Maria Ludwika Gonzaga w pracach Wiktora Czermaka
Maria Ludwika Gonzaga in the Works of Wiktor Czermak

Summary/Abstract: The author of the article analyzes the creative work of the Cracow historian Wiktor Czermak (1863-1913) in terms of opinions and assessments that were formulated by this researcher of the 17th century. It concerned the wife of Władysław IV and Jan Kazimierz, who was Ludwika Maria Gonzaga. Czermak highly valued the political ideas and initiative of this ruler in his doctoral dissertation prepared in Lviv under the direction of Ksawery Liske, defended in 1887 in Krakow. The last two rulers of the Vasa dynasty on the Polish throne, and their spouse, were the object of the Krakow scholar’s interest for many years. The article talks about the evolution of the views of an energetic ruler from France. There are many indications that the historian passed from his fascination with the “male” personality of the wife of Jan Kazimierz in the mid-1880s, to a more critical look at the French woman’s actions in Poland at the end of the next decade. This resulted from a change in interests and expanding his source of information, which better illuminating the person of the queen. Thus, the researcher gave a more mature picture of the flaws that he did not notice in his student years.

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