Historians like to cite the infamous Parmesan scandal as prime evidence of Bona Sforza's pettiness and hyperactivity. Wouldn't it be a rather cunning and masterful plot against an enemy agent?
Jan Marsupin, as a diplomat and agent of the Habsburg intelligence, had a number of foreign missions behind him. And he had no reason to suspect that the newest one would prove to be more complicated than any of the previous ones. In 1543, he traveled to Krakow with Princess Elizabeth, who had just been married to the Polish heir to the throne, Sigismund Augustus. Officially, he was her translator and guardian. In fact - a Habsburg spy, acting as the eyes and ears of Archduke Ferdinand on the Vistula.
Parmesan. A cheese that became the basis of one of the great scandals of the 16th century ...
Marsupin was Italian, and he expected that it would be particularly easy to find a place for himself in the Kraków court overrun by the Italians. Moreover, Wawel enjoyed a peculiar reputation as the most pleasant and simplest facility in Europe. A place where information literally lies on the cobblestones. Perhaps it was so once, when all power was in the hands of the carefree Sigismund the Old. But instead of a hot reception for Marsupin, all that awaited was a series of humiliations.
The royal consort of Bona Sforza, loudly opposed to her son's marriage to a Habsburgian woman, did everything to make the life of her new daughter-in-law difficult . She harassed her mentally and made sure that Zygmunt August did not pay too much attention to her. Marsupin reported more and more protests. First, carefully and tactfully, but finally - completely openly reading the list of several dozen claims.
It was too much. The queen decided that she had to get rid of the intruder from the court as soon as possible. As imperial envoy, she could not just throw him out. But she knew that with Marsupin's penchant for gossip, the opportunity wouldn't hold long.
Bona at a mature age. A drawing by Jan Matejko.
She was right. After just two weeks, the famous story about Parmesan cheese started circulating in Krakow.
Good for the kingdom council
Apparently, one day unfortunate Elizabeth felt the desire for this exquisite type of Italian cheese. Since she did not have it in her rather modest kitchen, she asked the servants to ask the manager of Bona's pantry for Parmesan. He handed over the cheese disc without the slightest hesitation. And a brawl broke out. Apparently, as soon as the case reached Bona's ears, she banned anything from her kitchen and began to punish everyone associated with the Parmesan scandal.
Up to this point, the story is well known. Historians like to quote her as the chief evidence of Bona's pettiness and hyperactivity. Of course, the queen displayed both of these traits. But some really interesting things started to happen later.
Bona called a council of the kingdom made up of the most distinguished senators and bishops. This honorable body, sitting exceptionally under the chairmanship of the monarch, and not her late husband, was to judge Marsupin for spreading shameful rumors and inciting courtiers.
"You will laugh, my gentlemen, that I summoned you for such a small and trivial thing, but the evil in the very beginning must be remedied," Bona said. But no one was laughing. As one man, the senators took her side. "Indeed, it is necessary to punish the one who talked about this cheese!" - the Archbishop of Gniezno thundered.
"The whole world calls this queen mad and furious"
Officially, it was about an unknown author of the rumor, hidden by Marsupin. In reality, however, it was the imperial agent who collected all the whips, and his position at court was irretrievably destroyed.
"I was afraid he would order me to throw me away like a rotten fish!" The spy reported. And it was not far from the truth. Yet Marsupine still underestimated the gravity of the situation. Admittedly, he complained to Archduke Ferdinand about his plight, but at the same time he challenged Bona like a common idiot. "These are girl's cries," he wrote in one letter. "He makes nonsense of girls," he added in the next. But he also stated, "The whole world calls this queen mad and furious!".
Elizabeth of Habsburżanka in a portrait made after 1542
He probably couldn't quite decide whether he despises Bona more or is more afraid of her. In one of his letters, he warned his principal that the powerful Polish ruler had plotted an unexpected plot with the Turkish empire. And that dozens if not hundreds of the Sultan's ships are already headed for Naples to burn, destroy and rob at her personal request. It was, of course, utter nonsense. And yet Marsupine believed in her.
Last play
In fact, Bona was preoccupied with a much more mundane affair:breaking the neck of a Habsburg spy. Marsupin was writing down farmazons about Turkish ships, while the ground was sliding unnoticed from under his feet. It was getting harder and harder for him to get in front of the young queen. Problems were made to him in royal residences. The last time he spoke with Elizabeth of Habsburg was around August 15, 1543.
“I attacked Her Majesty for being so shy, looking at everything so much that I endured so many wicked gossip. I proved to Her Majesty that Queen Bona would not dare to persecute her, nor would she dare to say a bad word to her, as long as Her Majesty shows a lion's heart, "she will later report to Ferdinand.
Bona Sforza in the image of Władysław Walkiewicz. Mid 19th century
These good advice would have to suffice the Habsburgian woman for a long time. When Marsupin tried to visit her again, he found only the locked gates of the Niepołomice palace. The guards refused him admission - allegedly due to the raging plague. There was no inn nearby and it was slowly getting dark.
The envoy of the mighty Habsburg dynasty had no choice. Instead of wearing quilts trimmed with gold, he was forced to lie down to sleep on the damp threshing floor of the stables. He didn't even get a bundle of hay or straw. He developed severe fever, and on the first occasion he fled Poland. He felt like he got away with it anyway.
Bona humiliated him, and yet - she could have killed him. She allegedly broke off even one of the bishops that she "orders to beat Marsupin with sticks".
Source:
You can learn more about the confusing history of the Jagiellonian family in Kamil Janicki's book Ladies of the golden age (Horizon Label 2014). The article is based on the literature and materials collected by the author during the work on the book.