DOI Artikel:
Domin, Maria [Bearb.]: Dary papieskie dla Jana III Sobieskiego i Marii Kazimiery
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19892#0115
PAPAL GIFTS TO JOHN III SOBIESKI AND MARIE CASIMIRE
S u m mary
The popes' habit of making gifts to prominent personages of the
Christian world went back far into the Middle Ages. The earliest
mentions of the presentation of a golden rosę datę from the llth
century, and of a sword and hat from the 14lh. The sword and hat
blessed by the pope as well as the golden rosę would initially be
presented to monarchs, princes, and other celebrities who had
rendered great senhces in the defence of the faith. With tinre the
rosę was given mainly to ladies, whereas the men who had
distinguished themselves in the defence of Christendom received
the sword and hat.
In Poland. several monarchs were rewarded in this way, but it is
worth emphasizing that the Polish royal couple John Casimir and
Louise Marie received the gifts simultaneously (1650), which had
not been practised until then.
Similarly, in 1671 such gifts were sent to King Michael Korybut
Wiśniowiecki and his spouse Eleanor, sister of the emperor Leopold I.
However, the papai curia, interested in the struggle with the
Crescent, also thought of awarding the consecrated sword and hat to
Hetman Jan Sobieski after his victory over the Turks at Chocim in
November 1673. Nothing came of it, though, because of the
interregnum in Poland after the death of Michael Korybut and on
account of the fierce conflict between the political groups. The anti-
French magnates from the entourage of the Queen Dowager Eleanor
asserted that the distinction by the pope of Sobieski, one ofthe pillars
of the French party, would strengthen his position and influence the
course of the election.
A protest in this matter was lodged by Krzysztof Pac, Grand
Chancellor of Lithuania, with the nuncio in Warsaw, Francesco
Buonvisi. who immediately notified Romę of it. Likewise the nuncio
in Vienna, Mario Albrizzi, conveyed the imperial court's alarm at
the news of the pope’s intention to honour Sobieski. The curia. being
of opinion that the pope should not favour any of the Catholic
candidates to the Polish throne. abandoned the plan of awarding the
Grand Hetman of the Crown, Jan Sobieski.
Nevertheless, the election in May 1674 of the victorious hetman
King of Poland madę Pope Clement X (Emilio Altieri) decide as
early as the beginning of July 1674 to decorate John III with a sword
and hat. The gifts were to be taken to Poland by Chryzostom Gniński,
Abbot of Wągrów, the same who had handed to Clement X the
Turkish banner captured by Sobieski at Chocim.
The matter, however, began to get complicated, as the king
expressed a desire that his consort Marie Casimire receive a golden
rosę, as had Eleanor, wife of Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki.
The papai curia, unprepared for such a reąuest, hesitating at First,
concurred with the opinion of the nuncio in Poland, Francesco
Buonvisi, that it should not succumb to this kind of pressure, sińce
the king began to condition the reception of the sword and hat by his
wife being honoured as well. As neither party was willing to change
its attitude. the gifts, already brought to the Polish court. włere sent
back to Buonvisi. who, leaving Warsaw in September 1675 for his
new nunciature in Yienna, took them with him.
It is to be stressed that the refusal to accept the gifts which were
an expression of recognition by the papacy of John IIEs services to
Christendom was most upsetting, the morę so that the king’s initial
reąuests for a rosę for Marie Casimire tumed into demands. The
example of Eleanor of Habsburg, who had received the gift together
with her husband Michael Korybut, was brought forward as an
argument that Marie Casimire must not be treated worse than her
predecessor on the Polish throne. The attitude of the Polish court
should be accounted for, apart from the unąuestionable ambitions of
Marie Casimire, by the tense relations between John III and the
Roman curia and by Sobieski’s pro-French policy in that period.
It was not until 1683, when Poland concluded an anti-Turkish
alliance with the emperor Leopold I, that the question of the gifts to
the Sobieskis came up on the agenda again. It was raised by Opicio
Pallavicini, nuncio in Poland, in his letter of 18 April 1683 to the
nuncio in Vienna, Francesco Buonvisi, in which he suggested that
the Cardinal, considering the commitment of the Polish royal couple
in the conclusion of the alliance, should in his letters to Romę mention
the aw'ard to the Sobieskis. Buonvisi backed Pallavicini’s idea, but
the curia did not respond to it. It was only when Sobieski at the head
of the Polish army was approaching Vienna that Marie Casimire, in
fact following her husband‘s suggestion, in her talk with the nuncio
on 6 September 1683 mentioned with a reproach that her husband
after all deserved to receive the sword and hat blessed by the pope.
The nuncio infonned Romę of it, and as in the meantime Sobieski,
having relieved Vienna, became the hero of the whole Christian
world, the bestowal of the gifts on him was only a question of time.
The papai breves announcing the awarding of the king with a
sword and hat and of the queen with a golden rosę were dated 25
March 1684. However, it took a while to send the gifts to the address
of the nuncio Pallavicini, at that time staying with the royal court in
Ruthenia, and to repair the rosę for the queen, which had been broken
during the dispatch.
The nuncio eventually handed the objects during a great
ceremony in the collegiate church in Żółkiew on 25 July 1684. The
king soon set out to fight with the Turks, but this campaign did not
end in a success similar to that of the year before.
It is to be emphasized that the sword and hat sent Sobieski in
1684 materially had nothing in common with those which Clement
X presented to him in 1675. The latter objects were all the time in
Vienna in the hands of the nuncio Buonvisi, who in 1685 sent them
back to Romę.
The gifts received by Sobieski were madę during the pontificate
of Innocent XI, and the associating of them with those from Clement
X, frequent in the relevant literaturę, is erroneous, hence the present
authors attempt to elear up the misunderstanding.
