Elisabeth Ostrogska
Elisabeth Katharina Ostrogska (Polish: Elżbieta Ostrogska ; born November 19, 1539 in Ostróg ; † December 1582 in Dubno ), known as Halschka Ostrogska (Polish: Halszka Ostrogska ) or Halschka von Ostrog (Polish: Halszka z Ostroga ), the unfortunate princess of Ostrog , Polish magnate , widowed three times, richest woman in the country ( Poland-Lithuania in the 16th century), victim of political intrigues among the nobility.
Life
parents
Halschka's father was Prince Ilja (Elias) von Ostrog (1510–39), a descendant of one of the most powerful families in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . He was the son of the Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Konstanty Ostrogski, and was considered one of the richest men in the United Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania . At the time of his death he was the governor of Brazlaw and Winnitza .
Her mother's name was Beata Łaska , geb. Kościelecka (Polish: Beata Łaska z Kościeleckich ) (1510–1576), and was the daughter of the treasurer of the (Polish) crown, Andrzej Kościelecki and the royal lady-in-waiting, Katharina Ochstadt von Telnitz, who was famous for her beauty. According to rumors, she could even have been one of the illegitimate children of King Sigismund I of Poland. Their lavish wedding celebration, which lasted several days, was held with the benevolence of the royal couple on February 3, 1539 at the royal Wawelburg in Krakow . After the wedding, the couple lived at the castle in Ostrog .
childhood
A daughter named Elisabeth (Halschka) was born around three months after her father's death. Halschka seemed to have had bad luck from the start. Because with the related to the wedding of the parents Jousting, suffered her father internal injuries, he about died of the consequences of which six months later, on the night of August 20, 1539: The jousting against the Krpnprinzrn and heir, Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund Augustus , fell he was so unhappy from his horse that he never recovered from it. However, before his death he managed to write a will in which he divided his fortune between his wife with the unborn child and his stepbrother, Konstantin Wassil Ostrogski. Together with the Marshal of Volhynia , Prince Fyodor Sangushko and the royal couple, his stepbrother Wassil was supposed to exercise guardianship over the child. The will was confirmed by the king. Nevertheless, the inheritance disputes soon began:
In May 1542, the royal commissioners determined the division of property between daughter and mother, with the mother also disposing of the daughter's property. The three-year-old Halschka was brought up to absolute obedience by her mother and was dependent on her in every respect. The growing child with his huge fortune and lands the size of Thuringia, which were unparalleled, became a nation-wide coveted party. The mother, however, took her time while the numerous candidates caused great turmoil in the country. In 1551 even the Diet of Lithuania (Polish: 'Sejm Litewski') in Vilnius (Ostrog was then part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ) decided that the mother should not marry her daughter without the consent of close relatives. In addition, the candidate had to win the approval of the two guardians and the king. For Sigismund II August , who had become King of Poland-Lithuania in the meantime (1548) and had been Grand Duke of Lithuania since 1529, had no interest in a Polish magnate marrying Halschka without having to pay homage to him. In contrast to the Lithuanian aristocrats, the Polish aristocrats were exempt from it. As sovereign of Lithuania, he himself had the right to marry off his country children.
Marriage with Dimitro Sanguschko
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In the meantime, however, Halschka's guardian, Prince Fyodor Sangushko von Wolodymyr-Wolynskyj , had died. Meanwhile, her second guardian and uncle, Prince Konstantin Wassil Ostrogski, planned to marry her off to a promising son Dimitro (bailiff of Kaniów and Cherkassy ) of her first guardian. Dimitro Sangushko had already proven himself brilliantly as an aspiring military leader in the fight against the Crimean Tatars, which plague the areas of today's Ukraine almost every year , and thus gained general recognition. He was predicted to have a steep career. At first, neither the girl nor her mother seemed to have been averse to these plans. But when the king had put in his veto , the mother withdrew her consent.
Bride robbery
Dimitro Sanguschko is said to have been very much in love with the fourteen-year-old and did not want to let go of her. Under the pretext of a courtesy visit, he wanted to kidnap the young princess with the help of Wassil Ostrogski. In comparable situations, bride robbery was considered to be a tried and tested method of helping one's happiness on the jumps. But since Princess Beate no longer wanted to see both men, they and their servants took the castle by storm, with many injured and some dead. Then Princess Beate was arrested in a small room while her daughter was led to the altar by her guardian. He had spoken for her during the hastily arranged wedding ceremony, while the princess was silent the whole time. The marriage was consummated immediately, which Princess Beate lamented in a letter to the king.
