The Historiography and Old Literature on Stanisław Żółkiewski’s Triumph and the Tribute of the Szujscy in 1611

Abstract

The article presents the reception of Stanisław Żółkiewski’s triumph and the tribute of the so-called Szujscy tsars in historiography and old literature, including the period of the Renaissance and pre-Romanticism. The handwritten “Diariusz gdański”, the manuscript of the deputy Jan Stano (both from 1611) and The History of Władysław, the Polish and Swedish Prince (1655; Historia Władysława, królewicza polskiego i szwedzkiego) by Stanisław Kobierzycki, allowed for reconstructing the hetman’s procession; his triumph departed from the ancient ovatio. The diminished role of Żółkiewski and the emphasis on the prisoners during the processions was inscribed in the current politics of the king, therefore the speech of the hetman (who did not support the eastern policy of Sisigmund III Vasa) at the Royal Castle in front of the Szujscy’s presentation included polemical accents and allusions. The written testimonies from the Baroque are rare (i.e. the preserved speech of vice-chancellor F. Kryski, references in the works of A. Rożniatowski, S. Twardowski, E. Wassenberg). Worthy of attention is the narrative poem Władysław IV, the Polish and Swedish King (Władysław IV, król polski i szwedzki) from 1649 by Twardowski since the author made an attempt to present the prisoners’ psyche. The Renaissance authors of the majority of poetic and essay texts regarding the described subject (i.e. F. D. Kniaźnin, J. U. Niemcewicz, A. E. Koźmian) were associated with the Puławy circle and with the cult of Rzeczpospolita’s heroes, initiated by the princess Izabela Czartoryska. The figure of the victorious hetman and his prisoners played at that time a compensatory role and particularly in the times of the Dutchy of Warsaw- was inscribed in the current historical politics (K. Tymowski, J. Morelowski). The motif of the tribute of the Szujscy and of Żółkiewski’s triumph turned out to be unusually artistic in terms of the literature; throughout two hundred years in served the purpose of anti-Russian or anti-royal political agitation, as well as agitation relating to customs, it was an exemplum of theory on the grand cycle of history, but it was also brought forward as an example of a mutual respect between the Poles and the Russians. These interpretational possibilities were most fully exploited by Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz in The Pride on Żółkiewski (Dumie o Żółkiewskim).