Uwagi na temat siedemnastowiecznych fundacji ołtarzowych w kościele pw. św. Jana Chrzciciela i św. Jana Ewangelisty w Toruniu

In 1596 the Church of SS. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in Torun, regained from the hands of Protestants, was passed over to Jesuits to spread Catholicism in the city. Jesuits used all possible methods to do it; one of them was to influence people through art. Torun’s Jesuits started the process of changing the interior of the church, involving all social groups in the task. Members of Societatis Jesu, both closely connected with Torun and not related to the city, gave substantial sums of money to finance the altars. New fittings were founded by diocese priests connected with the parish Church of SS. Johns, e.g. the main altar, presented in 1633, was created thanks to Walenty Szczawinski – holding the function of the parish priest, who convinced his brother, the castellan of Brest and Kuyavia, to contribute. The next group of founders were representatives of the nobility from Royal Prussia, such as Ludmiła Niemojewska nee Lubieńska and Fabian Plemięcki, who financed the construction of the whole altars and provided regular material support to Torun’s Jesuits, the parish Church of SS. John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, and other churches from the area. A significant contribution of burghers to the process of fitting churches was typical of Royal Prussia. Protestant churches were full of epitaphs of patricians’ families, whereas Catholic burghers, although less a fluent, devoted large sums of money to liturgical equipment – e.g. the altar of the Descent from the Cross, which was founded by a haberdasher Maciej Gęza and his wife Katarzyna. Compared with all those different foundations, the contribution of Kulm (Chełmno) bishops was insignificant, although they had good relationships with the Jesuits. They might have concentrated on financing the college thinking that Torun’s Jesuits managed to obtain resources to equip churches from various social groups.