DOI Heft:
Nr. 1
DOI Artikel:Pokora, Jakub: Wazowskie enigmata: wieńce Zygmunta i obeliski Władysława oraz kłódka Jana Kazimierza
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49349#0045
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Vasa Riddles: the laurel wreaths of Sigismund, obelisks of
Ladislaus and combination locks of John Casimir
This article concerns the iconography of the kings
from the Vasa dynasty who reigned in Poland from
1557 to 1668: Sigismund III, Ladislaus IV and John
II Casimir. The author's aim is to indicate the sour-
ces and, where possible, decipher some of the con-
cepts cited in the title. The article is composed of
three parts. The first two parts, titled Victoria and
Gloria succedens, were conceived as a way of enco-
uraging the advancing of investigation in this field
of research. It focuses on the question of the place
and role assigned to the ruler's Christian name in
political propaganda. The third part, titled Claustmm,
holding by far the lesser weight of quality, is inten-
ded to provide an answer to the question why on
medals minted to mark the coronation of John II
Casimir a common padlock was depicted rather than
the ruler's standard insignia.
The choice of the ruler's Christian name was an
important element in the dynasty's way of propaga-
ting itself politically. At the same time, elements of a
magical content based on the notion of nomen omen,
in which the Vasa dynasty was no exception, were
concealed in the Christian name.
The Christian name ofSigismund (in Polish: Zyg-
munt), being of Germanie origins, is composed of
two parts: sigi- (victory) and -mund (protection, aid,
defence), and thus signifies 'victorious defender'.
This semantic meaning subjected to the issue of Chri-
stianisation takes on the form of Fidei defensor vic-
toriosus, and it was precisely in this role that Sigi-
smund III was presented in 1644 surmounting the
column erected in his honour in Warsaw, this being
the earliest such secular columnal statuę in Christian
Europe. The figure was supposed to have been erec-
ted at an earlier stage, in 1642, to mark the tenth an-
niversary of the monarch's death. As a concept the
column was identical to the image depicted in a me-
dal minted to commemorate the king's death in 1632,
in which the ideological programme of an earlier
medal portraying the previous king ensconced on the
Polish throne who bore the same name: Sigismund II
August the Jagiellonian from ca. 1568: on the obver-
se side - rex armatus inscribed on the breast; on the
reverse side a personification of Fides, with the in-
scription DVM SPIRITVS HOC REGET (Aeneid,
4, 336). The author refers to other motifs which, al-
though open to various interpretation, clearly relate
to Sigidmund as a so-called 'statesman of victory',
and thus a victor. These are laurel wreaths and palm
branches. Of particular interest are medals presen-
ting the king's device ofthree laurel wreaths with the
inscription COELITVS SYBLIMIA DANTVR. The
device's source is to be found in the king's Christian
name SIGISMVNDVS TERTIVS, which is treated
like a prognosis, according to which the ruler shall
be corona triplex: Polish, Swedish and Muscovite.
The author's task is ultimately to investigate the ono-
mastic motifs in the monument of another Sigismund:
Sigismund I the Old of the Jagiellonian dynasty in
his celebrated chapel built from 1517 to 1533 next
to the Wawel Cathedral in Cracow.
In the second part the author explains why Ladi-
slaus IV during his entire reign (1633-1648) drew
on two devices: that of royal heir and monarch. The
answer is to be found in the semantics of his Chri-
stian name (VLADISLAVS, LADISLAVS), which
was of Slavonic origins and widely used by the ru-
lers of Hungary, Bohemia-Moravia and Poland. The
author deduces that the name in Latin and Polish
(Władysław) shared the same meaning: laudis-laus.
As proof, he points to the identical case of the se-
mantics behind the Christian name of Stanislaus (Po-
lish: Stanisław: stans-laus) as well as the literary
sources originating form the reign of Ladislaus IV.
Both of this monarch's device amounted to two cur-
tains belonging to the same stage in which the perso-
nification of Cupiditas, symbolising in this instance
cupido regni, cupido honoris atqua gloriae. In the
first - VEL SIC ENITAR, in which the hierogramme
IHS is seen to prominate, the winged Cupiditas is
seen to be mounting an obelisk which reaches to the
sky in order to grasp a laurel wreath and two palm
branches. In the second device - HONOR VIRTVTIS
PRAEMIVM Cupiditas stands next to the column in
a gesture of triumph to demonstrate that he has won
privileged prizes. The first device was taken up by
Ladislaus IV from the device of an earlier Ladislaus:
the Jagiellonian, king of Bohemia-Moravia and Hun-
gary, as published and revealed by Jacobus Typo-
tius. This borrowing occurred, because contained in
the device were the semantics ofthe Christian name,
deciphered as a puzzle in the notion of portraying
the difficulties of attaining fame. The second device
of Ladislaus IV was developped creatively out ofthe
first one. The result ofthis in both devices is present
in the king's Christian name, signifying 'avid fame'.
