Silva Rerum | 17.08.2015 The nobility in the Commonwealth, although it transformed into landowners in the 16th century, always claimed to belong to the knighthood. Chivalric ideals and the customs associated with them occupied an important place in Sarmatian culture. Probably, their most emphatic expression were funeral celebrations. The funerals of prominent persons were described in private correspondence or in memoirs, or even in special accounts of these events. Jan Kmita published Report on the funeral of late [...] Krzysztof Radziwiłł, Vilnius Voivode, Grand Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (1641), where he included a detailed description of the catafalque on which stood the body "in a coffin padded with crimson velvet," decorated with "weapons and war insignia" and "the coats of arms of the Radziwiłł family," and on the coffin lay "a duke's hat trimmed with expensive jewels, and a baton and sabre..." Red colour was symbolic and attributed to knights (especially the killed ones). On the day of the funeral, trumpets and drums were played and a procession of cavalry and infantry units as well as guests was formed, but the most important person was so-called archimimus: "Mr Krupski, the Cavalry Master, was dressed from head to toes in golden cuirass under a tassel, sitting on a horse covered with crimson satin cloth reaching down to the ground and carrying a red damask banner, two tails big..."
The banner displayed the coats of arms of the Radziwiłł family and a laudatory inscription. It was so-called tomb banner that was later hanged above the grave. The role of the character symbolising the deceased ended only in the church, where he was supposed to break the lance on the coffin as a sign of a knight's death and end of his service; this custom also accompanied royal funerals. Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł reported an unusual event in an account of the funeral of the Grand Hetman of the Crown, Stanisław Koniecpolski, in his diary of 1646: "On this first funeral of the Hetman in Brody, a commotion arose in the church, when, despite crowds and lack of space, a knight on horseback tried to break his lance, as was customary; the horse got frightened and it hurt many people with its hoofs, and galloped out of the church and across the entire town, where it was finally stopped."
The ceremony was also accompanied by words: sermons and lay speeches that spoke of the knightly deeds of the deceased and set an example for subsequent generations.
The purpose of a battle worthy of a Sarmatian knight was most concisely depicted by Wacław Potocki inTransakcja wojny chocimskiej (Account of the Chocim war), by quoting the famous speech by Hetman Karol Chodkiewicz: "..God, Homeland and the Lord hide their holy resources locked in the archives of your chests." Death in battle seen from this perspective became the subject matter of rich literary tradition. The underlying principle of knightly death was reminded by Jakub Sobieski in his oration at Chodkiewicz's funeral: "Worn out by diseases, constant effort and unfavourable times, he did what someone called stando oportet mori imperatorem, as he never experienced any other rest in his war struggles than death that almost knocked him off his horse."
Suetonius' sentence quoted by Sobieski, saying that an emperor ought to die standing, is but one of the traits of the Roman tradition that shaped a Sarmatian knight. Chodkiewicz died of illness at old age in a camp at Chocim in 1621, but a year earlier the Hertman and Grand Chancellor of the Crown, Stanisław Żółkiewski, had died a heroic death in a battle with Turks at Cecora. His deeds were beautifully praised at a Sejm meeting by Tomasz Zamojski, who returned the baton and stamp of the deceased to King Zygmunt III. He was the first to compare the conduct of the Polish Hetman to Roman standards described by Livius in an account of the death of consul Lucius Aemilius in the Battle of Cannae 216 B.C.). A literary comparison was compiled by Samuel ze Skrzypny Twardowski in his poem Władysław IV
...wherever he sees the need,
he goes there with his so far triumphant hand,
as long as he holds his weapon in it,
unconscious of his age, he bears in mind only
that to be a good hetman,
one must die standing. Finally his horse
was shot and fell down to meet
inevitable death. A soldier gives him another horse and says:
»It is the day of the doom and pagans
have clasped their hand on the camp, oh, run away Hetman
and not let the homeland suffer
your death!«. The Hetman answers: »Take care of yourself
and run away where you wish! My fate
and my happiness is to die here on this field
together with my warriors«
Of course, brave death was not reserved for commanders and countless other funeral speeches and writings glorify similar cases. The power of the symbol is highlighted in one of the lamentations written by Wespazjan Kochowski after his brother's death (Pamiątka trenami wyrażona prędkiego z tego świata ześcia nieboszczyka P. Seweryna Kochowskiego) (Lamentations commemorating the premature death of late Seweryn Kochowski). A list of dramatic rhetorical questions modelled on Tren X (Lamentation no. X) by Jan Kochanowski takes the shape of complaining not so much about the fact of the brother's death but the way he died:
Why under a roof and not in a field? Why in his bed and not on horseback?
