Kronika Polska (The Polish Chronicle) by Marcin Kromer, the royal secretary and later Warmia Bishop, published in Latin in 1555 under the title De origine et rebus gestis Polonorum[1] contains numerous descriptions of bloody conflicts between rulers, battles and wars that sometimes give way to comments about a surprisingly cold winter or exceptionally hot summer, or the birth of a two-headed calf. However, grand politics and the world of animals are not the only topics discussed in the Chronicle and the author tries to reach deeper into the past, searching for reasons of the afflictions tormenting the country and explaining the God's anger, manifested by the imbalance in nature, in human actions, their greed for power and lack of moderation.
In his chronicle, Kromer follows with interest the life of women in power: daughters inheriting the throne after their fathers and mothers running the country in regency before the coming of age of their sons. A role model for all these female rulers is Wenda, daughter of Krak, enthroned after her brother Lech was removed from power. Lech had killed his older brother, successor to the throne, and was in consequence exiled from the country. According to Kromer, Wenda was elected by Poles themselves who were expecting her to get married soon. The reader gets to know Wenda as a very beautiful girl[2], who reportedly was called a fishing rod (in Polish wędka, which sounds similar to Wenda), as her beauty attracted those who looked at her the same as a fishing rod attracted fish. However, then the opportunity came, Wenda revealed her non-female character, when she rejected the proposal of marriage made by the German duke Rytygierz. The reason for the refusal was not enmity towards German neighbours, but rather a conviction that it is better to be a princess than a prince's wife[3]. The Polish princess turned out to be not only a beauty but also a masterful woman, of a mighty, almost male brain[4]. Wenda's "almost male" brain told her to gather the army and lead it to a battle with the miserable candidate to marriage and drive him to suicide out of shame and disgrace caused by his unbattled defeat by a woman[5]. However, Wenda was not destined to live her life on the throne - after her triumphant return to the capital, the princess drowned herself in the Vistula as an offering to gods for the victory and for fear that ill fate could replace the former fortune[6].
None of the women described by Kromer managed to avoid being "a prince's wife" and none of them decided to die in the name of freedom won in the male world of political rivalry. Kromer juxtaposes many women to Wenda and contrasts their aspirations with mental weakness - the human brain. A reluctant regent, a woman made to rule the country despite lack of leader capacities, was, according to Kromer, Helen of Znojmo, widow of Casimir the Just and mother of Leszek the White and Konrad of Masovia. Poles decided that she should run the country as regent in association with Fulkon Pełka, the Krakow bishop and Mikołaj Gryfita, the Krakow voivode. Continuously threatened by Mieszko the Old, who craved for full power for himself, Helen, despite protests of her advisers, entered into an agreement with Mieszko, under which Kujawy would return to Helen's sons in exchange for her resignation from Krakow. The regent's independent decision dictated by the interest of her sons and awareness of her own military limitations, is, in Kromer's opinion, a manifestation of female nature, gullible, incompetent and susceptible to deception by defective counsel[7]. A different opinion is expressed by Wincenty Kadłubek, who probably knew Helen in person and wrote in his Chronica Polonica that the [...] princes' mother excelled other women in her counsel, cleverness and prudence[8].
In his chronicle, Kromer describes in a similar way Elisabeth of Poland, older sister of Casimir the Great and wife of Charles Robert, King of Hungary, who, after her brother's death, was the regent of Poland on behalf of her son Louis and, exercising her female rule over Poland, elected young and inexperienced members to the Senate[9]. Elisabeth's female rule causes only damage to Poland and the regent, instead of trying to overcome the difficult domestic situation and restrain invading neighbours, spent her time feasting and partying and did not care in the least for pagan destruction and murders[...][10].
Marcin Kromer classified Elisabeth and Helen as bad regents, women susceptible to flattery and malevolent advice and guided by "female brain." However, they lived to old age, struggling to secure the interests of their children, whereas Wenda, with her "almost male brain" was doomed to death: although she came into full power over the State, the fear of losing it pushed her to sacrificial suicide. The regents, on the other hand, only apparently ruled the country on behalf of their respective sons, whereas in reality, they controlled the whole power and selected their advisers as they wished.
[1] German translation Mitnächtischer Völckeren Historien, Bazylea 1562, in Polish Kronika Polska, Krakow 1611 (here quoted from the second edition, Sanok 1857).
[2] Kronika Polska, p. 64.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] Ibid, p. 65.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid, p. 358.
[8] Mistrza Wincentego, zwanego Kadłubkiem, biskupa krakowskiego Kronika Polska, Krakow 1862, p. 239.
[9] Kronika Polska, p. 653.
[10] Ibid, p. 664.
Translation: Lingua Lab