King's vote
King Sigismund II August ordered that the Ostróg Castle be vacated immediately and the women released. Prince Wassil promptly obeyed and left the castle to its owner, Princess Beate. Prince Dimitro, however, did not want to give up his young bride and fled with her far east to his castle in Kaniów. The king then withdrew all offices and appointed him together with his accomplice, Wassil Ostrogski, to the court hearing on January 5, 1554 in Knyszyn . Both did not pose.
However, the future Emperor Ferdinand von Habsburg stood up for Wassil Ostrogski , who in a letter of December 14, 1554, blamed Princess Beate for the conflict. Otherwise he relied on common law. Thus Wassil Ostrogski escaped serious punishment, only that his guardianship over Princess Elisabeth was withdrawn. But it hit Dimitro Sanguschko all the harder: his absence was seen as arrogance and an insult to the royal authority. He was therefore declared dishonorable and without rights in his absence, his property was confiscated and he was supposed to give his young wife over to her mother. On top of that, he should pay with his life for his crimes. The king also declared his marriage to Halschka invalid.
Escape to Bohemia
After the king had declared the young prince Sangushko to be outlawed , the latter wanted to save himself by fleeing abroad, but neither wanted to give up his wife. With only a small entourage of his most loyal servants and Halschka, who was also disguised as a squire, he fled to Bohemia , where a family friend, Crown Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski, owned some properties, including the castle in Raudnitz on the Elbe . Sangushko hoped to find a safe haven there. However, the three search parties who, with the approval of the king or on behalf of Princess Beate (mother of the kidnapped bride), hunted the refugees abroad at their own expense, had at least suspected this. Shortly before their destination, the fugitives were caught up in Lissa on the Elbe and cunningly captured with the permission of the local bailiff, although Prince Dimitro Sanguschko, an experienced warrior, fought back violently. The death sentence could not be carried out immediately, but the leader of the search party, Voivode von Kalisz Marcin Zborowski, had his own plans for the young and rich Halschka. Therefore, on a stopover in Jermer on the evening of February 3, 1554, on his way back to Poland , he had her husband mistreated and strangled with a chain before anyone could stop him. His body was thrown carelessly into the snow. The disgraceful death of the foreign prince sparked unrest among the population. Zborowski was arrested at the behest of the King of Bohemia Ferdinand von Habsburg , but was released on February 11, 1554 at the request of the King of Poland Sigismund II August , whose orders Zborowski was actually only carrying out. The body of Dimitro Sanguschko was laid to rest in the city of his death, in the Nikolauskirche, in the side chapel of St. Barbara, which is still remembered today by a plaque donated by his family.
Wedding with Luke III. Górka
Despite all the incidents, Halschka was quickly brought to Poland and handed over to her relatives (Fam. Kościelecki and Górka). On March 15, 1554 she met her mother again, who had traveled to Posen especially for this reason . There she filed a lawsuit against her uncle and guardian Wassil for the robbery and confiscation of her property. Since she was no longer married, she was again contacted by candidates from the best families in the country. Marcin Zborowski, who "liberated" the princess in Bohemia, expected his son to have good chances. However, since he was not exactly regarded as a follower loyal to the king, King Sigismund II. August did not want to strengthen him with the huge fortune of the princess.
The king appointed his loyal partisan Luke III as guardian. Górka (Polish: Łukasz III. Górka ) as bridegroom for the young rich widow, which he announced in May 1555. The descendant of one of the most influential noble families of Wielkopolska was one of the king's closest confidants. At that time he was bailiff (and later voivode ) of Brest-Kujawien and still had a brilliant career ahead of him. But he hadn't expected resistance from the bride and her mother. In their urge for self-determination, the women were supported by the self-confident king mother, Bona Sforza (1494–1557), with advice and action. As long as she was there, the will of Princess Beate had to be respected. After all, Princess Beate grew up on Bona's court and was therefore under her personal protection. However, by this time Sigismund II August had long since cut the cord from his mother. Rather, he aimed to assert himself against his mother in case of doubt. Luke III. Górka was a propagator of Protestantism in Poland, while his future bride was raised strictly Catholic. But there were legitimate doubts about his morality. Maybe as a man he just couldn't convince both women of himself? Mixed denominational marriages were quite common among Polish aristocrats. Princess Beate was not squeamish in choosing her arguments. To turn the bride away, she relied on a regulation that denied a Polish nobleman who wanted to marry a noble woman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania access to her property if the bride's family received a quarter of the value of the dowry in cash brings up. To circumvent this rule, the king gave his loyal Górka a special privilege , which was not confirmed by the Lithuanian Diet in 1554.
