Mother-in-law
Queen Bona (1494–1557), the second wife of Sigismund I the Old (1467–1548), hailed from the Italian Sforza dynasty. She was descended from a line of illustrious kings, princes, and condottieri. Educated in the spirit of humanism, she took to heart the words of the scholar Antonio de Ferrariis: “You were born to rule over men.”
Bona actively engaged in politics, strengthened the royal estate, and secured the position of her son by orchestrating the coronation of the ten-year-old Sigismund Augustus in 1530 vivente rege—during the lifetime of the reigning monarch—an unprecedented and singular event in Polish history. Her assertive actions, however, provoked resentment and hostility from the nobility, who feared an erosion of their traditional liberties.
As a mother, Queen Bona wielded enormous influence over Sigismund Augustus.
“The young king is handsome and seems to possess the finest talents, yet he remains greatly afraid of his mother, to the point that he does nothing, says nothing, without her,” it was observed at the time.
Sigismund Augustus’s secret marriage to Barbara, entered into for love and bypassing the customary protocols of arranging dynastic alliances, was a bold expression of the young king’s individualism and independence.
To Sigismund I the Old and to Bona, however, this union was seen as a grave mistake. In one of her letters, Bona wrote:
„We trust in the Lord that those who advised our son into this matter shall be punished by God, and that He will not permit this affair to endure for long.”
King Sigismund I likewise declared that he had not permitted, and did not permit, the marriage of his son, “which would bring disgrace upon our entire Crown and upon the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.”
Sigismund Augustus, well aware of his mother's deep hostility toward his marriage, feared for the life of his beloved Barbara.
Worried about possible attempts to poison her, he imposed strict rules for the queen’s safety, including the precaution that she should drink only from glasses and not from cups.
After the death of her husband, Bona, deprived of power and estranged from her son, withdrew to Mazovia to avoid meeting the daughter-in-law she refused to accept. She remained firmly opposed to Barbara Radziwiłł’s coronation.
The extent of the rift between Sigismund Augustus and his mother is evidenced by the king’s fear that it was she who might orchestrate an attempt to poison his wife. Even after Barbara’s death, the king continued to harbor distrust and resentment toward Bona. Deprived of her son’s affection and of her political role, Queen Bona left for Italy in 1556, taking with her a vast fortune from Poland. She died a year later, poisoned by an agent of the Habsburgs.
The famous treasures she had willed to Sigismund Augustus were subsequently plundered.
Miniature Portraits of the Jagiellons (top row, from left to right: Sigismund I the Old, Bona Sforza, Catherine of Austria, Isabella Jagiellon, Catherine Jagiellon; bottom row, from left to right: Sigismund Augustus, Barbara Radziwiłł, Elisabeth of Austria, Sophia Jagiellon, Anna Jagiellon)
19th century
Copy after Lucas Cranach the Elder
Collection of the Gołuchów Castle Museum (MNP Mo 1119, 1120, 1121, 1122, 1125; MNP Mo 1123, 1124, 1126, 1127)
Portrait of Bona Sforza
c. 1643
Artist unknown
Collection of the Museum in Nieborów and Arkadia (NB 475 MNW), on long-term loan to the Royal Castle in Warsaw
Venetian Goblet
Contemporary replica after a Renaissance original from circa 1500