Historical Calendar: November 19, 1557 – execution of Queen Bona

magnapolonia.org 7 months ago

Historical calendar – anniversary of the execution of the Polish queen, Bony Sforza as a consequence of a game planned by her many years of enemies: the Habsburgs.

Today in our calendar we will look at the life and activities of 1 of the most celebrated Polish queens: Bony Sforza.

Bona came from a wealthy Italian princely household ruling in Milan. Her parents were Gian Galeazzo Sforza and Isabella Aragonska. She had no easy childhood – her father died prematurely, and all of Italia sank into wars fueled by France, Spain and the Habsburg Empire. For this reason, she hated the above, especially the Habsburg House. She received a very good education for a female of that time, i.e. she could not only read and write, but she knew about history, economics, almost secular and Catholic theology.

However, teachers would not be able to do much if it were not for her natural intelligence, political interest, and science. Her parent was obliged to marry her to a suitable candidate. The choice came on the widowed after the death of Barbara Zápoly, the first wife of the Polish king Sigismund Stara. These efforts went against the will of Polish magnatery and nobles, who wished for a queen from a secondary state, so that her household connections would not lead to the strengthening of the monarchship.

The continued weakening of central power was 1 of the elements of democratic superstition, which slow prevailed over common sense in Poland. Bona and Sigmund's wedding was held in 1518. The king and courtiers were bewitched by the beauty of the young Italian. It did not intend to limit itself to the birth of royal children. From the beginning, she showed her character and ambition, which confused it with all national advocates of noble democracy.

Raised in Italy, where strong princely power was a guarantor of effective state policy, she could not get utilized to the norms of the Polish Crown. In this country, through the democratic processes of the general parliament and the land Sejm, there was a chronicity of administrative proceedings and decision-making paralysis, the army was weak, and abroad policy weighed down and usually ineffective. Bona felt that the only way out of this situation was to strengthen the royal power.

Unfortunately, she did not find the support of an inept husband who even fought her ideas. For this she was supported by respective influential people, specified as primate Andrzej Krzycki and court marshal Piotr Kmita and a large part of the mediate nobility opposed to the debauchery of magnates. With them she built her own political party. She concluded that the condition for achieving her political objectives was to get permanent, advanced sources of income that would give the dynasty the prevailing financial independence.

By 1524, Bona had regained a large number of illegal royal magnates. In addition, in the following years, she obtained supervision of the customs chambers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In her recovered assets, she spread efficient management, cultivation and breeding methods known to her from Italy. She gave birth to respective children to the king, including Zygmunt August and Anna Jagiellonka. In 1527, as a consequence of her fall during a horse riding, she lost her kid and, as it turned out, she could never get pregnant again.

In order to guarantee continuity for the Jagiellonian dynasty, she decided to put force on the nobility to crown Sigismund August while Sigismund the Old. Thanks to various intrigues, bribes, positions and land, she managed to bring Sigismund to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A year later, young Sigismund was crowned king of Poland.

Election vivente rege (in the life of the ruler) sparked immense opposition from the magnates, whom Sigismund the Old calmed by ensuring that after the death of his boy the election for return would take place according to conventional rules. In abroad policy, Bona was a fierce enemy of the Habsburgs and a supporter of an alliance with France. She besides maintained friendly relations with Turkey, as was helped by her most crucial wife, Sultan Suleyman the Great, most likely from the territory of Podola – Roxolana (Hürem).

During the war with the Teutonic Order, she demanded that his territory be full absorbed into Poland, which was the same as the later provisions of the Sejm in Piotrków from 1524-1525. This did not happen due to the king's shortsightedness and the influence his brother had on him the last large Teutonic Master Georg Hohenzollern. A very negative solution was decided in retrospect, or secularization of the order in the Protestant spirit.

The Queen besides tried to exchange the Italian principalities of Bari and Rossano with the Empire for part of Silesia. Also, nothing came out of this thought due to the kunktatory of Polish elites afraid to strengthen the king's position. After her husband died, her political position suffered greatly. In addition to the old conflicts with the advocates of noble democracy, there was a dispute with her son, as she did not agree to his relation with the Lithuanian magnates Barbara Radziwillova.

Having adequate arrogance of the Polish elite and the failure of her policy, she renounced all land estates and left for Italy. After any time, she decided to return to Poland, but she became seriously sick and could not leave her bed. At the time, bribed people from her surroundings planted a sick individual to sign a forged will beneficial to the Spaniards. Bona was recovering, but for fear of denying the contents of the will, she was poisoned by her courtman Jan Pappacode.

Many years after her death, lies arose that she was ugly and poisoned Barbara Radziwillina. The primacy of these attacks was led by enlightened writers of dizmocratic prowess like Alojze Felinski.

Bona Sforza was a very intelligent, well-read and ambitious person. On the Polish throne, she showed reason and firmness on political issues and economy in the management of the kingdoms. She sought to limit the magnate's self-will, strengthen the state's financial strength and increase the importance of the monarch. These actions met with the misunderstanding of short-sighted elites and the hatred of noble democrats.

The Queen's plans were only partially successful due to the fact that she did not find support in the husband of Sigmund the Old, nor in the boy of Sigmund Augusta.

Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.

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