Królowa Jadwiga we współczesnych encyklopediach i leksykonach

Abstract

Writing this paper, I wanted to answer the question: W hat is the significance of Queen Hedwig (1374—1399) in Europe at the end of the 20th century? A review of about fifty encyclopaedic and lexicographic entries gave general information about the knowledge of Europeans on the Queen. The Queen is presented in these entries as the daughter of Louis I, the King of both Hungary and Poland, and the wife of Jogaila (Jagiełło), the Grand Duke of Lithuania, with whom the Polish nobles negotiated the politically advantageous Union of Krevo (Krewo, Krewa), the union between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. She is also presented as the King (Lat. rex) of Poland. Only few entries inform, for example, that she was a patron of religion and scholarship, that she promoted the Christian development of Lithuania, or that she inspired the restoration of the university in Cracow (Kraków). Sometimes but not often, authors of entries inform, for example, that Queen Hedwig accompanied by the knight army went on a campaign to regain Galicia (Ruś Halicka) for the Kingdom of Poland, or they present the personality of the Polish Queen. Summarizing this review of encyclopaedic entries, I would like to note that they are an example of an unsatisfactory knowledge of Queen’s importance for Europe which is the result of ignorance of the history of Poland and its place in european history. Only entries in the Enciclopedia Luso-Brasileira de Cultura, the Lexikon des Mittelalters, the Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, the Meyers enzyklopädisches Lexikon in 25 Bänden, the Svensk Uppslagsbok, and the Ukraińska radjanska Enciklopedija present the Queen satisfactorily. In my opinion, it seems that Queen Hedwig has not entered yet the history of Europe and European culture for good.