventory of the parish church of Chełmno and its library in the 15th century

Abstract

This article presents the edition of the hitherto unknown inventory of Chełmno’s parish church and the register of the book collection of the parish church library of the 15^th century to be found in the City Book of Chełmno – the cartulary of privileges and documents established by the notary Konrad Bitschin in 1431. The source shows the library of Chełmno’s parish church as the centre of culture in the Chełmno of the 15^th century. It allows us to compare the three preserved registers of book collections of medieval Chełmno: the collection of the Franciscan monastery of the 13^th century, the collection of the parish church library and the register of the library of the Brethren of the Common Life of the end of the 15^th century. They come from different periods of time and reflect the changes in spiritual life, theology and research interests of the contemporary intellectuals of Chełmno. While the book collections of the Franciscans and the parish church reflect the spirit of the medieval Scholasticism or nominalism, the publications of the Brethren of the Common Life harbinger the Renaissance The titles provided by the city’s notary allow us to identify and spot fundamental works of medieval theology, liturgy, history and philosophy.