Since the beginning of 18th century and especially during the Great Northern War, the convent of st. Clare was bearing many expenses in order to maintain Polish and foreign (the Saxon, Swedish, Russian, and Prussian) armies. Additionally, there were the costs of war contributions and also buyouts of the equipment, food, horses, cattle, and people arrested or confiscated during the marches of separate troops through the villages belonging to the nuns. At the outbreak of Kościuszko Uprising (24th March 1794) the Clarisses were dutifully performing all recommendations of the insurgent authorities, related with financial support of this patriotic spurt: they have equiped the recruit for the equestrian militia ensuring him clothes, tacked up horse, weapons, the wage; additionally, they have provided people for defense and also prepared bandages. Especially painful for them was the requisition (in the form of a loan) of silver, mostly in the form of valuable liturgical equipment, which they have never recovered. After the fall of Cracow (15th June 1794) the sisters were forced to keep the Prussian troops that were stationed in the city.
The Kościuszko Uprising began on 24 March 1794, quickly turning into a national uprising against the partitioning powers. From the very beginning of the uprising its leaders called for donations for the army, addressing the call not only to the laity but also to the clergy. Despite people’s generosity, the commander of the uprising, Tadeusz Kościuszko, issued an order of requisition of silver kept in churches. The bodies responsible for enforcing the decree were order commissions established in various administrative units free from the enemy troops. The present article examines the work of the Grodno District Order Commission with regard to the requisition of church silver. The source edition is based on three documents kept in the Central Archives of Historical Records in Warsaw in the fonds Nabytki niedokumentowe Oddziału I [Undocumented Acquisitions of Department I] no. 110, part II. They are: Copy for the Board of the Grodno Commission issued to persons delegated to collect church silver of 24 May 1794; Register of church silver of the Parish Church in Suwałki made in the presence of commissioners delegated for the purpose of 10 June 1794; Register of church silver of the Wigry monastery of the Camaldolese Fathers made in the presence of commissioners delegated for the purpose of 17 June 1794. The published documents can expand the existing body of knowledge of the requisition of church property for the uprising. The scale of this enterprise is not yet fully known to historians of art owing to a lack of sources. This makes isolated surviving relics of that campaign all the more important, relics like the documents published above or accounting books. However, the vagueness of descriptions of the requisitioned objects prevent us from following their subsequent fate.
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