The Settlement of the Poor Clares from Stary Sącz in the Borderland between Lesser Poland and Hungary

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss the process of settlement carried out by the Order of Saint Clare, which played a key role in shaping transnational relations at the border. The location of the Poor Clares cloisters/monasteries - Kluszkowce, Maniowy, Sromowce Wyżne and Tylmanowa are examined - raises a number of questions about their aims and motivations in the Pieniny border area, which was far away from the Order’s central possessions. An analysis of extant documents issued by the Poor Clares, among them a document related to/from the village of Kluszkowce, is undertaken to determine whether the cloisters/monasteries located strictly at the border featured unique characteristics. It is argued that the borderland activities of the Poor Clares could have resulted from religious goals as well as from the local tradition passed from the times of Princess Kinga.