The Book of Henryków (Księga Henrykowska), currently kept in the Diocesan Museum in Wrocław (Muzeum Archidiecezjalne), may be included in an UNESCO register.
The Book of Henryków records the first sentence in Polish: “Day, ut ia pobrusa, a ti poziwai” (in modern spelling: "Daj, ać ja pobruszę, a ty poczywaj"), which could be translated as: “Let me, I shall grind, and you take a rest”. According to the chronicle, the words were spoken by a Czech peasant by the name of Boguchwał of the village of Brukalice to his Polish wife, “a fat and clumsy peasant woman”, who could not manage grain grinding well.
An appropriate request to the Polish Committee of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme has been signed by Wrocław’s metropolitan archbishop, Józef Kupny.
The request states that “The Book of Henryków is a globally unique source material that sheds light on the process of cultural exchange which in the late Middle Ages gave shape to future Europe,” and that the original manuscript written in the second half of the 13th century and early 14th century in the Cistercian abbey in Henryków has survived to this day and is kept in the Diocesan Museum in Wrocław.
The decision regarding the chronicle’s inclusion in the Memory of the World Register will be made ithe the end of March. On Tuesday, 4 March, the request, together with the metropolitan’s letter will be sent to Warsaw. Next, on 10 March, the programme’s Polish Committee will consider all the request submitted, choosing two that are going to be forwarded in late March to Geneva for final decision.
The Memory of the Word Register lists documentary heritage (just like the popularly recognised UNESCO World Heritage List registers cultural and natural heritage). The objective of the Memory of the World Programme is to preserve documents evidencing key political, social, religious, cultural, and historical events that constituted a highlight or turning point of the history of humankind. Currently, the register includes around 300 entries.
arc