In the meantime, the presence of a deciphered Chri-
stian name had been forgotten about by the end of
the 18th century, and it is for this reason that rese-
arch carried out until now on devices has been fo-
Vasa Riddles: the laurel wreaths of Sigismund, obelisks of
Ladislaus and combination locks of John Casimir
This article concerns the iconography of the kings
from the Vasa dynasty who reigned in Poland from
1557 to 1668: Sigismund III, Ladislaus IV and John
II Casimir. The author's aim is to indicate the sour-
ces and, where possible, decipher some of the con-
cepts cited in the title. The article is composed of
three parts. The first two parts, titled Victoria and
Gloria succedens, were conceived as a way of enco-
uraging the advancing of investigation in this field
of research. It focuses on the question of the place
and role assigned to the ruler's Christian name in
political propaganda. The third part, titled Claustmm,
holding by far the lesser weight of quality, is inten-
ded to provide an answer to the question why on
medals minted to mark the coronation of John II
Casimir a common padlock was depicted rather than
the ruler's standard insignia.
The choice of the ruler's Christian name was an
important element in the dynasty's way of propaga-
ting itself politically. At the same time, elements of a
magical content based on the notion of nomen omen,
in which the Vasa dynasty was no exception, were
concealed in the Christian name.
The Christian name ofSigismund (in Polish: Zyg-
munt), being of Germanie origins, is composed of
two parts: sigi- (victory) and -mund (protection, aid,
defence), and thus signifies 'victorious defender'.
This semantic meaning subjected to the issue of Chri-
stianisation takes on the form of Fidei defensor vic-
toriosus, and it was precisely in this role that Sigi-
smund III was presented in 1644 surmounting the
column erected in his honour in Warsaw, this being
the earliest such secular columnal statuę in Christian
Europe. The figure was supposed to have been erec-
ted at an earlier stage, in 1642, to mark the tenth an-
niversary of the monarch's death. As a concept the
column was identical to the image depicted in a me-
dal minted to commemorate the king's death in 1632,
in which the ideological programme of an earlier
medal portraying the previous king ensconced on the
Polish throne who bore the same name: Sigismund II
August the Jagiellonian from ca. 1568: on the obver-
se side - rex armatus inscribed on the breast; on the
reverse side a personification of Fides, with the in-
scription DVM SPIRITVS HOC REGET (Aeneid,
4, 336). The author refers to other motifs which, al-
though open to various interpretation, clearly relate
to Sigidmund as a so-called 'statesman of victory',
and thus a victor. These are laurel wreaths and palm
branches. Of particular interest are medals presen-
ting the king's device ofthree laurel wreaths with the
inscription COELITVS SYBLIMIA DANTVR. The
device's source is to be found in the king's Christian
name SIGISMVNDVS TERTIVS, which is treated
like a prognosis, according to which the ruler shall
be corona triplex: Polish, Swedish and Muscovite.
The author's task is ultimately to investigate the ono-
mastic motifs in the monument of another Sigismund:
Sigismund I the Old of the Jagiellonian dynasty in
his celebrated chapel built from 1517 to 1533 next
to the Wawel Cathedral in Cracow.
In the second part the author explains why Ladi-
slaus IV during his entire reign (1633-1648) drew
on two devices: that of royal heir and monarch. The
answer is to be found in the semantics of his Chri-
stian name (VLADISLAVS, LADISLAVS), which
was of Slavonic origins and widely used by the ru-
lers of Hungary, Bohemia-Moravia and Poland. The
author deduces that the name in Latin and Polish
(Władysław) shared the same meaning: laudis-laus.
As proof, he points to the identical case of the se-
mantics behind the Christian name of Stanislaus (Po-
lish: Stanisław: stans-laus) as well as the literary
sources originating form the reign of Ladislaus IV.
Both of this monarch's device amounted to two cur-
tains belonging to the same stage in which the perso-
nification of Cupiditas, symbolising in this instance
cupido regni, cupido honoris atqua gloriae. In the
first - VEL SIC ENITAR, in which the hierogramme
IHS is seen to prominate, the winged Cupiditas is
seen to be mounting an obelisk which reaches to the
sky in order to grasp a laurel wreath and two palm
branches. In the second device - HONOR VIRTVTIS
PRAEMIVM Cupiditas stands next to the column in
a gesture of triumph to demonstrate that he has won
privileged prizes. The first device was taken up by
Ladislaus IV from the device of an earlier Ladislaus:
the Jagiellonian, king of Bohemia-Moravia and Hun-
gary, as published and revealed by Jacobus Typo-
tius. This borrowing occurred, because contained in
the device were the semantics ofthe Christian name,
deciphered as a puzzle in the notion of portraying
the difficulties of attaining fame. The second device
of Ladislaus IV was developped creatively out ofthe
first one. The result ofthis in both devices is present
in the king's Christian name, signifying 'avid fame'.
In the meantime, the presence of a deciphered Chri-
stian name had been forgotten about by the end of
the 18th century, and it is for this reason that rese-
arch carried out until now on devices has been fo-