Prancūziška kultūra Jono Sobieskio dvare (1674-1696)

Abstract

The cultural history of the King's Court during the second part of the 17th century is very important to investigate the diffusion of French culture in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The main reason is that in this period French culture consolidated its position at the Court. It was like the first bastion taken by this culture. After this victory the rest of the country was conquered in a short time and made a huge influence on its further development. This work aims to study the penetration of French culture into the Court of Jan Sobieski and its influence on the life of the Court. Two major means by which French culture penetrated into the Court of Jon Sobies ki were from outside and from inside of the Court. From outside of the Court French culture was able to penetrate by two different means. First, through time. Huge impact on the Court of Jan Sobieski was made by the tradition to speak French, wear French cloths, etc., which was established during the reign of Ludwika Maria (1645-1667). The cultur al life of the Court was also influenced by the Jon Sobieski's studies in France, and his marriage with a Frenchwoman. Second, through space. At the Court there were many French books, some French furniture, works of art, etc. The largest number of French goods was in the King's palace in Willanow. To penetrate from inside meant to influence cul tural and political life of the Court 1) by people of French origin who directly influenced the King's family by communicating with its members, and 2) by those who were creating new works of art in the French manner. There were many Frenchmen in the Court. French men taught the children of the King, acted in French plays, dealt and communicated with the King in his leisure time. The most important of all these French men and Frenchwomen was Maria Kazimiera who made a huge influence on all domains of the Court life, especially on its political decisions. Although there were only several French artist, French ideas in the work of artists of other nation alities were widely used. Traits of French culture in most cases appeared mixed with those of Italian and Dutch origin. It was especially obvious in ar chitecture and fine arts. In the fine arts from Versailles mostly symbols were copied, such as the eagle and the lion. Whereas in architecture the French manner to arrange interior of palaces and to plan gardens was used. To conclude. French culture penetrated the Court of Jon Sobieski in all possible ways: through time, space and directly. That is why French culture by competing and intertwining with Italian, Turkish, German and Polish cultures influenced all the spheres of the Court life. Some of these spheres were affected more, some of them less. Domains in which Maria Kazimiera had special interests, such as making of the Court's political decisions, were affected the most. The areas that the inhabitants of the Court did not want or were not able to influence were less affected. The characteristic domain is inherited palaces of the King, where we can find only insignificant quantity of furniture, work of arts and other goods made by Frenchmen.