In order to save the project, the king asked his closest confidante, the Lithuanian prince Mikołaj Radziwiłł "the black" , in writing to mediate in a letter dated November 26, 1556. Unfortunately, unsuccessful. The women refused and Halschka wrote to the king that she would sooner die than marry Lukas Górka. However, with Bona's departure to Italy, the situation for the Ostrog princesses became increasingly tight. Later it turned out that the Radziwiłł "the black", contrary to the royal mandate, encouraged women in their resistance to Górka. Finally the king lost his patience and decided to enforce the wedding if necessary under duress. The two women who lived at the royal court had no choice. The wedding was held on February 16, 1559 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw , although the bride's mother steadfastly refused to give her consent. In order not to give the event the appearance of legality by her presence, she wanted to hide on that day. But she had been found and locked in her room after the signet ring had been removed from her and presented to the daughter as a token of her approval. Therefore, when she was asked at the wedding altar by Bishop Czarnkowski from Poznań for the obligatory "yes", Halschka replied that it was her will if it was her mother's will. This made her second wedding invalid. Since she refused to accept her newly wedded husband, the young marriage remained incomplete.
Escape to Lviv
Lukas Górka did not have much time to chase after his wife because he had to go about his official duties. As a voivode, it was his duty to lead the military in his administrative unit in case of war. So he had to go to the Livonian War when Russia wanted to gain access to the Baltic Sea there. The royal court later moved to Vilnius to be closer to the war. Instead, Princess Beate Ostrogska (with her daughter, entourage and her guard) did not follow the king, but did not travel so secretly to Lemberg (Polish: Lwów). If she wanted to escape royal control of herself and her daughter, the princely entourage was counterproductive because she couldn't hide with it. The idea of hiding women in a men's monastery may have been well meant, but a princess cannot and must not hide. Their guards stirred up the city, so that the Lviv patricians complained in writing to the king, whereupon the governor in charge was given the task of maintaining order. It quickly became clear who was responsible for the incidents.
The king ordered Halschka to be separated from her mother and to be given to the husband chosen by the king. Princess Beate refused. The king again asked his friend, Mikołaj Radziwiłł "the black", to mediate. - in vain! Górka insisted on the surrender of his wife. Before the matter became too embarrassing for him, the king ordered the heavily fortified Dominican monastery to be besieged and, if necessary, stormed. The monastery was part of the fortification system of the city, which defied enemy attacks several times in its history. The princess was accompanied by several hundred guardsmen and even more servants of both sexes. In this respect, it was able to withstand a superior force for a long time in a fortress. Therefore, Princess Beate let the last ultimatum pass, but not without comment. Rather, she convinced the bailiff of the correctness of her arguments that the king should act for the benefit of his wards and must respect their will as a parent. Nevertheless, the bailiff Barza had to exercise his office. On March 15, 1559, he had the monastery cordoned off and the cannons fired. Eyewitnesses reported that the shooting was quite sharp. Even if access to the city had been strictly controlled since the first incidents, a candidate who wanted to marry managed to get into the monastery disguised as a beggar: Prince Siemon Olelkowicz von Sluzk . When Lukas Górka, who had returned from the war, reinforced the besieging with a small body standard, it would almost have been a bloody frontal attack if the governor of Barza hadn't had the idea of cutting off the fresh water from the besieged. A few days later, the defenders had to capitulate. The princess delivered her daughter into the hands of the governor in trust, i. H. only until the king had decided the matter again. But she let it be known that her daughter had just been married to Prince Olelkowicz and that the marriage had already been consummated; H. consumed. Thus Górka would no longer have a claim to Halschka. Princess Beate herself in turn transferred her personal assets to Prince Olelkowicz in exchange for lifelong protection and livelihood in order to at least protect that from Górka.
At Górka
As agreed , Landvogt Barza Halschka delivered to the Royal Castle in Warsaw . The king, however, remained consistent: he did not recognize Halschka's most recent marriage to Prince Olelkowicz and Sigismund II. August declared all property agreements between the two women to be null and void! Above all, however, Halschka was handed over to Lukas Górka, who, despite her resistance, immediately brought her to his residence in Samter .
