Trebnitz
Community ID: 
 
2759
 
Alternate Names: 
 
Trzebnica
 
Town: 
 
Breslau
 
Date Founded: 
 
1203
 
Date Terminated: 
 
1810
 
Religious Order: 
 
Cistercian
 
Foundation Information: 
 

Founded by St. Hedwig and Duke Henry the Bearded of Silesia after Duke Henry's near-fatal hunting accident and vow to found convent.

 
First Members: 
 

Petrussa, daughter of Hedwig, 1st abbess; Gertrude, daughter of St. Hedwig, 2nd abbess

 
Notable Heads: 
 

First abbesses were daughters of St. Hedwig. Last abbess, Dominica von Giller, d. 1810.

 
Notable Members/Residents/Guests: 
 

St. Hedwig, retired to convent 1238 after death of her husband.

 
Population Counts: 
 

End of 13th century, 120 nuns; 1672, 32 nuns,6 lay sisters; 1805, 23 nuns, 6 lay sisters.

 
Other Ecclesiastical Relations: 
 

Bishopric of Bamberg (Bishop Ekbert, brother of St. hedwig, chose first nuns of convent.)

 
Patrons/Benefactors: 
 

St. Hedwig, Duchess of Silesia; Duke Henry the Bearded of Silesia

 
Secular Political Affiliations: 
 

Duchy of Silesia

 
Social Characteristics: 
 

Up to 1515, abbesses were princesses of Piast House or nobility.

 
Relative Wealth: 
 

Originally well endowed, abbey suffered during Thirty Years War when nuns fled to Poland; fled again in 1663 because of Turkish invasion.

 
Art & Artifacts: 
 

Hedwig Codex (14th century), Ludwig ms L.XI.7, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

 
Architecture & Archaeology: 
 

Late romanesque basilica (1203-1219)with baroque additions. Original church had three naves, large transept, three apses and one eastern crypt (Rozpedowski, Die Architecktur der Zisterzienserinnenkirche in Trebnitz.) Tympanum (1219-1240) in style of Bamberg cathedral (Swiechowski, Die Skulpturen der Klosterkirche in Trebnitz; Lorke, Die romanische Plastike der Klosterkirches in Trebnitz.)

 
State Of Medieval Structure: 
 

Used as mother-house and hospital of Trebnitz Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo

 
Relics: 
 

Tombs of Hedwig and Duke Henry near main altar of basilica (Kaczmarek, Das Grabmal der Hl. Hedwig in Trzebnica).

 
Secondary Sources: 
 

Walter, Di Grabbstatte des Deutschordenshochmeisters; Walter, Zur Baugeschichte der gotischen Grabkapelle der Hl. Hedwig in Trebnitz; Dunin-Wasowicz, Sainte Hedwige et l'hagiographie medieval polonaise; Moller, Restaurierung der Skulptur des hl. Petrus.
Geschichte und Beschreibung des fürstlichen jungfraulichen Klosterstiftes Cistercienser-Ordens in Trebnitz, aus dem Stifts-Urkunden und anderen bewähhten Schriften zusammengetragen
St. Hedwig Herzogin von Schlesien (ob. 1243): treue Patronin des Cistercienserordens.

 
Manuscripts Produced: 
 

Hedwig Codex (Ludwig ms L.XI.7), J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

 
Admin. Notes: 
 

Getty Research Institute owns photographs of entire Hedwig Codex; Getty Museum owns ms.