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THE RED
MONASTERY ČERVENÝ KLÁŠTOR
1330-1567
CARTESIAN
MONASTERY
The Zamagurie region, where
the Red Monastery is located, was part of the Spiš district, which became a
part of the Hungarian kingdom in the 11th century. Before the monastery was
founded, the original Slavic population had already been infiltrated by two
waves of German colonization. German economic and cultural influence had been
felt in the Spiš region down to the beginning of 20th century. In 1319, the
magistrate Kokoš, a member of a rich Spiš noble family from Brezovica,
donated around 1320 acres (535 hectares) of land from the village of Lechnica
to the Cartesians from Skala Útočišťa (The Rock of Refuge) near
Letanovce for the establishment of a monastery there. The Spiš Chapter gave
their approval for the chapter to be founded and King Charles Robert gave his
approval of the monastery's founding charter in 1320.
Prior John became the first
rector of the monastery. In 1330 he began work on the structure. The first
floor was probably meant to be build as a temporary wooden structure, which
was subsequently rebuilt from stone and brick. By the first half of the 14th
century, the Cartesians built self-standing homes from stone for the clergy.
Subsequently, church, convent and the first workshop buildings were built. The
monastery of the hermitic Cartesian order in Lechnica arose during a time when
orders were spreading throughout. From 1084, when Bruno of Cologne (who died
in 1101) established the first monastery-Grande Chartreuse-at Grenoble,
monastic orders quickly spread. In the 14th century, there were already 106
such monasteries, among them, monasteries in Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary.
The oldest monastic order in Slovakia was that of the Cartesian Order at Skala
Útočišťa, which was established in 1299. The first monks from a
monastery in Zica in Slovenia joined them in 1307. One year later, they
decided to found a second Cartesian monastery in Slovakia at Lechnica. Work
began on this structure in 1330, along the banks of the Dunajec. In 1351, the
monastery broke away from the main order and became independent. Subsequently,
it became an important religious center on the old Hungarian -Polish border.
Through donations and purchases, they acquired large tracts of land and
received important privileges, among which were fishing rights on the Dunajec,
milling rights, brewing rights and the authority to try court cases for the
locality.
The Cartesians were one of the
strictest hermitic orders. Their life in the monastic community was spent in
seclusion, in continual silence, fasting, prayer, and meditation. Guido, who
was the fifth prior at Veuka Kartusia codified the first laws of the order
in his "Consuetudines Cartusiae" (The Practices of the Cartusians),
written in 1127. It was based of the practices of St. Bruno and the rules of
the Romuald and St. Benedict orders. Veuka Kartusia was the center and
general chapter of the order. The prior of Veuka Kartusia was, at the same
time, the superior of the monastery. A superior, who was chosen for life, ran
each monastery. The entire monastery was adapted to the monks’ hermitic way
of life. The focal point of every Cartesian monastery was the church with a
paradise courtyard and a large cross passage which gave all of the monks
access o their small cottages. They lived in modestly constructed cottages and
devoted themselves to religious and spiritual worship. Lower ranking brothers
in the order performed the work in the monastery. They had a strict daily
schedule spent celebrating mass and engaging in worship, which the monks
practiced in accordance with their own rite-that of Veuka Kartusia from 11th
century. Worship was only part of the communal life in the community.
The monks all wore the same long white
habits and scapulars.
The Cartesian monasteries were well
known for their rich libraries of codices, which were
transcribed-painstakingly copied and brighten up in the seclusion of their
cottages. In fact, there never were monasteries for apprentices. Some famous
copyists came from Slovakia. The first prior Konrad in a convent at the Lapis
Refuge (1307) was, according to preserved documents known as a copyist of
uncommon ability. One of his successors, prior Jodok, a native of Vondrisel
(present day Nálepkovo), worked in the same place 100 years later in the same
position. The monks in the Lechnica monastery were surely devoted to
transcribing books. An anonymous chronicler worked in the Lechnica monastery
as well. In the library at the University of Budapest, you can still find two
codices that were transcribed by anonymous copyists in Lechnica as well as
another 30 volumes from other monasteries. Another codex originating from
Lechnica is in the possession of the Jagel Library in Krakow.
Despite the seclusion of the Cartesians, they were influenced by happenings in the outside world at the
time. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the monks were so devoted to alchemy,
astrology, and medicine that in 1462 the general chapter had to curtail their
intensive preoccupation with astrology, and in 1470 and 1507 with alchemy.