Both Barza and Górka had a lot of grief with the young princess because for a long time she did not want to eat what her mother would not have sent her. The mother instilled in her daughter a great fear of poisoning, but this turned out to be unfounded. Górka showed himself to be chivalrous towards his stubborn wife and never forced her to have sex, although according to the understanding of the time he would have had the right to do so. For a long time, however, Halschka did not want to look at him or speak to him directly, let alone have marital relations with him. She moved into her own living quarters in a tower of the Górka residence. She later began to dress exclusively in black, which soon contributed to the creation of the legend of the "Black Princess" (or "Black Lady").
Last hope
Princess Beate von Ostrog, however, did not give up on her daughter: she was even prepared to put 100,000 gold ducats on the table for him to let her daughter go free. In terms of purchasing power, this corresponds to around € 50 million. All attempts at mediation failed, however. Everyone knew that the princely daughter's dowry was worth many times that sum. Regardless of this, the mother did not stop making innumerable attempts at mediation with the help of her well-meaning magnates. B. those of Marcin Zborowski, Primate Jan Przerębski, the Bishop of Poznan Andrzej Czarnkowski or Hetman Jan Amor Tarnowski .
Górka saw himself in the right and against the will of the king none of these gentlemen had anything to say. Other senators and personalities, whom the desperate mother bombarded with her countless letters of petition, simply did not want to interfere. But their supporters were also not uncritical about their behavior. Only once did Górka agree to come to a meeting of both parties in Petrikau , where they wanted to finally settle the conflict so that the long grown daughter could possibly come back to her mother. However, this conference never took place. The political and moral pressure that the princess mother was able to build up behind her demand probably lost noticeably less force when the young prince Olelkowicz (1560) died unexpectedly early and the old friend Hetman Tarnowski (1561) suddenly died.
Loss of mother
Princess Beate von Ostrog felt compelled to look for new supporters and in 1564 married the 21 years younger, ambitious Albrecht Laski (Polish: Olbracht Łaski) (1536–1605), who wanted to rule Moldova. Because of the big age difference, it was a scandalous wedding. Despite the initially auspicious appearance, he was only interested in his second wife's fortune: after she had transferred her fortune to him, he locked her up in his Käsmark castle in the High Tatras and then threw himself into political and military adventures. From then on, Princess Beate had lost all control over her daughter (and possibly all contact with her). Only after eleven years of isolation had the Kaschauer main captain of Upper Hungary (pronounced Slovakia ), Hans Rueber to Pixendorf (1529-84), free. He led the investigation into the allegations against Laski for bigamy , which broke out after his betrayal of the Habsburgs in the race for the crown of Poland-Lithuania after the death of Sigismund II August . Barely liberated, she died in Kaschau in July of the same year (1576) without having seen her beloved daughter again.
In the golden cage
Without the influence of her mother, the Halschka's life normalized a little. Although she was never free and always under supervision, she was allowed to take part in Easter retreats , even though her husband was a Protestant, and was able to move freely around the extensive castle grounds at Samter . She accompanied her husband several times, always dressed in black, to public events, especially when these took place in the city palace of the Górkas in Poznan . She is also said to have accompanied her husband on his inspection trips through his extensive estates in Greater Poland . However, she never had a "normal marriage" with him and lived in a kind of house arrest until the death of her husband. Luke III. Górka died on January 23, 1573 "of a carbuncle".
The last few years
The extremely wealthy and, at 34 years old, still quite young widow was again hotly courted. Jan Ostroróg , another magnate from Wielkopolska and a neighbor of the late Lukas Górka , counted himself with the best chances this time . However, they did not get married because Halschka was ensnared again by her uncle Wasil with the promise to work for the liberation of her mother. His son Janusch (Polish: Janusz) (1554-1620) brought her from the densely populated Greater Poland (in the west of Kgr. Poland) to his father's castle in Dubno , in the west of Ukraine, where she was supposed to recover.
It was announced to the outside that Halschka had been mentally confused after the many blows of fate, which made her uninteresting for the more serious marriage candidates. Allegedly she suffered from worsening depression or is even said to have gone completely mad. She finally died in December 1584. The exact date of death is as little known as the place of her burial. Most likely she was buried in her native Ostrog , in one of the local Catholic or Orthodox churches. In her will she had expressed the wish to be buried in her place of birth. The deeply religious Catholic, who took part in typical Catholic religious practices ( retreats ) during her stay in Greater Poland , will probably have converted to the Orthodox faith in her homeland under the influence of her Orthodox family, as she generously supported and supported the Orthodox Ostroger Academy Orthodox clergy appointed to testify. She bequeathed her incredible fortune to her uncle Wassil and his son Janusch.
