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[Dedicatory letter of Antonius Verancius to Stanislaus Tarło, Bishop of Przemyśl; Wedding of King John I]
Mihovil Vrančić
Abstract
Antonius Verancius recommends the work of his brother to bishop Stanislaus Tarło. Michael intended to narrate the wedding of King John I and Isabella Jagiełło in accordance with their dignity. As a patron of literature, Antonius supports the poets so that the stories of John’s reign do not fall into the obscurity of oblivion. Fortuna favours the bold, hence he sends his brother’s wedding poem in private to Tarło so that he might give an opinion on it with his singular honesty, eloquence and erudition.
After John was officially recognized in his kingdom, he starts thinking about the marriage. The time for peace has come after countless wars. Ferdinand I (Germanus) entered into an alliance with King John in order to be able to attack the common enemy, namely the Turks. Delegates go to Sigismund I the Old of Po-land to ask for the hand of the Polish princess Isabella Jagiełło for the Hungarian king. Three Hungarian noblemen guide the prestigious delegation, followed by a numerous and rich cortege of young people. There is a feast and entertainment at the royal court in Cracow. A Hungarian chivalric contest and a tournament of knights are organized on the second day. Then the marriage settlement is concluded. The Polish king takes farewell of his beloved daughter with a heavy heart. He desires a long and lucky life for her. Isabella departs for Hungary. Crossing the Carpathians, she arrives in Buda. The Hungarian nobility welcomes her at the palace and wishes her all the best. They remind her of the former greatness of the Scythians whose ancestry dominated the whole of Asia a long time ago. Neither the Macedonians, nor the Romans were able to conquer them. Not a humble and weak, but a most brave and strong race will stem from the ‘Sarmatian-Scythian league’. Their successors will have one goal: restraining the wild Turks and ex-tending the country’s borders.
Keywords
János Szapolyai; wedding poem (epithalamion); rhetoric; generic composition
Hrčak ID:
120319
URI
Publication date:
22.4.2014.
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