The text describes the castle in Kamieniec Podolski and its history related to, among others, August II, who was to swear to take Kamieniec from Turkish hands (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1872, Series 2, T:9, pp. 161-162, after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text.

Kamieniec Castle.

And you, Kamieniec, splendidly famous, who will sing your praises worthily?
Klonowicz.

One of the strongest strongholds of old Poland, defending its southern borders, was the fortress of Kamieniec, this mighty "antimurale Christianitatis", as it was called centuries ago. The name, so honourable, was well deserved, as the Kamieniec castle not only protected Poland from the invasions of Turks and Tartars, but at the same time was a veil for the whole of Christianity against the onslaught of eastern barbarism which so many times tried to spread to the West. Contemporaries also assessed the entire validity of this fortress; Thus, at many assemblies, conscriptions were passed to strengthen its walls, careful attention was paid to ensure that Kamenz was not short of weapons, ammunition and food, expert artillerymen were brought in to skilfully fortify it and provide effective means of defence, Many kings were advised in their convention pacts to carefully maintain this fortress, and August II, ascending the throne and accepting the conditions written down by the people, solemnly swore to take Kamieniec from the hands of the Turks, who had ruled the whole of Podolia since the Peace of Bucharest (1672). Just how important this fortress was for Christianity is further demonstrated by the fact that, in 1516, Pope Leo X, whose main aim was to combat the growing Turkish power, when announcing the Jubilee in Poland, earmarked a considerable portion of the money collected to strengthen the fortress of Kamieniec. The fortress of Kamieniec remained strong and powerful for many centuries. Gwagnin, Stryjkowski and Bielski give us many interesting details about it. Fortified by its very position, the Kamieniec castle was erected on a rocky mountain, flanked by a river. Apart from huge towers, the whole castle was surrounded by such a high wall that only the roofs of the houses could be seen from inside, and always sufficiently equipped with rifles, gunpowder and food, it was almost unconquered; this is why it often fended off impudent enemies trying to conquer this "tower built by the hand of God". Kamieniec's past, its history, its triumphs and its twenty-seven years of Turkish captivity, is the most beautiful epic, cut short by a long series of facts and events of several centuries; Its edifices and ruins, the stone turbans on the castle towers, the statue of the Virgin Mary on the Turkish mosque, trampling the moon set by the henchmen, the grey walls standing over the river, on which time, the destroyer, has made its mark - these are words of stone with which the past speaks to us. And how can we not honour this past with memory and thought, how can we not awaken in memory the deeds and history covered with mould, whose greatness dazzles us? Various writers give different origins to the settlement, which was first called Kleptidava or Petrida (1), and finally Kamieniec, i.e. a stone castle. The less complicated history of Kamieniec does not begin until the time of the Koryatovich dukes, who ruled Podolia on behalf of Olgirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, after the Tartars were expelled. The fact that there had already been a defensive castle in Kamieniec is testified to by numerous references to it in Ruthenian chronicles, which even describe its repeated sieges in the 13th century. Tradition, however, still holds that Kamieniec castle was founded. One of the Koryatovichs, whose capital was Smotrycz, while hunting in the surrounding forests, took a liking to a rocky place by the Smotrycz river, among forests and bushes, and founded a strong and fortified castle in a place that was inaccessible to enemies. It is possible that the original Kamieniec castle, mentioned in Ruthenian chronicles, was destroyed in the course of constant battles between Ruthenian princes, or, more likely, as a result of a Tartar invasion, probably in 1240, when Batu-Khan captured Kamieniec, where Prince Izaaslav Vladimirovich ruled at that time, and the castle erected by the Koryatovichs was the second one on the same site. It is impossible to reconcile these two stories otherwise. This new Koryatovichs castle soon became a strong enough stronghold, as already in 1385 Vytautaslav, Grand Duke of Lithuania, besieging Fyodor Koryatovich there, could not conquer it by force. But "the besiegers argued among themselves," says Stryjkowski, "and in the disagreement Vytautas took the castle and the town, which were very defensible by nature and, if I am not mistaken in my own eyes, inaccessible," the chronicler adds. However, after Vytautas' death (1430), the Lords of Podolia seized the Kamenets castle in favour of the Polish king. Władysław Jagiełło, confirming the Magdeburg law for the Kamieniec burghers in 1432, named Kamieniec as the capital of the Podolia province, and Piotr of Sprowa Odrowąż, famous for his chivalrous works, became the first voivode. During the 15th and 16th centuries, Turks, Tatars and Wallachians repeatedly fought at the walls of Kamenets; however, until now they have not even been tempted to conquer this fortress. In the 17th century, however, the history of Kamieniec castle presented more important facts, and it was during this epoch that Kamieniec shone with all its glory, power and misfortune. During the famous Chocim expedition (1621), which was a bloody revenge for the defeat at Cecora, the Turkish sultan Osman, taking advantage of the confusion that had arisen in the Polish camp after the death of Hetman Chodkiewicz, decided to conquer Kamieniec and, at the head of a huge army, advanced towards its walls. A force of such magnitude had never before been seen in Poland. From the banks of the Euphrates, the Nile and the neighbouring Danube, newcomers came to the Dniester," says a contemporary historian (1); Asia and Africa, as if moved from their foundations, were ready to fall upon Podolia... Immense and varied armies marched towards the Sarmatian borders. A myriad of animals, such as buffaloes, camels and mules, marched stirring up a cloud-thick dust. Osman brought four elephants to show his might and frighten the Polish army with African monsters." These forces, however, did not help. Seeing a rocky fortress in the distance, the sultan asked one of his appointees: "Who erected it?"-"God, by the wondrous nature of the place," he was answered. - "Then let God himself conquer it," he replied, and on the retreat he trumpeted the order. The Turks left, having achieved nothing; they only burnt the Armenian Chapel of the Holy Cross, built on the rock of the threatening city. Thirty years later, Kamieniec endured a terrible siege. After the defeat at Batov (2 June 1651), where Hetman Marcin Kalinowski fell, Tymotiej Chmielnicki, Bohdan's son, recalled by his father from Wallachia, went round this "mighty stronghold on the limbs of Poland, and so far never conquered." That was in 1652. He girdled Kamieniec as tightly as possible and laid siege to it for two whole weeks, but did not dare to storm it," says a contemporary historian (2), "either because he thought he would capture it through hunger and the despair of the garrison, or because he had no hope of capturing the fortress, built by Osman with the hand of God; he only ravaged the whole country for twenty miles around. Finally, he sent the townspeople of Kamieniec a proclamation, sent to him by his father, in which Chmielnicki encouraged them to surrender, promising in return his mercy (3). This proclamation was read out to the townspeople in the presence of the brave commanders: Stanisław Potocki, Voivode of Podolia, h. p. k., and Stanisław Lanckoroński, Castellan of Kamieńsk. However, no one there thought of surrendering, and the bold reply sent back to Chmielnicki shows what spirit prevailed among the besieged crew. Khmelnitsky blazed with anger. Intoxicated by his victory," says the above-mentioned historian, "he thought that he could command the ocean and tilt the tops of the mountains". However, seeing that all efforts were futile, he finally abandoned the siege.