At the court of Queen Bona Sforza, the party is in full swing. The royal jester is the only one to see the approaching disaster… by Michał Haake Jesters bring pleasure, jokes, fun and laughter to others, ‘as if this is what the grace of God sent them here for, to cheer up the…
Passionate, volatile, demagogic and captivating: Maurycy Mochnacki both co-creates and embodies the model Polish Romantic hero. It seems as if he descended from the pages of the poems and novels that he praised and promoted. And yet he lived, burned and suffered a defeat in the most real of stories. by Wojciech Stanisławski He…
On July 30, 1980, during the Olympic Games in Moscow, Władysław Kozakiewicz won the pole vault competition. Apart from setting the world record (5.78 m), which to this day sets him among the leaders of this competition, the athlete is also remembered for an unsportsmanlike gesture he gave the hostile audience – the bras d’honneur….
The double attack on Poland by Nazi Germany and the USSR in September 1939 led to the effective dissolution of the Polish state. Although Poland lost its sovereignty, its legal authorities continued to function, organising the Polish armed forces in France and later in Great Britain. Under these circumstances, the primary aim of the Polish…
Fighting with the sabre and bayonet was still part of military training in the 19th century. On the other hand, experienced soldiers were eager to pass on their skills to civilians in schools and private lessons. Fencing became a fashionable physical recreation, referring to the colourful history of Old Polish arms. by Antoni Olbrychski …
St. Andrew’s Day falls on November 30, but in Old Poland the night before (St. Andrew’s Night) was considered a time of magic and fortune telling. In this period, it was believed that everything predicted on this night would come true. As a result, in nearly every noble manor and peasant cottage, fortune-telling sessions were…
