Published in Rome in 1700, the work by Antonio Bassani, a canon of Warmia, *Viaggio a Roma* (Journey to Rome), is an extraordinary book. It is, in fact, a detailed chronicle of the ceremonial entry into the Eternal City undertaken by the Queen Dowager over a period of almost six months (October 1698 – March 1699), feted along the way by towns and courts. The concept of the work, drawing on the ‘entrats’ and descriptions of ceremonies involving the titled nobility that were popular in the 17th century, was elevated to the status of a major event. Here, the widow of the victor at Vienna—a figure particularly revered in the papal city—leaves the place of her exaltation to devote herself, in the Eternal City, to the devout practices befitting her widowhood. She had worthy predecessors in her decision, such as Christina of Sweden (d. 1689), whose court in Rome became a significant centre of political and cultural life.

John III features in the pages of Bassani’s book. Not only are his achievements on various occasions mentioned, but there is also an account of his body being laid to rest in the Capuchin church in Warsaw. Maria Kazimiera’s retinue frequently visited places associated with her husband’s presence during the victory at Vienna, and at the court in Vienna, conversations often returned to the subject of the relief, expressing gratitude to the queen. On her journey to Rome, Maria Kazimiera was accompanied by her husband’s fame. As Bassani wrote, the crowds welcoming her, particularly in Italy, were interested in her not only as a queen but as the wife of the ‘invincible Giovanni’ (p. 137; the page numbers given refer to the Roman edition of Bassani’s work). Maria Kazimiera’s journey was a media event, involving courts and towns alike. It was reported on in Polish and foreign newspapers, with accounts of the meetings that took place. Along the roads and in the squares, she was accompanied by crowds of onlookers and groups of beggars hoping for a royal alms.

Maria Kazimiera’s procession was intended to be royal, as she wished to enter Rome ‘as a queen and like a queen’. It was estimated to comprise three hundred people and five hundred horses. Camels served as the ‘caravan’s’ centrepiece. The Queen was accompanied by her servants, courtiers, the guard and court officials, including the master chef Wierusz Kowalski and the court physician Maheu. Maria Kazimiera’s closest circle consisted of family members: her father, Cardinal Henryk Albert de la Grange d’Arquien, who was already advanced in years at the time; her brother - Anna Ludwik d’Arquien, Count de Maligny, her two younger sons, Alekander and Konstanty, and her granddaughter Maria Kazimiera (Jakub’s daughter). We should also mention the diplomats: the Bavarian Elector’s envoy, Pompeo Scarlatti (who remained in service in Rome), and the Venetian resident in Poland, Girolamo Alberti.

Individuals joined or left the party at various stages of the journey. Elżbieta Helena Sieniawska, the wife of the Voivode of Bełsk, accompanied the Queen only as far as Opava, having been presented with a carriage as a parting gift. In Kraków, those who joined the party included, amongst others, the Bishop of Inflanty, Mikołaj Popławski, the Queen’s confessor; her chancellor and secretary – the Kraków canon Jan Franciszek Kurdwanowski; the mistress of the ladies-in-waiting at the Queen’s court — Anna Morsztynówna — and, acting as governess to the royal granddaughter, Mrs Wodzińska (sister of Postmaster Bartłomiej Sardie). In Silesia, the procession was joined by Prince Jakub, who was then residing in Oława, and the young Marquis Louis Marie Victor de Béthune, the Queen’s nephew. The sons accompanied their mother on her journey all the way to Vienna. At the border of the Papal States, the retinue was joined by Antonio Felice Zondadari, who welcomed her on behalf of Pope Innocent XII.

On leaving the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Maria Kazimiera had not abandoned her political ambitions or her dreams of a crown for one of her sons. It is known from other sources that the Viennese court was a key item on her agenda. Bassani makes no mention of the diplomatic discussions held with Leopold I and the ambassadors. Maria Kazimiera met the imperial couple at St Catherine’s Church. The queen was accompanied by her sons, her daughter and her cardinal father. In her talks with the French ambassador, the Queen declared her loyalty to her homeland and to Louis XIV; in reality, she was playing a double game, aimed at restoring the crown to the Sobieski family.

