DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31076#0076
men—comprised mainly of the famous hussar cavalry, but also
including infantry with regimental artillery. In Cracow the king
left his beloved Queen Marysienka, who prayed to God for vic-
tory in front of the Black Christ of St. Hedvig.
When news of the victory finally arrived in September
1683, the queen dedicated to the altar of Christ the stirrup of
Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, which was captured by Sobieski
and sent to her with a short parchment letter. Upon his retum
from the campaign to Cracow in December of that year, King
Sobieski devoted a splendid Turkish banner to St. Stanislaw, as
well as Turkish horsetail standards to the Academic Church of
St. Anne. They are still preserved there as the sign of the victory
and of the great king.
Last Polisli Kings and tke Partiiions o pl. e Pountry
In the second half of the 17 th century, the Commonwealth of
Poland and Lithuania already showed some symptoms of
decline. The wrongly interpreted democracy of the nobility led
to internal disorder and quarrels. The local conventions of
noblemen—the Seymiki—were given too much prerogative;
and they concentrated on trivial matters, leaving great problems
of the Commonwealth, particularly those of the treasury and the
army, to perish in a flood of eloquence. The central Seyms
could be easily broken and stopped by a single liberum veto, a
privilege of each deputy. Thus profit-seeking neighboring
powers—particularly Russia, Prussia, and Austria—could
intervene effectively by force or money.
66
including infantry with regimental artillery. In Cracow the king
left his beloved Queen Marysienka, who prayed to God for vic-
tory in front of the Black Christ of St. Hedvig.
When news of the victory finally arrived in September
1683, the queen dedicated to the altar of Christ the stirrup of
Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, which was captured by Sobieski
and sent to her with a short parchment letter. Upon his retum
from the campaign to Cracow in December of that year, King
Sobieski devoted a splendid Turkish banner to St. Stanislaw, as
well as Turkish horsetail standards to the Academic Church of
St. Anne. They are still preserved there as the sign of the victory
and of the great king.
Last Polisli Kings and tke Partiiions o pl. e Pountry
In the second half of the 17 th century, the Commonwealth of
Poland and Lithuania already showed some symptoms of
decline. The wrongly interpreted democracy of the nobility led
to internal disorder and quarrels. The local conventions of
noblemen—the Seymiki—were given too much prerogative;
and they concentrated on trivial matters, leaving great problems
of the Commonwealth, particularly those of the treasury and the
army, to perish in a flood of eloquence. The central Seyms
could be easily broken and stopped by a single liberum veto, a
privilege of each deputy. Thus profit-seeking neighboring
powers—particularly Russia, Prussia, and Austria—could
intervene effectively by force or money.
66