ABSTRACT
Abbot Heinrich Kresse was the last abbot of the Pomeranian Cistercian monastery in Buckow (Bukowo Morskie), which was suppressed in 1535. Approximately ten years earlier, the abbot founded an impressive altar retable for the monastic church. Its iconographical programme is a clear manifestation of the defence of monastic traditions against the fast-spreading ideas of Reformation. The invented primary source, an entry into Gesta Abbtum, is used to show the key features of the late medieval monastic culture and the role of the abbot within the community. The text is introduced with the historiographical context of the Cistercian order and specifically the history of Buckow Abbey. It is made clear which elements of the texts are invented but is based on the evidence from other monasteries. The references to real historical figures, places and objects are also indicated.