Thanks to Bassani’s meticulous account, we can follow Maria Kazimiera from the day of her departure from Jaworów on 2 October 1698, when she boarded her carriage after a service at the Dominican church, bid farewell amidst the weeping of her subjects, to whom she had given alms. In the rain and mud, the journey of the procession, consisting of thirty carriages and carts, began. Such a long journey with a large retinue must have taken a considerable time, as they stopped along the way for extended stays. From Jaworów, they travelled to the residence at Wysocko, which the queen spent two weeks bidding farewell to. The subsequent Polish stages of the journey were Jarosław (14–15 October) with its famous Jesuit college, Przeworsk (16 October), and finally the Lubomirski family’s residence in Łańcut (16 October).

The Queen entered Kraków incognito (to avoid publicity), foregoing the ceremonial reception befitting her rank (22 October).

The border between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Silesia, which belonged to the Empire, was crossed on 29 October. Maria Kazimiera, accompanied by her entourage, travelled via Racibórz, Opava and Olomouc to Vienna. She visited the imperial capital incognito on 25 November and remained there for nine days as the Emperor’s guest. Further significant stops on the Queen’s journey to Italy included the Benedictine Abbey of Melk, Salzburg, Innsbruck and Trento, where she saw in the New Year. In the Republic of Venice, the Polish queen visited, amongst other places, Verona, Vicenza, Padua and Venice, where she stayed for three weeks. During her journey through the Papal States, key stops included Ferrara, Bologna and Loreto. The visit to Loreto was commemorated in a commemorative newspaper, which included further details of her stay, such as a list of provisions presented to the Queen, including coffee and wine from Montepulciano (‘Relazione del trattamento fatta nella S. Casa, e città di Loreto alla maestà di Maria Casimira, Regina di Polonia di passaggio alla volta di Roma’, Rome, Luca Antonio Chracas, 1699). They then travelled on to Perugia, Grecco and Spoleto. Maria Kazimiera arrived in Rome on the evening of 23 March 1699. She arrived without revealing her name, having left her retinue behind in Rignano. The Queen’s first address in Rome was a palace belonging to Baron Giovanni Battista Scarlatti, who was a diplomat for the Elector of Bavaria, Maximilian II Emanuel. The following night, she moved to her permanent residence (1699–1702) – the palace of Livia Odescalchi, a relative of Innocent XI, where Christina of Sweden had previously lived.

‘Viaggio a Roma’ is an interesting book, not only because of its crowned heroine or the setting worthy of an adventure novel. The journey began late in the season, so the travellers were plagued by the cold and snowstorms, making for a difficult and dangerous journey (“grave e pericoloso viaggio”). Like all travellers of old, the members of Maria Kazimiera’s court also encountered unexpected mishaps. Difficult river crossings, fear of wolves in winter, a lack of horses or comfort in inns, and finally overturning carriages and the dangers of precipices were the reality for travellers of old; in this case: the aura of heroism surrounding the heroine, who, undaunted by the harsh season, the mountains and the Alpine roads, travelled towards Rome through ‘a considerable part of our hemisphere’ (p. 225). In keeping with the customs and interests of the era, extraordinary phenomena accompanying the ‘famoso viaggio’ were also recorded, such as a great shooting star (12 October). An additional element of the account consists of historical threads, which emerge in connection with the towns and buildings visited by Maria Kazimiera. Bassani’s work can therefore be read as a kind of guide to places worth seeing. Amongst others, mention is made of the miraculous crucifix at Wawel, the shrine of St Stanislaus in his home town of Szczepanów, the glassworks in Murano, the Loreto Chapel, and numerous Italian palaces and churches. Bassani included, amongst other things, a detailed description (including the painted decoration) of the Palazzo del Duca di Bracciano in Rome.