Their work in alchemy and treatments was oriented towards discovering the
elixir of life, which was supposed to cure everyone and make them happy. One
of the best known alchemists of his time, Martin Kasperborovit, worked in the
Lechnica monastery. In 1563, in fear of Protestant zealots, he packed all of
his laboratory equipment and fled to Olomouc. Andrej Smocky, an organist from
Spisska Nova Ves, preserved his knowledge about alchemy in a book of
alchemist remedies "Vade mecum et ego tecum" (Come with me and I
with you), in which he recorded alchemist symbolism and terminology in a
separate chapter devoted to monastic medicine.
Prior John from Transylvania
also eagerly kept himself occupied with alchemy in the monastery at Skala Utocista.
So much so, that he was relieved of his duties as prior for destroying all of
the property of his fellow monks in connection with his unholy activities.
In the 15th century, the
growth of the Lechnica monastery was interrupted. In 1431, Hussites from
Little Poland invaded Spis. They crossed the Dunajec, captured Spisska Stara Ves, plundered the monastery and under the leadership of the Polish
noble Dobeslav Puchala, penetrated as far as Levoca, which fell to the
invaders. In 1433, the Spis territory was the objective of the Hussite army
cavalry under the command of Jan Pardus, from Hradok and Friedrich of Straznica.
The Hussites returned to plunder the Lechnica monastery, captured Kezmarok,
destroyed the monastery in Spisský Stiavnik as well as the Cartesian
monastery at Skala utocista. 300 cavalry soldiers, 8000 foot
soldiers and 300 battle wagons participated in this expedition of carnage and
destruction. After the death of the Hungarian king Sigismund in 1437, as well
as the sudden death two years later of his son in law and successor Albrecht
of Habsburg, Hungary was jointly ruled by Ladislav Pohrobok and Vladislav
Jagelovsky. The title of property administrator and "King Ladislav's
highest defender (hajtman)" fell to the Moravian nobleman Jan Jiskra of
Brandys, who in Bohemia, had created his own garrison made up of recruited
mercenary soldiers. During this time of strife and the struggle for power in
the land, bands of robbers arose from the ranks of former Hussite warriors,
who attacked monasteries as well as the property of wealthy citizens and
nobles. In 1447 and 1448, they attacked monasteries in Spis as well.
Subsequently, more and more of Jiskra's former captains contributed to the
growth of this movement. One of their leaders, the captain of the castle at
Plavec, Peter Aksamit of Kogov, built a camp on the rocks and in the
caves at Haligovce, only 3 km from the Lechnica monastery. The brotherhood
ravaged not only the areas surrounding the camp, but nearby areas in Poland as
well. They were finally defeated and expelled in 1462 under the reign of
Matthias I (Corvinus). During this period of unrest, the monastery in Lechnica
fell to ruin, but in 1462, it was rebuilt.
In the early 16th century, it
acquired new property with vineyards at Zemplin near Szikszo, south of Kosice,
and acquired a share of the proceeds of the Kosice treaty. In 1507, the
convent bought the Richwald Settlement, mill, and the fights to beer
production. The position of the monastery was considerably weakened with the
start of the reformation as well as by the wars in Hungary following the
defeat of Louis II in the battle against the Turks at Mohacs in 1526. In
subsequent years, the monks from the monastery at Skala Utocista
found shelter at Lechnica after the people from Levoca had it destroyed
in 1543. After mercenaries from Dunajec Castle (in Niedzice in Poland) invaded
in 1545, the monks abandoned this monastery as well and fled to Poland,
Austria and Moravia. The monastery was closed in 1563 and perished in 1567
with the death of its last prior.
Many parts of the monastery have come
from the period when the Cartesians occupied the Red Monastery or have been
added based on the development of the wall foundation. The best preserved
structure from the original Gothic core of the monastery complex is the
single-nave church with two chapels which was attached to the cross passage
with the paradise courtyard. The convent has been rebuilt more than once and
thus, only part of its original structure still stands. The refectory (the
dining hall), originally the chapter hall of the convent, comes from the time
of its reconstruction in 1462. The ceiling of this room consists of a network
of Gothic arches with a large window recently created from the burned out
cavities. The inside walls of the structure were adored with artwork of scenes
from the Bible and artwork depicting scenes of the Passion. The following have
survived: Christ on the Mount of Olives, The Whipping of Christ, Christ
Carrying the Cross-and the Crucifixion. The artwork is the work of anonymous
late-Gothic painters from around 1520. The influence of the graphic artist
Albrecht Durer can clearly be seen.
