Kult Najświętszej Marii Panny w mieście Malbork w średniowieczu

The origins and development of the Marian cult in medieval Malbork were not only linked to the Teutonic Order and its Malbork main house, but also to the city. It was probably originally called the city of Saint Mary (civitas Santae Mariae, German: Marienstadt), but this name was eventually replaced by that of the castle (civitas castri Santae Mariae). The parish church also originally bore a Marian invocation, attested in 1416, and the co-patron was most probably St John the Evangelist (1669). A very important element of the Malbork Marian cult was the chapel at the Carriage Gate, also later known as St Mary’s Gate, first mentioned in 1443 and endowed in 1448 by Grand Master Konrad von Erlichshausen. The patronage of this chapel was transferred to the city (1448). The genesis of this foundation is probably linked to an event described in a letter from Malbork craftsmen and suburban residents to the Grand Master dated 24 December 1443. According to the letter’s authors, prayers and petitions addressed to God through the intermediary of the Blessed Virgin Mary saved the suburb, and above all the city itself, from destruction by fire. However, the source records available today do not make it possible to establish whether there was a Marian chapel in the southern suburb of Malbork earlier.