Patronizing the holy body of a martyr: the cult of Josaphat Kuntsevych from the "loca sancta" aspect

Straipsnyje remiantis hagiografinio ir istorinio pobūdžio XVII-XVIII a. rašytiniais šaltiniais, siekiama atskleisti dėmesio ir pagarbos kankinio kūnui svarbą jo kulto formavimesi. Naujomis faktografinėmis detalėmis iliustruojamas kai kurių LDK didikų (ypač Kazimiero Leono Sapiegos ir Karolio Stanislovo Radvilos) vaidmuo puoselėjant šj kultą. Straipsnyje nušviečiama potridentinė kankinystės ir šventojo kūno samprata, aptariamas palaimintojo vyskupo Juozapato Kuncevičiaus relikvijų gerbimas, jo kultas loca sancta aspektu.The article, referring to written sources wich provide testimony of the cult of the Polotsk Bishop Josaphat Kuntsevych, reconstructs the concept of the martyrs body and elucidates the history of its cult in the GDL during the i7th-i8th century. The article looks into documental descriptions of the dead martyrs body which are characterised by their horrific realism, and the symbolic interpretations of the body that are especially expressive in Andrzej Młodzianowskis book of emblems Icônes Symbolicae vitae et mortis b. Josaphat martyris... (Vilnius, 1675). Such varying "depictions" of the martyrs body resound with the dual conception of the body that was adopted from christologic medieval theology. According to this belief, corpus principale (the only one, personal and factual body) and corpus mysticum (the communal and perpetual body, the obverse of the natural body) exist and interact in parallel. This conception of a dual body, so distinct in the texts of a hagiographie and historical nature, is also recognizable in the visual representations of the martyrs body, and in the monuments that directly mount the relics. The concept of a temporary and perpetual, factual and symbolic body is distinct in the structures of Polotsk sarcophagus (1646-1650) and the reliquary of Vilnius Cathedral (1712). To illuminate the 17th -18th century development of the martyrs cult from the aspect of loca sancta, the article analyses the foundation made by Casimir Leo Sapieha for the aforementioned sarcophagus of the Polotsk Bishop that was described in hagiographie works by Jakub Susza and Stanislaus Kosinski. The article describes the context of 1705-1764 patronage made for the martyr's remains in the manor of the Great Chancellor of the GDL Karol Stanislaus Radziwiłł in Biala by interpreting the material of Radziwill's diary from such an aspect for the first time. The third episode of this subject to be covered in the article is the bringing of the martyrs remains to Vilnius in 1667-1668, after they had been hidden in various towns of the GDL during the period of the war with Moscow. The miracles of the martyr that took place (by the body of the Saint in the Basilian church and in the capital itself after the visit of the Blessed martyr was over) during the ceremonial transmission of this remains were described by S. Kosinski in his Golden Crown