The Renaissance looked at history as the activity of individuals. First of all, these individuals were supposed to be impeccable and were shown only in the positive light. Literature created role models that penetrated to the popular awareness and remained there as archetypes rather than as historical persons. They were first of all supposed to encourage noblemen to imitate them. In the period referred to by Jan Długosz as the legendary history of Poland, there were a number of such archetypes before historical individuals.
The first of them is the founder of the state – Lech. He was an impeccable ruler: combative, brave, just, promoter of peace and harmony, prudent and helpful. He was more like a father than a ruler. Paweł Demitrowicz (1625) wrote about him: Having founded the duchy, he justly ruled over it / by his fatherly love rather than lordly strictness winning enslaving his subjects / so that they would obey him not out of fear / but out of their own will. His reign was described as based on dignity and equality. The country having no written laws, he himself decided what was right and what was wrong. Chroniclers noted that Lech ruled not only on Polish lands but also in March, Lübeck, Rostock, Prussia, Pomerania, Mecklenburg and Saxon lands. Jan Skorski (1745) turned Lech into the author of the Polish freedom and father of the golden liberty. According to him, the first ruler was the creator of noble privileges.
Krak (Krakus) was also positively presented. He had similar traits of character like Lech – he was brave, prudent and virtuous. But in the first place, he was modest – so much so that he refrained from power and only agreed to become a ruler following insistent requests of his subjects. According to some writers, Krak did it for the homeland – he chose the good of the state rather than his own interest. In this way, he was a role model. Also, Krak was the first lawmaker, but only after he removed danger – namely, killed a dragon. The subjects were said to have observed the laws made by him for a long time. His combativeness was also emphasised: he was said to either conquer his enemies or conclude alliances with them and he eliminated internal disputes and, in order to prevent them in the future, he appointed arbitrators in the respective provinces. According to some historiographers (Jan Długosz, Maciej of Miechów, Jost Ludwik Decjusz and Stanisław Sarnicki), he came from the Roman Gracchus family.
Another role model was Piast nicknamed Kruszwicki. His role as the founder of the dynasty that had successfully ruled over Poland for many years was particularly emphasised. The literature of the 16th to 18th centuries stressed the fact that he too, like Krak, was unanimously elected as the ruler. Piast was presented as a good, simple and just person. He perfectly fitted in with the Early Modern debate about nobility. He was said to have been a ploughman, or maybe a burgher. When characterising Piast, Józef Epifani Minasowicz (1755), concluded that it was not the blood of ancestors that made a man noble, but rather his virtues and the old Polish virtuousness. Piast was a perfect host. In the 17th century, in line with the Messianic spirit, writers were convinced that Piast became the ruler out of the will of God. It was not without reason that Early Modern journalism returned to the motif of Piast on the throne, as he was the symbol of Polishness and the origin of the state.
Yet another role model was Krak's daughter Wanda. She was an ideal woman – as a ruler, he was characterised by her father's bravery. Her beauty that attracted men was also emphasised. Długosz wrote about her: she attracted the admiration and love of all: by her charming face, kind look, polite speech and her overall beauty, she spoke sweetly to her audience. When a candidate for a husband, the German Duke Rytgier, appeared, she preferred to fight (and win) with him and later sacrifice her life to gods by drowning herself in the Vistula River than to marry him. In the 16th to 18th centuries literature, she was compared to the Amazon (Jan Kochanowski), the legendary Babylonian ruler Semiramis (Stanisław Sarnicki, Klemens Janicki), the Massagetae Queen Tomiri, who had combated the Persian army in the 6th century BC (Klemens Janicki), or the mythological Pallas – Athena (Jan Skorski). Other features of the ruler were presented by Jan Białobocki, who wrote in the Messianic spirit and focused mainly on the chastity preserved by Wanda.
The ruler's most important role was to ensure the safety of the subjects (bravery was positively evaluated even in Wanda), and only then could he or she devote him or herself to ruling the country. What was important was that the ruler be a father rather than a tyrant. Just governance guaranteed good laws and Providence.
Translation: Lingua Lab
