A b s t r a c t: This article is an attempt to illustrate relations between the theory and practice of the military activity of Polish bishops under the rule of the Piast dynasty. The problem is discussed based on an analysis of the locally formulated ideal of episcopal power and the ideological and legal patterns reaching Poland that regulated the possibilities of using weapons by clergymen, and, in particular, defined the ways in which churchmen participated in wars and in declaring and

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... ting them. K e y w o r d s: bishops and war; warrior-bishop, ideals of episcopal power; canon law; clerical arms-bearing; episcopal warfare; Piast Poland. * The essy was supported by the Nacional Science Centre, Poland, under project number 2014/15/B/HS3-02284. RADOSŁAW KOTECKI https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6757-9358 Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz JACEK MACIEJEWSKI https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0505-975X Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz http://dx.