"Powietrzna zaraza" w Wielkim Księstwie Litewskim w ujęciu Walentego Bartoszewskiego i Piotra Kochlewskiego

Abstract

The paper sketches various depictions of the epidemic that spread between 1629 and1630 on the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The author puts the emphasisfirst on Walenty Bartoszewski’s book Bezoar z łez ludzkich czasu powietrza morowego…(Bezoar from Human Tears of the Times of the Pestilential Air…) reedited in that period anddedicated for all afflicted. The first part of that publication comprised songs and prayersaround the motifs of danger, death, starvation, poverty and flight, whereas the secondpart offered practical instructions for the times of the plague. The author then includesdetailed accounts from plague‑strickenKiejdany written by the village headman PiotrKochlewski in his letters to Duke Krzysztof Radziwiłł as illustrative of many aspects ofcity life in the times of danger, including the burial of plague victims. The juxtapositionof distinct accounts of the plague revealed certain common motifs and highlighted thereligious (protestant and catholic) aspect of the authors’ approach to these collectiveexperiences.