Wiersze żałobne dla Krzysztofa Radziwiłła w sylwie ze zbiorów Bavorovianum we Lwowie [Mourning poems for Krzysztof Radziwiłł in the silva rerum from the collections of the Bavorovianum in Lviv]

The 17th century silva rerum from the collections of the Bavorovianum (manuscript 1332/II), currently stored in The Lviv National Vasyl Stefanyk Scientific Library of Ukraine, contains copies of unknown occasional works about the Radziwiłł family from Birże. The most elaborate set consists of mourning poems for prince Krzysztof (d. 1640): Lament na pogrzeb księcia pana wojewody wileńskiego… [The lament for the funeral of sir prince voivode of Vilnius], three poems Korony temuż [The crown to thee], the tombstone, and Na chorągiew temuż [To the flag to thee]. The texts are preceded by a foreward that introduces the author, Walerian Gorzycki, and characterises the works, clarifying the evoked settings and referring to the genres issues. Lament… emphasises primarily the hetman’s military merits and his religious patronage. The three poems refer to the motif of crowns awarded to victorious commanders and commemorate the liberation of Smoleńsk and Mitawa. The poem Na chorągiew… is a Polish language version of a latin inscription placed on the flag prepared for the funeral of Radziwiłł that has been documented in 17th century prints (by Siestrzencewicz and Kmita).