"Domowy nieprzyjaciel" - Radziwiłłowie i Sapiehowie w świetle utworów okolicznościowych z XVII wieku

Abstract

The article presents the unpublished occasional literary pieces, whose main characters are the Radziwiłłs from Biržai and the Sapiehas. In the epithalamium for Elżbieta Radziwiłłówna and Lew Sapieha, the strong friendly relations between these two Lithuanian families have been emphasised. Krzysztof Radziwiłł talked about Sapiehas with respect, often delivering speeches during the funerals of the representatives of that family. The tone of his correspondence from 1625, addressed to Lew Sapieha and expressing Radziwiłł’s disapproval of the decision to grant the position of the Great Lithuanian Hetman to his brother-inlaw, is entirely different. A lampoon preserved in the manunscript, referring to the tumult in Vilnius in 1639—1640, is of the most caustic character. It includes an anonymous author’s depiction of an eagle (the heraldic emblem of the Radziwiłłs) and a lion (an allusion to Sapieha’s first name), involved in a fight with one another. The events connected with shooting at the icon depicting Saint Michael were presented as an attack of the Calvinists against the Catholics. Prince Krzysztof’s initiative for the desecration of the sanctuary has also been emphasised. The occasional texts present the atmosphere of the events to which they refer and illustrate the constatntly changing relations between the two akin families.