HOLY ORDERS OF MONKS IN THE PLOCK DIOCESE OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE 16TH CENTURY (Swiecenia zakonnikow w diecezji plockiej w pierwszej polowie XVI wieku)

Information about ordinations of monks in the Plock diocese in the first half of the 16th century come from the „Metrica' of suffragan bishop Piotr Lubart from the years 1514-1530. It notes 278 cases of ordaining monks to lower and higher orders. In all, 195 monks from nine monastic orders received such ordinations from the hands of the bishop. The largest group of brethren that were ordained came from the mendicant orders (especially Dominicans and Observant Franciscans). It took them from a few weeks to several months to receive all kinds of higher orders. The Plock „Metrica' of ordained contains also some dozen cases when monastic superiors included provisions for ordination of members of lay clergy.