"Our young king was brought up by women and Italians who are more fearful than women," wrote one of the high-ranking courtiers. And not so far from the truth.
Little Sigismund was seven years old when in 1527 there was a tragedy in Niepołomice - an accident in which his only brother died shortly after premature birth, and his severely wounded mother became sterile (read more about this in our other article) . From then on, the boy became a world for Bona Sforza. This does not mean, however, that the Queen was not a caring mother before. By the standards of the epoch, she paid surprisingly much attention and affection to her son's upbringing.
To take care of the baby right after birth, she took in a special nurse from a noble family, Ewa Łasińska. For looking after the prince (because the queen was not allowed to breastfeed herself!), The luxurious wet nurse received a total of two hundred and forty florins and sixteen cubits of black velvet. Even in the best court positions, it was not possible to obtain an equally high salary. We can safely say that no mother in Polish history she has not paid as much for baby milk as Bona has.
Little polyglot
The monarch also looked after her son with extraordinary meticulousness at subsequent stages of her upbringing. Stanisław Orzechowski, an important journalist of that epoch, noted that:"thanks to the efforts of his mother [the prince], he was educated and introduced to sciences from his childhood". Bona hired for him the best tutor in Poland, famous all over the country for his wisdom (and in the opinion of some:also for his lust) Jan Sylwiusz Siculus. Under the guidance of a strict master, Sigismund Augustus mastered Latin, and thanks to another teacher, also German.
Bona Sforza on a woodcut from 1521
Bona personally made sure that he was fluent in Italian. She always spoke to him in that language, even though she had learned Polish quite well over the years. Its sole merit is the fact that the prince grew into a polyglot and an art expert. Unfortunately, intellectual development was not followed by physical, let alone emotional.
The mother was lovingly hiding this child
Preoccupied with the loss of the chance to bear another son, Bona, her concern and fears for the baby went to the limits of reason. And then she crossed these boundaries and got lost in the haze of absurdity. She guarded him at every step, separated him from her peers, forbade games that carried even a shadow of danger. "The mother caressingly hid the child and did not quickly let him leave her side, even when he was already a bit older" - said Stanisław Orzechowski. An even sharper opinion was expressed by the Krakow canon Stanisław Górski. "Our young king was raised by women and Italians who are more fearful than women," he wrote, criticizing the heir to the throne's lack of any military preparation.
Even the name given to Zygmunt gave him no honor or masculinity. To distinguish him from his father, he was called Zygmunt August. It was not, however, a reference to the virtues of Roman emperors. It's just that the boy was born in August. And in Latin, August is August.
Zygmunt August as a child on a woodcut from 1521. This portrait has little to do with the real appearance of the prince. Zygmunt August was only one year old at the time
A bird in a golden cage
Zygmunt grew up in a maze of chambers dripping with gold. He grew up to be an eternally sick and out of touch ignorant, addicted to a loving but overbearing mother. Bona Sforza clung to power and from defending her son's interests, she instinctively moved to fight for her own position. Anyway, even if she wanted to, there was no difference between the two goals.
Augusta was brought up in such a way that he would obey her in everything. She has developed a neurotic, obsessive need to control an only child. She wanted him to become the perfect ruler. And because at the same time - not without reason - she considered herself a great queen, she believed that the optimal way to ensure Jagiellonian splendor would be to turn her beloved son into a passive puppet. She was supposed to pull the strings, and he - to dance as he played for him. It probably didn't even occur to her that she would die someday, and that August would have to rule the country himself. Even less so, she did not take into account that the sissy prince would let the hem of her dress fall out of his hands and strike out for independence.
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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. You can buy it at a discount on empik.com.