The legend and reality
After Queen Bona, Halschka von Ostrog is one of the most famous women in Renaissance Poland . She owes this not least to the legend that arose around her stay in Samter while she was still alive and was fueled and kept alive by taking up this motif in art and literature. However, in the legend she is referred to as the "Black Princess" or "Black Lady".
The black legend
The legend known today in Poland is essentially due to a local patriotic horror story by Mieczysław Dereżyński: According to this, she is said to have kept Lukas Górka prisoner in a tower for 14 years as a punishment for not wanting to have marital relations with him. After her death in Dubno, she is said to have been transferred to Samter and buried in an unknown location in the catacombs of the collegiate church. So that nobody else could enjoy her beauty, she not only had to wear an iron mask, but she was not allowed to leave her tower, except for going to church. However, she was not allowed to move freely, but is said to have used an underground secret passage that was supposed to connect her tower with the collegiate church. In the church she took a seat in a small niche with a small barred window facing the church to atone and to celebrate the service. According to legend, on cloudy moonlit nights a woman in a penitent's garb can be found near the tower, who then disappears into it. Once there, she should sigh, sob or cry softly.
Political background
The very eventful vita of Elisabeth Katharina von Ostróg is hardly understandable without knowledge of the political and legal conditions at the time. The German conditions cannot be transferred to Poland or Lithuania at that time. The events initially took place under the rule of Sigismund I Jagiello , the hereditary Grand Duke of Lithuania and who was elected King of Poland by the Polish Senate in 1507. Since the extinction of the main line of the Piast dynasty , the Kingdom of Poland was no longer a classic hereditary monarchy . Since Władysław II. Jagiełło , Poland was strategically, politically and militarily closely allied with the neighboring state of Lithuania, mostly through the person of the monarch, but the personal union was neither mandatory nor ruled out the election of “foreign” candidates. The Jagiellonian dynasty tried to conquer Central Europe through alliances and marriages in the late Middle Ages and in the Renaissance . Securing the Polish throne for the family and the wars against the rising opponents (especially the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Ottoman Empire ) made it necessary to win over the nobility who provided the armed forces and through the Reichstag (Polish: Sejm ) through laws , Taxes and the succession to the throne. This led to an appreciation of the nobility at the expense of other classes and to a weakening of the position of the king. Polish chivalry paid for the abuse of the state for dynastic interests with many privileges. Because the rule of the dynasty in Bohemia and Hungary was lost to the family, Sigismund I, under the pressure of his ambitious wife Bona Sforza, ensured that his son Sigismund-August was not only elected as his successor during his lifetime ( vivente rege ), but also became co-regent. In addition, the successful alliance with Lithuania had to be deepened. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a little easier to rule than Poland, because the Grand Duke had more power and his authority was not so restricted by the Reichstag. But the descendants of Władysław Jagiełło were not the only pretenders to the throne. In addition, there were several branches of his family and also Russian petty princes who ruled their own independent states until the 14th century. These were weak and at odds with one another after the Kievan Rus was crushed by the Mongols . Lithuania was able to conquer a large part of these areas in the 13th and 14th centuries, but was culturally shaped by them, i.e. Russified. Through inheritance and marriages, great fortunes were created time and again, which also gave their owners political power that no sovereign could ignore. As a rule, these magnates maintained their own court, their own army and not infrequently conducted their own domestic and foreign policy, which sometimes did not coincide with the interests of the sovereign. Therefore the sovereigns tried either to prevent the creation of such fortunes or at least to pass them on to reliable partisans. In the 16th century, the Kingdom of Poland reached the Reformation and was very popular among the nobility and in the cities dominated by German settlers, while the country remained Catholic. Gfm. Lithuania , on the other hand, remained predominantly Orthodox. However, all kinds of economic and religious refugees have found refuge and protection in Poland and Lithuania since the Middle Ages, so that many Jews and denominationally oppressed Christians (e.g. Protestants , Armenian Christians ) were able to practice their faith in the cities , which is why they also made up significant minorities . In general, efforts were made not to allow any religious riots to occur. However, these efforts have not always been successful.
