Přehled o publikaci

Even before the Piast dynasty died out, works appeared demonstrating the legitimacy of the Habsburg succession, specifically Leopold I. However, the death of fifteen-year-old George William in 1675 triggered a veritable eruption in the realm of art and historiographies. The Piast tradition was useful to both Protestants (Lutherans, Calvinists) and Catholics. The main influence on the Calvinist side came from the books of Friedrich Lucae and the mausoleum in Legnica, complementing the older mausoleum of Duke Frederick II from the 16th century. These resulted in a new tombstone of St. Hedwig in Trzebnica and the painted decoration of the Ducal Chapel in the Cistercian Abbey in Lubiąż. A painted triptych by Michael L. Wilmann was also supposed to be created (or perhaps was created), veiledly absolving, from a Catholic perspective, the last member of the family, Prince George Wilhelm, of the "Protestant error" of himself and his ancestors. This work referenced (or was intended to reference – we do not know whether the triptych was created, as one part is known only from a sketch) the symbolism of the deer. This stems from the fact that the prince, who died at the age of 15, only produced the Order of the Golden Deer. This could be seen as a reference to the hunting lodge of Klein Liegnitz near Brzeg, in the forests where the prince fell ill and died while hunting deer. In 1705, Friedrich Lucae published a major historical compendium, Des Heiligen Römischen Reichs Uhr-alter Fürsten-Saal. It portrayed Silesia as the most important and largest part of the Bohemian Crown (!), and the Piast dynasty, which had died out 30 years earlier, as a dynasty almost as important as the Habsburgs. The monumental Prince's Hall at Lubiąż Abbey seems to have been a reaction to this. Its design emphasizes the legitimacy of the Habsburg succession from the Piast dynasty in Silesia, including through the female line (an echo of the Pragmatic Sanction). In turn, the Hohenzollerns, after conquering most of Silesia in 1742, presented themselves on medals as the new Piasts.