The personal life of rulers is always a matter of curiosity. For lovers of history, rumors that make these people more alive than their monumental heroic images are no less interesting.
Great people known from the history books, just like mere mortals, had minor sins and weaknesses - some smaller ones, some bigger ones. But all of them were carefully hidden, because the disclosure of such secrets and secrets could damage the authority of an outstanding personality in the eyes of the public. This remark especially applies to people in power, i.e. monarchs.
What secrets, for example, did the Polish kings have? Let's reveal some secrets of their personal life.
Is the truth really that important?
Historians stubbornly repeat that in order to evaluate a particular ruler or statesman, it does not matter what kind of husband or father he was, how many mistresses he had and what he ate for lunch. Meanwhile, it turns out that personal life often affects the fate of a particular country. An example would be the Polish King Sigismund August and his bedsideups and downs.
In short, he completely neglected the affairs of state. He did not give the country an heir, was constantly in completely meaningless love relationships, was surrounded by women, many of whom were called witches.
Besides, astrologers could always be seen in his royal chambers. Sigismund August very often used their services, including the teacher of Pan Twardowski himself. After the loss of his beloved wife Barbara, Radziwill asked him for seances that were supposed to evoke the spirit of the deceased.
Stephen of Catherine II
Another controversial figure in the history of Poland is the last Polish king, Stanisław August Poniatowski. After all, it was thanks to a love affair with Catherine the Great that he sat on the throne.
From delight to hatred - he evoked such extreme emotions in his subjects. And his life and reign are the subject of constant historical disputes and rather radical assessments, both positive and negative. At the same time, many are inclined to believe that he was only an obedient puppet in the hands of the smart and prudent Catherine II.
Innocent passions of Sigismund III
Contemporaries evaluated this king very ambiguously. It was not only his passion for card games and kite flying that caused great bewilderment, but also his innocent painting lessons and his passion for playing music. Sigismund III played many instruments and was very fond of singing. He also loved to dance at court masquerades, which he deserved.unkind looks, because he could not help but appear on them in the guise of a jester or a burning Spanish woman.
In addition, Sigismund Vasa was an introvert and was afraid of strangers, finding happiness in the family circle. Already after his arrival from Sweden, he began to cause controversy. At the first meeting with the senators, the young Polish king, according to his custom, was silent, as if bewitched, looking at his new subjects with innate suspicion. He did not answer their questions, and if he spoke, it was only after some thought and discussion with trusted people. Someone rated it as a weakness of the mind, and someone as a great oddity.
Serious hobbies
Polish kings were distinguished not only by purely human needs for entertainment, but they also had really serious scientific passions. Vladislav IV, for example, maintained a correspondence with Galileo and the Gdansk astronomer Jan Hevelius. And Jan III Sobieski was a good warrior, a lover of literature, art and science. Diplomats were delighted with the intellect of the ruler, and reported about him like this: "The king is devoted to science, constantly reading books from various fields of knowledge." Even on military campaigns, he took a significant library of works by Galileo, Descartes, Pascal and Molière.
Polish king Stefan Batory was also a man with unusual abilities and many talents. He left traces of his activities everywhere, and in all spheres of the state structure, his reign was a continuation of a beautiful era. Jagiellonians.
Stefan Batory was a good strategist, a great diplomat and an extremely responsible monarch. It is noteworthy that for great accomplishments, he almost completely renounced his personal life, constantly ignored his wife, for whom he did not have tender feelings. With her, he maintained only the appearance of marriage, during the entire time of his married life, he visited her bedroom only three times.
