„CO MOMENT WYGLĄDAŁAM ŁASKI PAŃSKIEJ WM PANI I DOBRODZIKI” – KORESPONDENCJA ELŻBIETY Z LUBOMIRSKICH SIENIAWSKIEJ, KASZTELANOWEJ KRAKOWSKIEJ Z JOANNĄ GOŁYŃSKĄ, KSIENIĄ JAROSŁAWSKICH BENEDYKTYNEK JAKO PRZYKŁAD RELACJI KLIENTALNYCH W CZASACH SASKICH
‘EVERY MOMENT I LOOKED FOR THE GRACE OF YOUR LADYSHIP’ – CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN ELŻBIETA SIENIAWSKA NÉE LUBOMIRSKA, WIFE OF THE CASTELLAN OF KRAKÓW, AND JOANNA GOŁYŃSKA, THE PRIORESS OF THE JAROSŁAW BENEDICTINES, AS AN EXAMPLE OF CLIENTAL RELATIONS I

Summary/Abstract: In the old Poland, women were heavily involved in public activities, and one of its manifestations was the religious patronage they exercised, which was a very important part of building cliental ties. An excellent resource for tracing the relationship between a given patron and her clerical clientele are the begging letters, in which, beneath the layers of elaborate ceremonialism, the real goals and expectations of the two parties negotiating with each other were explained. Among these worthy collators was also Elżbieta Sieniawska, née Lubomirska (d. 1729), who, together with her husband Adam Mikołaj (d. 1726), contributed many church foundations. Under the patronage of the castellan of Kraków was also the convent of the Benedictine nuns of Jarosław, in which the position of abbess at that time was held by Joanna Gołyńska (d. 1725). The analysed letters, which the said superior sent to her benefactress, display the issues of patronage relations between the collator and her clerical client, and matters concerning the daily functioning of the Jarosław convent. J. Gołyńska incessantly complained about not having enough money to support the monastery, as the times in which she lived increasingly plunged the establishment into debt and ruin. It is noteworthy that the proclamations directed by the Benedictine nun often did not meet with approval or even any reaction from E. Sieniawska, which casts a shadow over the collator activity of the Kraków castellan’s wife, for we now have proof that not every requester, or in this case religious client, could or would enjoy full support of Sieniawska, despite her duties as a patroness.

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