A meeting with the author of a historical novel about Henryk IV Probus, a claimant to the Polish throne in the second half of the 13th century, was held in the Wedding Hall of Bolesławiec Town Hall.
“Blood of Kings” is both a historical and a political novel. In the book, Nowakowski describes the life of an exceptional hero who lost the struggle for the Polish throne. Henryk Probus (1257/1258–1290) died just before achieving his goal (based on historical sources, Nowakowski states that he was poisoned). The duke fought the Church’s dominance over ducal authority, won allies and built coalitions.
The novel by Andrzej Nowakowski “Blood of Kings” is based on available historical facts, and many of its characters are historical figures. To bring the historical work closer to the audience, two students from the II General Secondary School: Marytna Stasiak and Sandra Zarywka read aloud excerpts from the book describing Henryk Probus’s wedding ceremony.
The meeting showed that the medieval duke still arouses strong emotions today. A heated discussion took place about Henryk Probus’s national identity. The author was accused of claiming that Probus was Polish, when in fact he belonged more to Germanic culture.
“Probus felt Polish,” says Józefina Witas, who led the meeting. “He was a Slav from the Piast dynasty. The fact that he wrote in German and Latin changes nothing. In those days, dynasties were a national mixture. Political marriages meant that a mother might be German, Czech or Silesian, depending on the state or duchy with which her husband wanted to form an alliance,” adds the owner of Agora bookshop.
The meeting was organized by Agora bookshop, Oskar Publishing House and the Bolesławiec City Office. The book “Blood of Kings” can be purchased at Agora bookshop in the Market Square.
Andrzej Nowakowski (born in 1952) was born in Gostków, a small village in Kashubia, but has lived in Gdańsk all his life. He graduated from the humanities faculty of a Gdańsk university and has worked as a Polish language teacher at a secondary school for many years. He made his debut with short stories published in the weekly “Litery”. His subsequent texts were printed by various cultural and literary magazines. Large excerpts from his novel appeared in the monthly “Punkt” in 1980 and in the quarterly “Migotania” in 2013. He also wrote books for children (three such titles were published by the now-defunct KAW publishing house) as well as science-fiction stories published in “Młody Technik” and “Problemy”. His hobby is the history of medieval Europe, and the novel “Blood of Kings” is set in that world.
(information: ii)