ABSTRACT
Although there was no formally established Lutheran community with its own church and minister in Cracow, the capital city of the kingdom of Poland, there were nonetheless traces of an embryonic religious confession during the early decades of the sixteenth century. e term ‘Lutheran’ itself is usually found as an extraneous designation, for example in charges of ‘heresy’, and as a result accusations of Lutheranism were renounced by the majority of the defendants. ere were people however, who challenged the Catholic Church and its priesthood, the sacraments, the cult of saints and Mary, the existence of purgatory; they questioned the real presence of Christ in the host, the ecacy of confession and the prayers for the dead. In doing so, they were drawing upon Luther and Melanchthon for their arguments. Some of them preached in line with the Protestant doctrine or listened to such sermons, some read Luther’s writings, others studied in Wittenberg, met German reformers or corresponded with them. ese people formed a group or functioned as a network within the city; they found ways to accommodate themselves within the religious world of Cracow. is essay will therefore examine the spatial dimensions of the accommodations reached by this Lutheran community. Even though ultimately there was no Lutheran parish church in Cracow, these co-religionists did establish places where they could gather together for various religious activities and adopted strategies seeking to redene the sacred topography of the town.