Why in a wretched room and not in a battlefield?
Glorification of chivalric death is also visible in numerous funeral sermons that, apart from praising the deceased according to a rhetorical pattern, also described the circumstances of the death. Some of these descriptions were quite detailed and almost naturalistic, for example: J. Hasjusz at the funeral of Mikołaj Bogusław Zenowicz killed at Chocim (Vilnius 1622): ...using his lance, he made his way through rows of pagans, raising his head towards his compatriots with miraculous bravery, when suddenly struck in his helmet, he fell off his horse with a broken jaw and spleen flowing out. It is a lion's virtue to tear out one's intestines and die in a battlefield, fighting for freedom and internally free.
This description not only compares the knight to a lion, which is a typical motif in heroic epics, but it also mentions another, seemingly Sarmatian in spirit, purpose of chivalric commitment: freedom.
Epic poems written in the Baroque epoch that described authentic events from Polish history not only presented lofty accounts of the last moments of brave warriors but also often contained entire catalogues of the names of casualties, according to the principle expressed by Zbigniew Morsztyn in his Sławna wiktoryja nad Turkami (Famous Victory over Turks) relating the battle of Chocim in 1673:
It is worthy to mention, if possible,
Each and every one wounded in battle,
It is worthy to commemorate every glorious scar
Suffered for the homeland.
Similar were the motifs of Szymon Starowolski, who developed a compendium of laudatory biograms of eminent knights: Sarmatiae bellatores and a collection of tomb inscriptions found in the churches of the Commonwealth: Monumenta Sarmatarum.
Starowolski also spoke of the Polish custom of "former Sarmatians" of singing so-called "duma" (pride) songs about heroic deeds during feasts. "Duma" songs, of praising and lamenting nature, were handed down orally (fragments of the "duma" song about Hołubek were found in a folk song in early 20th century) and printed as leaflets. Very popular were "duma" songs about Gabriel Hołubek, who died in the battle of Byczyna as well as about J.K. Chodkiewicz, Stefan Chmielecki and Samuel Korecki. As a consequence of the conviction that heroic death in a just war: for faith, homeland, freedom is a straight road to heaven, "duma" songs were accompanied by requests, almost prayers, to knights:
You, oh noble Chmielecki, now safe with your God
As your spirit lives an eternal live,
Remember about us in the heaven above,
Whenever we are in need.
Also, a form of chivalric epitaph with repetitive heroic motifs developed. Probably the loftiest of them is the presentation of bones left in a battlefield, which contrasted to the popular funeral splendour, like in Zbigniew Morsztyn's tombstone: To Paweł Morsztyn
The bones of Paweł Morsztyn, a good chevalier,
Grow white in the battlefield. Why didn't the soil cover
Their nakedness? – So that heavens
May forever look at such brave virtues.
The ideal of chivalric death, supported by the Catholic counter-reformation teaching on the certainty of heaven for those who sacrificed their lives, was widely propagated in the Sarmatian culture and glorified in many ways. However, alongside the official way of speaking, one could hear the voice of Z. Morsztyn - a poet and a companion of a hussar unit, showing the true image of war and death in the battlefield: sin, fear and pain (Votum).
Translation: Lingua Lab
