Legal, political and cultural heritage of the Polish Vasas (1588–1668): Culmination of the Year of the Vasas Celebrations

Abstract

The quatercentenary anniversary of completion of the crucial phase of expansion of the Royal Castle in Warsaw initiated by King Sigismund III Vasa, which fell on 2019, offered a good occasion to carry out a series of scientific, editorial, exhibition and artistic events within the Year of the Vasas. The celebrations were inaugurated in February 2019 as a part of an initiative to present an overall picture of the reign-period of the Vasa Dynasty in the Polish Republic. In line with the organisers’ objective, the programme of the anniversary events was aimed at providing a thorough insight into and disseminating to an ever-wider public the knowledge about the over eight-decade-long period of the monarchy of the Polish Vasas – Sigismund III, Ladislaus IV and John II Casimir, falling in the late 16th century and the major part of the 17th century. The multidimensionality of the output provided by the representatives of the Vasa Dynasty on the Polish throne is illustrated particularly in the anthology The World of the Polish Vasas: Essays edited in 2019 under Jacek Żukowski and Zbigniew Hundert’s scientific supervision. This edition accompanies the monumental exhibition The World of the Polish Vasas: Space – People – Art organised by the Royal Castle in Warsaw – Museum between 6 November 2019 and 14 January 2020 as the culmination of the Year of the Vasas celebrations.