In Search of the Origins of the Opłatek

Prompted by the curiosity that the uniquely Slavic Christmas wafer has a Latin-based name in Polish, "opłatek," the author traces archaeological, etymological, and ethnographic clues in search of the history of the opłatek. An indigenous Slavic custom of sharing hearthcakes at the winter s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Polish review (New York. 1956) 2013-10, Vol.58 (3), p.65-76
Main Author: Anderson, Claire M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Archaeology
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Summary:Prompted by the curiosity that the uniquely Slavic Christmas wafer has a Latin-based name in Polish, "opłatek," the author traces archaeological, etymological, and ethnographic clues in search of the history of the opłatek. An indigenous Slavic custom of sharing hearthcakes at the winter solstice may have facilitated the expansion of the western Christian monastic industry of wafer making. The earliest possible dating of the arrival of the word "opłatek" is the high Middle Ages when the western Church established dioceses and monasteries in Poland. The latest possible dating is the late eighteenth century, just decades before renowned Polish ethnographer Oskar Kolberg documented widespread practice of the custom. Between those dates, the sharing of the Christmas wafer swelled in popularity throughout the noble and peasant classes and over a huge geographic territory. Today it is a tradition kept by 97 percent of first-generation Polish Americans.
ISSN:0032-2970
2330-0841
DOI:10.5406/polishreview.58.3.0065