Nadprzyrodzone interwencje w dzieje Rzeczypospolitej: przypadki Matki Boskiej Sokalskiej i Matki Boskiej z Tynnej

• Authors: Tomasz Wiślicz

Title variants

EN

SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTIONS IN THE HISTORY OF THE POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH: THE CASES OF THE HEAVENLY MOTHER OF SOKAL AND THE HEAVENLY MOTHER OF TYNNA

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The survival of the Polish-Lithuanian state in the mid-seventeenth century, in spite of the extremely dramatic concurrence of rebellion and invasion, could be easily perceived as a wonder. In Polish national mythology the turning point in the chain of the nation’s calamities was the successful defense of Jasna Góra, the sanctuary of the Black Madonna, against Swedish troops in 1655. According to the legend, the Virgin Mary herself appeared in the sky during the Swedish siege in order to frighten Her enemies. The experience of the wars of the mid-seventeenth century, and the triumph of the new, baroque religious culture, assured the Polish nobility that the wellbeing of their state depended on divine providence. Nevertheless, heavenly interventions did not find their place in the historiography of early modern Poland with the exception of the miracle at Jasna Góra. Other divine interventions, although they contributed to the ideological worldview of the Polish gentry, did not transcend the boundaries of religious discourse. Thus, reading popular devotional publications throws another light on Polish history, or, more strictly speaking, on the way people living in the 17th century perceived the historical process. This contribution analyzes the political component of the cult of two holy images of Virgin Mary, selected from a host of other examples. The first of them is the image of the Heavenly Mother of Sokal, which competed in prestige and popularity with the image Our Lady of Jasna Góra. The second image is Heavenly Mother of Tynna, the object of a private cult of two noble families from the Podolian region.

Keywords

EN

MIRACULA; RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA; EX-VOTO; VIRGIN MARY; MIRACULOUS IMAGE; KRATOPHANY

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Polskiego Towarzystwa Historycznego
• Journal: Rocznik Antropologii Historii
• Year: 2011
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 143-155

Contributors

author

Tomasz Wiślicz

• Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN, Rynek Starego Miasta 29/31, 00-272 Warszawa, Poland