Dokumenty Komisji Porządkowej Powiatu Grodzieńskiego dotyczące rekwizycji sreber kościelnych kamedułów z Wigier na potrzeby powstania kościuszkowskiego

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.