Traces of Medieval Church Unearthed in Southern Poland

SŁAWKÓW, POLAND—Science in Poland reports that the foundations of a medieval Christian church were uncovered in southern Poland during conservation work at the current Chapel of St. Jacob. Archaeologist Jacek Pierzak said the entire outline of the structure, which was known as the Church of John the Baptist, has survived. Built at the turn of the fourteenth century, the church was described in the fifteenth-century writings of a priest named Jan Długosz, but researchers had not been able to look for any trace of it until now. The Church of John the Baptist was destroyed in 1455 by mercenary troops fighting in the Thirteen Years’ War for King Casimir IV Jagiellon against the Teutonic Knights, Pierzak added. When the soldiers were not paid, they burned down the town of Czeladż, destroyed the church, and stole 100 draft horses from the Olkusz mines, he explained. To read about early eleventh-century tombs uncovered near the Polish village of Cieple, go to "Viking Knights, Polish Days."