Anna Jagiellon as the Recipient of Letters of Dedication of Jakub Wujek and Piotr Skarga Cover Image

Anna Jagiellonka jako adresatka listów dedykacyjnych Jakuba Wujka i Piotra Skargi
Anna Jagiellon as the Recipient of Letters of Dedication of Jakub Wujek and Piotr Skarga

Author(s): Iwona Rak, Anna Sitkowa
Subject(s): Essay|Book Review |Scientific Life
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Anna Jagiellon; hagiography; postil; Piotr Skarga; Jakub Wujek

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the author’s deliberations are letters of dedication written for Anna Jagiellon, present in two Jesuit works propagating the cult of saints: the third part of the Greater Catholic Postil by Jakub Wujek and Hagiography by Piotr Skarga. Particular attention is devoted to the image of the daughter of Sigismund I the Old created in references, where the future queen of Poland was presented as a devout Catholic, supporting the activities of the Jesuit Society. The treatise accentuates the apologetic character of letters of dedication and presents arguments used by Skarga and Wujek to convince the readers (during the times of fierce religious disputes) of the validity of worshiping of saints. The work also accentuates the fact that the extremely devout representative of the Jagiellon dynasty was treated by the two leading “swordsmen” of the Counter-Reformation as the personification of the “antiquity” of the Roman denomination in Poland — a country faithful to the Catholic Church throughout the ages.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 20
  • Page Range: 209-221
  • Page Count: 13