Course Description

The Lives of Extraordinary Women in Early Modern Poland

This lecture presents the fascinating and often dramatic lives of five remarkable women of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Through the stories of Agnieszka Machówna, Halszka Ostrogska, Teofila Chmielecka, Zofia Opalińska, and Julia Lubomirska Potocka, it explores ambition, courage, beauty, power, love, tragedy, and social expectations. Their extraordinary biographies reveal the complex position of women in early modern society and show how individual lives could challenge the conventions of their time.