Wacław Potocki’s pious knights and their archetypes (selected examples)

Abstract

The article is concerned with "Judyta", "Pojedynek..." and "Enchiridion militis Christiani…" – Potocki’s pieces, and works which inspired the poet to write them. The author focuses on two kinds of fight: spiritual and virtual, and on the characters who engage in the fight. Two kinds of pious knights are distinguished: the allegorical character, created in "Pojedynek…" and "Enchiridion…", based on the Erasmian topos militis Christiani, and the knight of God – disclosed in "Judyta", who has nothing in common with that topos. It is pointed out that anti-Turkish elements occur in "Enchiridion…". There are also analogies between the protagonists in these works and the knight of Christ from Piotr Skarga’s "Żołnierskie nabożeństwo" ["Soldiers' Devotions"]. It is stated that Potocki is Erasmian only to the extent that he refers to Arian ideology, and pious knights show existential dilemmas – especially their care for the country regarding various threats, including the Turks.