Resolute Queen Bona supported the Counter-Reformation as much as possible , while her son Sigismund II August clearly sympathized with Protestantism . At times he even toyed with the idea of creating a national church , as Henry VIII had shown in England . The expropriation of ecclesiastical property would have made him economically independent of the Reichstag as king and a church committed to him would propagate his policy and not constantly question or even argue with "overriding goals" urge him to make decisions that were not in the interests of the country or the dynasty . The representatives of the Catholic Church did this again and again. The Orthodox Church, on the other hand, was suspected of not supporting the state after Moscow laid claim to inheritance from Eastern Europe when Constantinople was conquered by the Ottomans in 1453 . Since it had not been possible to remove the Orthodox bishops from Moscow's influence, a move was made to prepare a church union with the Catholics. However, he had never seen the success of his efforts in this direction. The idea of a Union Church met with resistance from large parts of the Russian / Ruthenian population and later fueled the Cossack uprisings. However, after the king had given up his own dynastic plans, he also rejected the idea of a national church and henceforth advocated balance and dialogue between the denominations. Domestically, Sigismund II August tried to make Poland more governable. Poland and Lithuania should no longer become a confederation, but a federal state. So he had proposed many reforms that needed broad support from the political class to implement them. Halschka von Ostrog was demoted to a chess piece and used as such. It was therefore more important to him to win over the opinion leaders of the nobility than to allow justice to prevail and help individuals to gain their rights. A good relationship with the Polish Protestants should counteract the threat of secession from the Protestant Duchy of Prussia . After the death of Sigismund II. August several shorter reigns of different rulers followed, with a new election campaign breaking out after the end of one rule. The candidates always tried to win over the opinion leaders of the voting nobility through privileges, gifts and other favors. So the Halschkas and her mother affair fell off the agenda. Both women were not politically important enough or their opponents were more important and influential.
Discourse about the truth
Marital happiness versus politics
Halschka's first marriage to Prince Sangushko could rely on her mother's approval, because the groom was the son of her father's best friend and also friends with his uncle. However, the law required that the guardians jointly determine the bridegroom. Therefore, Princess Beate gave in quickly when the king expressed his displeasure with her choice. But Sangushko would be a befitting match in every respect, Orthodox, grew up in the royal court and a capable military man - he had already fought very successfully against the Tatars - with brilliant career prospects. The king's lack of consent was purely political. He did not want the Orthodox to become too strong in order not to endanger the desired Union . The same applies to the king's refusal to recognize her third marriage to Prince Olelkowicz, who would have had a direct claim to the throne of the Grand Dukes of Kiev. There can be no question of a love connection here either. The Ostrogski family was traditionally deeply connected to Orthodoxy. The emergence of an orthodox state could make a three-nation union (with Russians / Ruthenians) necessary and possible from the "union of two nations" (Poles and Lithuanians). The Catholic Poles didn't like that at all, because it allowed Poland to take over what is now Ukraine from Lithuania.
Married life with Górka
It is certain that the wedding with Lukas Górka could only take place under duress and that the young princess of Ostróg had no feelings for her husband. Therefore it is understandable that she did not want to submit to her unloved husband. The fact that she was manipulated by her mother on top of that is only marginal against this background. But the questionable status of this connection is not to be blamed. Because the bride was the sole heir of a former ruling princely family with a corresponding fortune. Górka, on the other hand, was only a scion of the knightly primal nobility and not a princely dynasty, so at least one step lower and accordingly less wealthy and on top of that a Protestant of dubious moral reputation. The fact is that Luke III. Górka did not have his wife incarcerated. The tower named after Halschka was by no means their gloomy prison, but had already been expanded into a residential tower in 1518 (and modernized in 1548), so that both spouses lived in it while the castle was extensively renovated and expanded. In fact, it has retained this character to this day, although it now houses a museum. There are no reliable reports that Halschka was imprisoned or abused by Ostrog. The iron mask, however, certainly belongs in the realm of the imagination. She would certainly have ruined her beauty. It is traditional and confirmed, however, that Halschka always showed herself "in penitent clothes", that is, in black, although she probably also covered her face with a veil from strangers' eyes. That was quite common at the time. As Luke III. Górka died "of a carbuncle" in 1573, this was no reason for the young widow to take off her mourning costume. She knew what was proper. However, the traditional cause of death can be interpreted as an indication of a venereal disease ( syphilis ) that was widespread at the time . That in turn would have explained Halschka's refusal to have sexual relations with Górka and his dealings with it logically. It was a taboo subject at the time. Her mother often claimed in her letters that the marriage between Halschka and Lukas Górka had not been consummated because of him, but avoided any clearer formulation. However, Lukas Górka was notorious for his sexual debauchery. In 1563 he was expelled from the Czech Brothers' congregation for this reason and from then on became the leader of the somewhat more tolerant Lutherans. In this respect, he should be given high credit for his wife's indulgent reticence. However, the reproach made by the Princess Mother would be in vain.
