The Dissemination of the Cult of Saint Vincent in Slovakia and Austria as a Result of 18th Century Migration of Alpine Woodcutters

Abstract

Abstract Saint Vincent is one of the saints the worshipping of which occupies an important place both in the official church cult and in folk religiousness. He is currently regarded as the patron of wine growers, wine producers and woodcutters. Folk respect was particularly manifested in Saint Vincent’s native Spain and France, and this cult gradually expanded to Germany and Austria in the 14th century. Thanks to migration, it spread from these regions to southern Austria and Slovakia with relatively successful establishment. The study analyses the materials from different periods of the 19th and 20th centuries, obtained by field and archive research on the religiousness of Alpine woodcutters, as well as older historical materials and contemporary records of this cult. By means of a comparative analysis of the obtained data, the study attempts to explore the movements by which the cult of Saint Vincent could have spread to Lower Austria and Western Slovakia. It also points out the importance of interdisciplinary research in indicating the origin of Alpine woodcutters, designated by the exoethnonym Huncokars in Slovakia. The previous research and publications about this group were based on relatively poor and limited sources of information, many of which were not always correctly interpreted. The study has the ambition to add and correct the information on the origin of Alpine woodcutters in the light of the newest research and findings. The research of the cult of Saint Vincent is one of the paths that indicate the origin of the group as well as the possible ways of the dissemination of the cult thanks to the migration of its supporters. Through the example of this cult, we also aim to highlight cultural transfers as a result of ethnic movements in Central Europe.