Czy istniało stronnictwo królowej Zofii Holszańskiej

Abstract

The belief that queen Zofia Holszańska had a separate party has been binding in the Polish historiography since Ewa Maleczyńska’s work Rola polityczna królowej Zofii Holszańskiej na tle walki stronnictwa w latach 1422—1434 was published in Lviv 1936. Those who were to belong to it were among others iuniores, while it was to be shaped as early as during Władysław Jagiełło’s life. However, when the pro‑royal party of Szafraniec already functioned at that time, any third fraction was useless. Besides, after king’s and younger Szafraniec brother’s death, as well as the appearance of iuniores on a political stage, the queen remained in opposition to their plans. Her cooperation with Zbigniew Oleśnicki, a bishop from Cracow, which was absolutely against young noblemen, resulted from her natural and understandable engagement in the coronation of the older son. However, after the coronation of Władysław, Zofia definitely withdrew from the political life, leaving for her royal demesnes. The documents issued by her between 1434 and 1438 included almost exclusively people from her court. Thus, nothing proves the existence of any party that could be treated as the queen’s party, also right after Jagiełło’s death. The first person far from the court surrounding to be present on Zofia’s document was as late as in 1446, that is at the time of her battle for declaring Kazimierz, a younger son the Polish king. However, the circle of people who centred around her then, cannot aspire to be called her party either. After coronation, they constituted the circle of king’s closest co‑workers. The assumptions concerning queen’s party should be treated with reserve, excluding at the same time the possibility of its existence during Władysław Jagiełło’s life. The attitude of the Polish lords to the queen changed as late as after Warneńczyk’s death. As a result of it, Oleśnicki’s antagonists started to gather around her. However, right after the coronation of Kazimierz, the very situation changed again, and the queen centred around her among others her own court.