2022/11/23 by Saczyńska-Vercamer, Monika
#FOS: History and archaeology
paper · doi:10.25536/20220905
The town hall was modelled on the castles of rulers. It imitated not only their internal features, but also certain elements of their interior order and character. The chapel belonged to such elements. The locating of a sacral space within the seat of power legitimized this power. It also raised its prestige as both coming from God and being sanctified by God. With the example of Cracow town hall, we can observe that the councillors used the privilege of a portable altar (obtained at the end of the 14th century) in order to create their chapel. They used the same strategy of ‘building’ a chapel within their seat of governance as had the knights of Lesser Poland at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries for a similar purpose. The portable altar as a fixed altar was an additional element distinguishing the receivers of this spiritual favour. The liturgy performed on it – similar to the liturgy in private chapels, which included the chapel in the town hall – was not to replace the Sunday mass of obligation, but was used for pious practices.