Family care or trap
The tradition that Halschka became confused or even crazy after Górka's death is also questionable. There is nothing to support this but the claims made by those who inherited it. She had managed her own fortune for years, even though she lived at her uncle Wassil's castle in Dubno. It is undisputed that she wanted to strip her uncle, but it is disputed whether he had thought of her well-being. Under his trustee she was in any case protected from further advances by foreign marriage candidates. Her uncle and his son had effectively prevented the young widow from marrying repeatedly. So he made sure that his half-brother's fortune fell into his line. The promise to work for her mother's release also contributed to this. There is no evidence of any such efforts, while the imperial archives contained numerous letters from other people who advocated the release of Princess Beate: Above all, the Kaschau captain Hans Rueber should be mentioned here. So one might get the idea that her uncle isolated her and left her to degenerate, just as Albert Laski did with her mother, who, despite the personal protection, died shortly after her liberation abroad. Both women, mother and daughter, died conspicuously inconspicuously, far from places where they would be missed and their death would be questioned. You cannot help but believe that the dear relatives did everything they could to ensure that the princess was forgotten while she was still alive.
Doubt about the will
Further inconsistencies are hidden in Halschka Ostrogska's will: The will document did not contain the usual phrase that the testator formulates his will in full possession of his intellectual powers. It also remains a mystery why the first part of the will (including the name of the beneficiaries) was written by a person; the second part, however, in which the uncle is declared executor and the document was signed by the testator and honorable witness, was written by another person. Why was the much older uncle appointed executor? Why should a woman not yet that old suddenly put her last will on paper? If she had been seriously ill, the will would likely be made shortly before her death. Perhaps then she was killed after the co-signers and witnesses of her will died? Then one could almost certainly speak of a murder plot that the uncle had instigated in order to get the fortune of his half-brother and his heirs.
Services
Princess Elisabeth Katharina von Ostrog was never allowed to act independently. However, after returning home, she made large donations to the Ostrog Academy , which was founded by her uncle and remained the only Orthodox university in Poland-Lithuania for a long time . However, their fate spurred the arts, music, and literature of four nations.
Halschka in art and literature
It would be difficult to enumerate all the works that deal with the fate of the Princess of Ostróg or take up her motives. So here is just a selection:
- Piotr Skarga : Kazanie VIII - O szóstej chorobie Rzeczypospolitej , in "Kazania Sejmowe"; 1597
- Stanisław Jaszowski: Elżbieta Księżniczka Ostrogska - Powieść z czasów Króla Zygmunta Augusta ; Lwów 1829 (society historical novel)
- Józef Ignacy Kraszewski : Halszka - drama in three acts ; Vilna 1838
- Aleksander Przeździecki: Halszka z Ostroga - drama in five acts ; Vilnius 1841
- Józef Szujski: Halszka z Ostroga - historical drama in five acts ; Krakow 1859
- Jan Matejko : Kazanie Skargi (oil painting on linen 324x397)
- Józef Wojciechowski: Księżniczka Ostrogska ; 1868 (drama)
- Karol Zap: Eliska, knieznicka z Ostrohu, mravoliczny obraz ze 16 stoleti , (story in Czech around 1850)
- Jacob Caro : Beata and Halszka. A Polish-Russian story from the sixteenth century . In: Deutsche Revue 8.2 (1883), pp. 289-315, especially pp. 313f.
- Mieczysław Dereżyński: Czarna Księżniczka Halszka z Ostroga ; Szamotuły 1931 (Legends)
- Maria Julia ze Sławskich Wicherkiewiczow: Łódź na purpurze ; Poznań 1932 (novel)
- Amelia Łączyńska: Infuły i szyszaki - Opowieść o wielkim rodzie Górków ; Nauka i Wiedza, Warszawa 1966 (non-fiction like a family chronicle)
- Janusz Teodor Dybowski: Wieży Czarnej Księżniczki , LSW, Warszawa 1968 (historical novel )
- Krystyna Kolińska: Wojna dwudziestoletnia o Czarną Księżniczkę , (in :) "Damy Czarne i Białe"; Iskry, Warszawa 1972 (short story)
- Zbigniew Kuchowicz: Wizerunki niepospolitych niewiast staropolskich XVI - XVIII wieku ; Wydawnictwo Łódzkie, Łódź 1974 (non-fiction book)
- Marek Ruszczyc: Niepospolite kobiety - Legenda i historia ; Polonia, Kraków 1986
- Marian Schwartz: Halszka ( linocut )
Individual evidence
- ↑ P. Maluśkiewicz, op. Cit , p.190.
