Women's fairy tales, signs in the sky and harbingers of horror, or sarmats against supernatural phenomena

Who among us did not accelerate our pace when, during an evening walk, the street lamp went out in front of him? Who has not involuntarily frowned when unexpected, vague noises reached his ears? Maybe it's just imagination playing tricks on us? Maybe... Since the dawn of time, fear seems to be the easiest and most willing to feed the human imagination. Even today, when we try to comprehend and rationalize every inconceivable sensation, we are able to get carried away by this original feeling. The lecture will take us to the world of the seventeenth century, where the incomprehensible and supernatural was not only accepted — it was obvious. We will try to see how the Polish and Lithuanian Sarmatians were afraid and how they got used to fear. Contrary to appearances, these people who were far from us in mentality and who lived long ago were in some ways remarkably similar to us. They tried to explain what they could not understand, and to accept what they had no control over — which often happens to us. The meeting will be hosted by Marcin Różycki.

Marcin Różycki is a PhD student at the Historical Institute of the University of Warsaw. He became interested in Old Polish and Sarmatism from the first pages of the Sienkiewicz Trilogy, which he read in his youth. His passion has been transformed into an area of research — as a historian by education, hobbyist also engaged in ancient fencing and reconstruction, he explores the history of pre-partition Poland and its inhabitants. It focuses on the noble, Sarmatian way of life, ethos and perception of reality, which it wishes to bring closer to people without prejudices and simplifications.

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