Lemmas in the Old-Polish Armorial Poetry as a Manifestation of Genre Hybridisation

Abstract

One of the most popular panegyrical forms in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the so-called “stemmata”. Similar to emblems, these visual works consisted of an illustration presenting a coat of arms and an epigram, often featured on the reverse side of the title card of texts printed in the old-Polish period. This paper discusses selected cases in which, influenced by emblems, lemmas are incorporated into the structure of stemmata. The study explains how the lemma is introduced in a stemma and how it affects the latter’s meaning. Particular attention is paid to cases in which mottos are treated as the title of a combination of a coat of arms and a poem. Another subject analysed here is “academic stemmata”, a sub-genre of the heraldic poem that consists of several features characteristic of emblems. The presence of lemma in the structure of stemmata is recognised as the consequence of a trend to liven up this visual form. Making the emblem more attractive was a way to draw the attention of readers, increasing its author’s chance of communicating a panegyrical message. This effect was desired not only by the authors of stemmata but above all by their powerful patrons. The presence of lemma in the structure of heraldic poems also relates to the role of mottos in the Jesuit educational system. Mottos and verba aurea were treated by Jesuit teachers as a very useful medium for presenting moral and parenetic subjects, and it was fairly easy for authors of stemmata to use them for panegyric purposes.