The paper was for the most part based on unpublished archival
materials, mainly on the correspondence of the nuncios in Poland
and in Yienna.
S u m mary
The popes' habit of making gifts to prominent personages of the
Christian world went back far into the Middle Ages. The earliest
mentions of the presentation of a golden rosę datę from the llth
century, and of a sword and hat from the 14lh. The sword and hat
blessed by the pope as well as the golden rosę would initially be
presented to monarchs, princes, and other celebrities who had
rendered great senhces in the defence of the faith. With tinre the
rosę was given mainly to ladies, whereas the men who had
distinguished themselves in the defence of Christendom received
the sword and hat.
In Poland. several monarchs were rewarded in this way, but it is
worth emphasizing that the Polish royal couple John Casimir and
Louise Marie received the gifts simultaneously (1650), which had
not been practised until then.
Similarly, in 1671 such gifts were sent to King Michael Korybut
Wiśniowiecki and his spouse Eleanor, sister of the emperor Leopold I.
However, the papai curia, interested in the struggle with the
Crescent, also thought of awarding the consecrated sword and hat to
Hetman Jan Sobieski after his victory over the Turks at Chocim in
November 1673. Nothing came of it, though, because of the
interregnum in Poland after the death of Michael Korybut and on
account of the fierce conflict between the political groups. The anti-
French magnates from the entourage of the Queen Dowager Eleanor
asserted that the distinction by the pope of Sobieski, one ofthe pillars
of the French party, would strengthen his position and influence the
course of the election.
A protest in this matter was lodged by Krzysztof Pac, Grand
Chancellor of Lithuania, with the nuncio in Warsaw, Francesco
Buonvisi. who immediately notified Romę of it. Likewise the nuncio
in Vienna, Mario Albrizzi, conveyed the imperial court's alarm at
the news of the pope’s intention to honour Sobieski. The curia. being
of opinion that the pope should not favour any of the Catholic
candidates to the Polish throne. abandoned the plan of awarding the
Grand Hetman of the Crown, Jan Sobieski.
Nevertheless, the election in May 1674 of the victorious hetman
King of Poland madę Pope Clement X (Emilio Altieri) decide as
early as the beginning of July 1674 to decorate John III with a sword
and hat. The gifts were to be taken to Poland by Chryzostom Gniński,
Abbot of Wągrów, the same who had handed to Clement X the
Turkish banner captured by Sobieski at Chocim.
The matter, however, began to get complicated, as the king
expressed a desire that his consort Marie Casimire receive a golden
rosę, as had Eleanor, wife of Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki.
The papai curia, unprepared for such a reąuest, hesitating at First,
concurred with the opinion of the nuncio in Poland, Francesco
Buonvisi, that it should not succumb to this kind of pressure, sińce
the king began to condition the reception of the sword and hat by his
wife being honoured as well. As neither party was willing to change
its attitude. the gifts, already brought to the Polish court. włere sent
back to Buonvisi. who, leaving Warsaw in September 1675 for his
new nunciature in Yienna, took them with him.
It is to be stressed that the refusal to accept the gifts which were
an expression of recognition by the papacy of John IIEs services to
Christendom was most upsetting, the morę so that the king’s initial
reąuests for a rosę for Marie Casimire tumed into demands. The
example of Eleanor of Habsburg, who had received the gift together
with her husband Michael Korybut, was brought forward as an
argument that Marie Casimire must not be treated worse than her
predecessor on the Polish throne. The attitude of the Polish court
should be accounted for, apart from the unąuestionable ambitions of
Marie Casimire, by the tense relations between John III and the
Roman curia and by Sobieski’s pro-French policy in that period.
It was not until 1683, when Poland concluded an anti-Turkish
alliance with the emperor Leopold I, that the question of the gifts to
the Sobieskis came up on the agenda again. It was raised by Opicio
Pallavicini, nuncio in Poland, in his letter of 18 April 1683 to the
nuncio in Vienna, Francesco Buonvisi, in which he suggested that
the Cardinal, considering the commitment of the Polish royal couple
in the conclusion of the alliance, should in his letters to Romę mention
the aw'ard to the Sobieskis. Buonvisi backed Pallavicini’s idea, but
the curia did not respond to it. It was only when Sobieski at the head
of the Polish army was approaching Vienna that Marie Casimire, in
fact following her husband‘s suggestion, in her talk with the nuncio
on 6 September 1683 mentioned with a reproach that her husband
after all deserved to receive the sword and hat blessed by the pope.
The nuncio infonned Romę of it, and as in the meantime Sobieski,
having relieved Vienna, became the hero of the whole Christian
world, the bestowal of the gifts on him was only a question of time.
The papai breves announcing the awarding of the king with a
sword and hat and of the queen with a golden rosę were dated 25
March 1684. However, it took a while to send the gifts to the address
of the nuncio Pallavicini, at that time staying with the royal court in
Ruthenia, and to repair the rosę for the queen, which had been broken
during the dispatch.
The nuncio eventually handed the objects during a great
ceremony in the collegiate church in Żółkiew on 25 July 1684. The
king soon set out to fight with the Turks, but this campaign did not
end in a success similar to that of the year before.
It is to be emphasized that the sword and hat sent Sobieski in
1684 materially had nothing in common with those which Clement
X presented to him in 1675. The latter objects were all the time in
Vienna in the hands of the nuncio Buonvisi, who in 1685 sent them
back to Romę.
The gifts received by Sobieski were madę during the pontificate
of Innocent XI, and the associating of them with those from Clement
X, frequent in the relevant literaturę, is erroneous, hence the present
authors attempt to elear up the misunderstanding.
The paper was for the most part based on unpublished archival
materials, mainly on the correspondence of the nuncios in Poland
and in Yienna.