Wing of the original courtyard with
gate and a cottage with vaulted ceiling comes from the period of the monastery's
reconstruction. Later, it was connected to the northeastern comer of the
convent. In the courtyard’s interior, it is possible to notice the
foundation of the crossed Gothic passageway leading to the portal in the south
wall of the church, and the walls of the monks’ cottages, which have been
preserved. The entire foundation of a three-room Cartesian cottage was
discovered during archeological excavations beneath the cottage prior to the
18th century.
1569-1710
THE MONASTERY AS SECULAR NOBLE PROPERTY
After the Cartesian monastery
was closed in 1563, the property was taken over by the Spis provost Gregor
Bomemisza. After 1569, the entire property was placed in the hands of secular
nobles. Earliest owner was the zhupan (district administrator) of Tolna, Gaspar Magoczi. Then
Stefan Tokoly owned the property and after him, Juraj
Horvath from Plavec. After his death in 1625, the king bequeathed the
monastic property to Pavol Rakoczi, who built additions to the monastery and
strengthened its fortification. The Lechnica monastery remained the property
of this important noble family until 1699, then Elizabeth Erdody-Rakoczi
sold it to the Bishop of Nitra, Ladislav Matasovsky, for 30,000 ducats.
His plan was to reestablish the Cartesian order there, but he was not able to fulfill
his plan. In 1705, the bishop bequeathed the entire monastic property to the
Camaldul Order of the Monte Corona Congregation. General Frantisek Berthoty
ruled Lechnica during the Rakoczi rebellion, the I new order didn't occupy
the monastery until 1711.
1711-1782
CAMALDUL MONASTERY OF THE MONTE
CORONA CONGREGATION
With the Camaldul Order came
a rebirth of the hermitic tradition strictly oriented to wards the community
of monks. St. Romuald of Ravenna (who died in 1027) founded the order. The
name comes from the Camaldoli monastery, which lies in the Tuscany hills at
Arezzo in Italy. Reforms carried out by the scholarly monk Paulo Giustiniani
(who died in 1528) revived the originally hermitic character of the order. His
students and followers formed the Monte Corona Congregation. It was named
after the Monte Corona monastery at Perugia, which was the seat of the
highest-ranking congregation and general chapter of the order to the end of
the 19th century. During the time of its most prolific growth, in the 18th
century, the congregation was organized into an association of 25 monasteries,
five of which (Kahlenberg, The Red Monastery, Landszer and Majk) were ruled by
a common vicar in Kahlenberg near Vienna. The Camaldi order arrived at the Red
Monastery in Lechnica in 1711. The monastery was subsequently renovated in
accordance with the needs of the order. It was rebuilt in a Baroque style. By
the middle of the 18th century, the monastery had acquired the look, which can
still be seen today. At first, the order rebuilt the hermitic monastic
cottages and renovated the convent building at Lechnica. In 1747, the
Camalduli consecrated the repaired and freshly painted St. Anton Pustovnik
church. The tower was added to the church in 1750. The entrance wing to the
monastic courtyard and a second, outer courtyard for agricultural purposes was
added in 1754. Opposite the new entrance gate, a chapel for travelers was
built and the Statue of the Holy Trinity was erected in a park along the
Dunajec. Farming and other food production was the main concern in the
monastic courtyards, which were separated from the sequestered areas of the
monks by walls. Besides an inn, stables for livestock, a wagon house, brewery,
and a malt-house were situated here. Among the other economic interests owned
by the monastery were a mill (in the southwest part of the monastery), glass
workshops in Richvald (Velka Lesna), Relovo and Lesnica and
"smelters" on the Dunajec. All around the monastery as well as in
the gardens near the cottages, the monks grew crops, root plants, and
medicinal herbs. Later, they paid for fishing rights on the Dunajec, which
brought a welcome abundance of food to the monastery.
In 1754, the Camalduli founded a
pharmacy on the first floor of the convent. From 1756 to 1775, Brother Cyprian,
a famous surgeon, doctor, and pharmacist ran the pharmacy. Through his work,
the pharmacy became known throughout the area. His most significant work is
his "Herbarium," written in 1766, in which he catalogued 272
different kinds of herbs and herbal plants from Pieniny and the Tatras. The
names of the plants were recorded in four languages: Greek, Latin, German, and
Polish. He also described the medicinal properties of some of them. Brother
Cyprian, whose real name was Francis Ignac Jaschke (1724-1775) was born in
Polkovice in Silesia. He was an well-educated man for his time-an expert in a
thousand crafts. He was involved in medicine, botany, pharmacology and alchemy
as well as mechanics and cosmology. It is even said that he had constructed a
flying machine and flew it in the vicinity of the monastery. An independent
pharmaceutical exposition dedicated to the memory of Brother Cyprian has been
erected in one of the preserved monastic cottages.
