Przypadki życia Doroty z Wrześni, żony wojewody poznańskiego Jana Ostroroga. Przyczynek do historii kobiet w późnośredniowiecznej Polsce
The life of Dorota of Września, the wife of the Poznań voivode, Jan Ostroróg. Contribution to the women’s history in the late medieval Poland

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this text is to show the life of Dorota of Września, the second wife of the Poznań voivode, Jan Ostroróg. It also attempts to present the possibilities offered by late medieval source material as regards the reconstruction of individual stories of women from magnate class and middle nobility. In the case of Dorota, the material allowed to determine her family origins — she was the daughter of the Biechów alderman, Piotr of Września, from the Poraj family — and to show her life in the period of her marriage to Jan and afterwards, when she was a widow. The former period is depicted primarily from the perspective of her husband’s attempts to provide for the financial security of Dorota and their children: son Achilles and daughter Poliksena, in the event of his death. The time when Dorota was a widow, however, is mainly filled with court disputes with her stepchildren: Wacław and Stanisław. The subject matter of those disputes was, on the one hand, Dorota’s eventually successful attempt to recover the property, which she had received for life and which had been seized by her stepsons, as well as to punish the men for assaulting and imprisoning her. On the other hand, the stepsons accused Dorota of illegal seizure of jewellery, robes and money in silver and gold from their father’s treasury, whose part was the dowry of their mother, Helena. Based on particular source premises, the text also makes an attempt to indicate the date and reconstruct the motives and circumstances of the marriage entered into by Dorota and Jan.

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