- ↑ See S. Zagórska, pp. 16–22.
- ↑ See R. Żelewski. Ostrogski Ilia (Eliasz) książę (1510-1539) , p. 481
- ↑ Piotr Maluśkiewicz, Halszka z Ostroga , in: Tajemnicza Wielkopolska (Ed. Zygmunt Rola), p. 191.
- ↑ Piotr Paweł Prus, Księżniczka Halszka z Ostroga , p. 18.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ S. Zagórska, pp. 43–45
- ↑ J. Besala in Newsweek Historia
- ↑ P. Prus, p. 20
- ↑ P. Prus, p. 10
- ↑ P. Prus, p. 12
- ↑ Siemon Olelkowicz Słucki (born probably 1534) died when he was barely 26 years old, which can also be considered suspicious.
- ↑ Jerzy Besala on E. Ostrogska in Newsweek-Historia, 6/2014, viewed on February 21, 2015
- ↑ Sylwia Zagórska: aktualizacja Legendy, p 244
- ↑ Kempa, Dzieje rodu Ostrogskich , p. 79
- ↑ Jerzy Besala on E. Ostrogska in Newsweek-Historia, 6/2014, viewed on February 21, 2015
- ↑ Mieczysław Dereżyński Czarna księżniczka Halszka for Ostroga, Szamotuły 1931
- ↑ M. Mazurek on the "Black Lady" ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Sylwia Zagórska: aktualizacja Legendy , p 91
- ↑ Amelia Łączyńska: Infuły i szyszaki , p. 144 f.
- ↑ Amelia Łączyńska: Infuły i szyszaki , p. 138
- ↑ M. Mazurek on the "Black Lady" ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Jerzy Besala on E. Ostrogska in Newsweek-Historia, 6/2014, viewed on February 21, 2015
- ↑ Sylwia Zagórska: aktualizacja Legendy , p 129
- ↑ Amelia Łączyńska: Infuły i szyszaki , p. 170 f.
- ↑ Sylwia Zagórska: aktualizacja Legendy , p 161
- ↑ Sylwia Zagórska: aktualizacja Legendy , pp 166 et seq.
- ↑ Sylwia Zagórska: aktualizacja Legendy , p 40
literature
- Antoni Gąsiorowski (red.): Szamotuły. Karty z dziejów miasta . Szamotuły: Muzeum - Zamek Górków, 2006. ISBN 83-9175-238-0 .
- Tomasz Kempa: Dzieje rodu Ostrogskich. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Adam Marszałek, 2002. ISBN 83-7174-971-6 .
- Tomasz Kempa: Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski (ok. 1524/1525 - 1608) - Wojewoda Kijowski i Marszałek Ziemi Wołyńskiej. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, 1997. ISBN 83-231-0796-3 .
- Zbigniew Kuchowicz: Wizerunki niepospolitych niewiast staropolskich XVI - XVIII wieku. Łódź: Wydawnictwo Łódzkie, 1974.
- Piotr Paweł Prus: Księżniczka Halszka z Ostroga. Szamotuły: Muzeum - Zamek Górków, 1992.
- Zygmunt Rola (red.): Tajemnicza Wielkopolska. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Zysk i S-ka, 2000, pp. 189-196. ISBN 83-7150-930-8 .
- Jerzy Sobczak: Duchy i zjawy wielkopolskie. Poznań: Wydawnictwo Zysk i S-ka, 2002, pp. 163–174. ISBN 83-7298-303-8 .
- Sylwia Zagórska: Halszka z Ostroga: Między faktami a mitami. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo DiG, 2006. ISBN 83-7181-419-4
- Roman Żelewski: Ostrogski Ilia (Eliasz) książę (1510-1539) / Polski Słownik Biograficzny ; Wrocław - Warsaw - Kraków - Gdańsk; Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, 1979 .; Vol. XXIV / 3 .; Issue 102
Web links
- Article by Jerzy Besala about E. Ostrogska in Newsweek-Historia, 6/2014, viewed on February 21, 2015
- Małgorzata Mazurek: Information about the "Black Lady" alias Halschka von Ostróg, sighted on February 21, 2015
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ostrogska, Elisabeth |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ostrogska, Elisabeth Katharina (full name); Ostrogska, Halschka; Ostrogska, Halszka; Ostrog, Halschka from; Ostroga, Halszka z; Halszka |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish magnate, Princess of Ostrog |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 19, 1539 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Ostrog |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 1582 |
| Place of death | Dubno |