Free Swans Are Fat Too by Michelle Granas Page B

patron saint of queens and of a United Europe.
    Konstanty thought marriages important. Of course, a man of his background would, she knew; the marriages of his ancestors hadn't been about mutual attraction, but about alliances or wealth, and if today the wealth was no longer such an issue, she suspected there was still a definite ideal of the type of 'girl from a good family' that would be suitable. She blushed again, not liking her own thoughts.
    In spite of Jadwiga's earlier, and successful, peace-making efforts, it came to bloodshed with the Teutonic Order. The battle of Grunwald in 1410, which the Order lost, was one of the largest battles in medieval Europe… (Konstanty, she saw, had scribbled in the margin , 'We love superlatives for our country, here's one' ) …Tens of thousands of foot soldiers were killed on both sides; 209 knights of the Teutonic Order died, and 12 Polish knights …Twelve? Only twelve? Were the others hiding to the rear?
    Although the Teutonic Order continued to be a problem for some time, and the Grand Duchy of Moscow was rising, which would be a problem for the next 500 years, and Hungary was later to be lost to the Turks, who ruled it for the next 200 years …
    Was there any evidence, Hania wondered, pausing, that the inhabitants were worse off for the fact? She would have to ask Konstanty. Or did she dare? There were qualities she could be certain, from his background, he would possess: he would be honest and civic-minded, for instance. She had had experience of his kindness. Beyond that, she wasn't quite sure yet: she didn't think, from his conversation or what she had read of his writing so far, that it was the case, but there was always the possibility that he saw the past in terms of Matejko's overwrought historical paintings, saw Poland in terms of ' agonia .' He might have exclusive metaphysical certainties; perhaps he would be offended by the suggestion that Muslim Turks could rule as well as Catholic Poles.  
    Here was a happier note:
    … Poland-Lithuania consisted of one of the vastest territories in Europe. For the top 10% of the population, there were legal gains: Poland had an early Habeas Corpus act and one of the first parliaments in Europe; the king could make no new laws single-handedly, and any deputy could cast a vote annulling the work of the entire legislative session. This system of consensus worked well for over a century and a half.  
    During the two centuries of the Jagiellon period, learning, and then the Renaissance, flourished in these parts. The University of Cracow became famous for mathematics; Polish literature took off as poetry was written in the vernacular ('Poles are not geese,' wrote the poet Mikołaj Rej, 'they have their own language'); the court was full of scholars, and Copernicus, by holding that the planets moved about the sun, began a scientific revolution.…
    Hania noticed there was a note in the margin: Was the rise of the vernacular a good thing? It's always mentioned as an achievement, but I'm inclined to wonder. A common language, such as Latin was, makes a universal culture, transcending borders, possible...Few things divide people as much as language. Copernicus, for instance, born in Torun of German or Polish or mixed parents, educated in Poland and Italy, speaking German and writing in Latin, was typical of the age ...  
    Well, these comments were quite encouraging, thought Hania, and she wasn't thinking of Polish history at all.
     
     

 
     
    5

    It's safer, beneath a green canopy, with a girl,
    Playing on a charming lute, to lie under the eiderdown,
    Than to wear a shield and kicking spur,
    Or to flatten one's scalp with heavy headgear.
    – Hieronim Morsztyn (c.1581-1623),
    'Pleasant Advice'
     
     
    Hania, opening her eyes in the morning, thought that something had changed in the room, but she couldn't think what at once. She blinked several times and looked around. The bed was still holding together, sort of; the wooden