After 800 years, the Płock Pontifical was scientifically researched. The project was carried out by scientists of the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University (UKSW) in Warsaw, the Academy of Fine Arts (ASP) in Warsaw and the University of Warsaw (UW).
The result is an extraordinary monograph of the Pontifical, including a critical edition of the Latin text, its translation into Polish and facsimile.
The three-volume work contains an extensive theoretical study with the interpretation of theological, canonical, political and social content as well as musicological records.
It was established that this oldest complete pontifical in Polish collections was most likely written in the years 1180-1215 by many authors. The researchers determined, based on the writing style, that “the first writer came from the Abbey of St. Lawrence in Liѐge. However, the lack of broader comparative material makes it impossible to assign the Pontifical unambiguously to a specific scriptorium in Poland”.