The Queen’s journey was framed by ceremonial protocol. It was accompanied by meetings, speeches and gestures appropriate to the occasion. Local colour also left its mark on the ceremonial forms; etiquette was observed differently at the imperial court than, for example, in Venice, particularly during the carnival period. Bassani meticulously listed the more or less distinguished landowners and travellers encountered by the Polish queen, as well as all ambassadors and guests at receptions, amongst whom there were also Poles. Of particular significance were encounters with figures linked to the history of John III, such as the Capuchin friar Marco d’Aviano. The descriptions of palaces and manor houses in *Viaggio a Roma* depict comfortable lodgings, entertainment and dancing (e.g. *danza ala maniera polacca*, p. 116), beautiful country estates, tables laden with food and fine drinks, including ‘the most delicate wines’ (delicatissimi vini). The pages of the work delight in detailing the gifts for the queen (including flowers, fruit, fish, game, and costly jewellery) —including precious curiosities (‘rarita pretiose’) and the most noble finery (‘nobilissime galanterie’). Cardinal Carlo Barberini presented the queen with the most abundant and refined culinary delicacies and sweets (including pistachios in jam, candied oranges and Sienese marzipan) (pp. 209–211). We also owe to Bassani a detailed description of the livery and carriages prepared for the Polish queen’s ceremonial entry for her papal audience, which did not take place until 28 June 1699. In terms of colour and splendour, the setting of Marysieńka’s Roman court surpassed even the memorable processions of Polish ambassadors.

In the pages of his work, Bassani spoke of the queen in superlatives, bestowing upon her the most dignified epithets. Maria Kazimiera is the Most Gracious Lady (‘Clementissima Signora’) and the Great Queen (‘Grande Regina’). A person endowed with discretion and nobility, a generous and merciful benefactress. The canon paid close attention to the emotional bond between the mother and her sons and gave a detailed account of the Queen’s despondency following their parting. Time and again, the queen is portrayed in the pages of *Vaggio* as a devout woman, who took great pleasure in attending church ceremonies or paying homage to miraculous images or relics. She was, after all, a queen and a pilgrim lady (‘Dama Pellegrinante’). This did not prevent the chronicle from recounting the queen’s curiosities whilst travelling, nor her private tastes and interests, such as mineral waters. Members of the royal family were also showered with praise in the pages of Bassani’s work. The queen’s brother earned the chronicler’s admiration when he donated 30,000 florins towards the reconstruction of Rzeszów, which had been destroyed by fire—a sum equivalent to his income in Lithuania. The granddaughter was described as a girl of incredible vigour (“vigore incredibile”) and the liveliest of minds (“spirito vivacissimo”). The account of her father, the cardinal, who caused trouble with his unconventional behaviour whilst travelling, is rich in anecdotal tales, including his swaggering rides on his favourite horse, Sambor, and his escapades away from his daughter’s court. Bassani referred to the ‘Regno di Polonia’ with panegyric intent, praising the military might of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the virtue of its citizens, especially the late John III and the Sobieski princes, who had inherited their father’s heroic virtues (p. 152).

The pages of the work in question also reveal the author’s character. He was able to combine a solemn tone with humour and irony. Bassani knew how to joke about his own gout, taking delight in humorous incidents during his travels. Among other things, he recounts a misunderstanding regarding an order for purchases for the court (leather trousers instead of chickens) and the travellers’ delight at good wine, which replaced the cold beer they had tasted in Poland.

Bassani’s panegyric account stands in stark contrast to the reality in which Maria Kazimiera was leaving the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Disheartened, offended and resentful, following the division of the estate, she left a country in which there was no place for the wife of a former elected ruler who harboured political ambitions and grievances. This does not alter the fact that the image of a triumphal journey left by Bassani is a creation that fascinates the modern reader, corresponding to the ceremonial formula befitting the crowned.

Maria Kazimiera remained in Rome until 1714. She sailed to Marseille on a papal galley, and then travelled to the Château de Blois on the Loire, which Louis IV had granted her for life.

The text is taken from PASAŻ WIEDZY , where you can find more reliable texts on Old Polish history and culture

Made available courtesy of the Museum of King John III’s Palace in Wilanów