Another important personality in the
life of the Lechnica monastery was Father Romuald Hadbavny (1714-1780), a
native of the Spis town of Machalovce, spiritual pastor, administrator and
archivist of the convent. He oversaw the first complete translation of the
Bible into Slovak under the title "Svate biblia slovenské aneb Pisma
svateho" (The Slovak Holy Bible or The Holy Scriptures) in two volumes.
Hadbavny is also credited with writing a manuscript for a Latin-Slovak
dictionary "Syllabus dictionari latino slavonicus" in 1763. Also
from his pen came translations of religious songs from the French Benedictine
mystic Louis Blosia into Slovak. Hadbavny's works are among the most splendid
of 18th century Slovak literature and philology. They are the products of a
tireless spirit who paved the way for the common people in Slovakia to become
better acquainted with the Bible and religion.
In 1754, a special "profesorium"
was established in the Lechnica monastery - a technological school for members
of the order. It was in operation in the monastery until 1772, when the school
was moved to Majk. Thanks to its clean air, peaceful, undisturbed surroundings
and, most of all, to its famous doctors, the monastery became a center for old
and ill monks until it was closed.
Like the Cartesians, the Camalduls
followed very strict rules. The monks lived in seclusion in a strictly closed
part of the monastery in individual cottages separated by gardens. Cottages
traditionally were built on a rectangular foundation, had four rooms with a
central hall, cellar, and a door to the garden. They contained an oratory,
dormitory (modest living quarters and a bedroom), laboratory (a workshop for
manual labor according to the abilities of the monk) and a cellar (woodsheds
and shared equipment). In these cottages, a hermit lived in silence, prayed,
meditated, worked, and slept. In keeping with his way of life, he dressed in a
plain white habit and stuck to a modest fish and vegetable diet. His strict,
daily regimen included time for his personal activities and community worship,
which began before sunrise and ended in the evening hours. The inner courtyard
of the monastery including the monastic cottages, all of which were left to
ruin after the order was abolished, has been reconstructed based on
archeological research. The result of this research along with the memorials
dedicated to the monastic culture in the monastery is open to the public in
the exposition in the prior's cottage.
SINCE 1782 THE MONASTERY AS
CHURCH AND STATE PROPERTY
Emperor Joseph II reforms of
1782 abolished all religious orders and their monasteries, from which he was
able to realize a discernible profit. The property and all the buildings on it
became the property of the state and were placed under the administration of a
religious trust. The royal commissioners sold the church altar to a church in
Muszyn. The monastic archive and library were dispersed. Most of it ended up
in Budapest. The monastery remained the property of the state until 1820, when
Emperor Franz Joseph I donated it to the newly created Greek Orthodox diocese
in Presov, which first of all, set out to preserve the buildings that could
serve some economic purpose. The original plan to build a hospital in the
monastery was never carried out. They did create the modest Smerdzonka spa
(today, it is the Red Monastery Spa) near the source of a sulfur spring not
far from the monastery. The growth of tourism in the area in the late 19th
century brought the Red Monastery out of isolation and it became a
sought-after tourist attraction. The monastery caught fire in 1907 and entered
a state of decay. Reconstruction work on the convent did not begin until after
the First World War. The Slovak Tourist and Ski Club in Presov assisted by
the state and the Spis Historical Society fixed the roof of the church and of
some other buildings and renovated two of the monastic cottages. Systematic
reconstruction of the entire monastic complex, heavily damaged during the
Second World War, was completed between 1956 to 1966. The monastery, with its
first museum exhibition, was opened to the public on June 5, 1966. Due to the
on going and tedious reconstruction work in its interior and for safety
reasons, the church is currently not open to the public. A part of the rare
Baroque sculpture work from the main altar of the church is on temporary
display in a new exhibit which was prepared in 1993 by the East Slovak Museum
in Kosice.
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TO SLOVAKIA'S CASTLES
Published in the
Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 7, No. 1, Spring 1999
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1999
3804
Yale Street, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5C 1P6
The above article and photographs may not be copied,
reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic,
without the express written permission of
Vladimir
Linder. All rights
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