Happy Easter

 Salvete Omnes,

Easter Sunday - celebrating our most holy and important feast day of the year,  amid the second year of the Covid-19 political medicine reality.

Christ by Samostrzelnik, see more below, nota bene Ogonczyk coat of arms on the shield next to the fully armored knight

one of my favorite saints - saint Martin - Polish noblemen were still very international(Europe-wide style) in their dress, weapons and horse tack

 

Happy Easter with this crucifixion scene painted by Stanislaw Samostrzelnik, this beautiful illumination comes from a Polish late medieval missal made for bishop Erazm Ciolek, Sulima Coat of Arms (born of a burgher parents, he became a royal secretary and was able to claim the Sulima clan membership and thus became in fact and in law a nobleman ) - see the Sulima coat of arms at the bottom of the page.
This diplomat and man of Church was among the circle of  favorites of  His Royal Majesty Aleksander I (son of Kazimierz Jagielonczyk and grandshon of Wladyslaw Jagiello).

also you can peruse bishop Erazm Ciolek Roman Pontifical at the Polona (Polish National Library site).
I selected several illumination from there showing the Polish king and his armored knights and heraldry

Valete

The good times of summer

Salvete omnes,
my friend Krzysztof Laszkiewicz, local historian and 'collectionner' of unusual antiques, while doing research encountered and thus re-discovered the original AD 1433 Lodz town charter granted by king Wladyslaw II Jagello. Town and its belonging villages were owned by Crown chancellor Piotr Szafraniec, Bishop of Wloclawek, Stary Kon coat of arms.
   This was the second charter granted to Lodz, 10 years before the king  granted first charter.
Nota bene my own hometown, 30 km away to the east,  was located in the allied duchy of Masovia, and its town charter was granted by the Masovian sovereign prince Siemowit V of Masowia in AD 1427.

The Lodz renewed charter our ailing king granted during the important war council and gathering of magnates, nobles and Crown troops in the Royal Castle of Kolo. with witness being some of the most important persons of the Polish Crown:
-Wojciech Jastrzebiec, Archbishop and Primate of Poland, Jastrzebiec coat of arms
-Zbigniew Olesnicki, bishop of Krakow, Debno coat of arms
 -Spytek of Tarnow, voivode of Sandomierz - Leliwa coat of arms
 Jarand (Jurand) of Grabie, voivode of Sieradz - Pomian coat of arms
-Marcin of Kalinowa, veeran  commander of the battle of Grunwald and at the time of signing of the Lodz charter the commanding officer of the Polish troops on the Polish Crown-Teutonic Order border. - Zaremba coat of arms
-Mikolaj of Michalow, Castellan of Krakow, Roza coat of arms

The document was most likely read aloud and sealed by Wladyslaw of Oporow, Crown sub-chancellor and king's confidante and adviser. Wladyslaw was of the same coat of arms as famous Zawisza Niger (Czarny aka Black), i.e., Sulima coat of arms.
This document was lost since 1922 and Krzysztof brought it back into the public light and enjoyment in March of 2018. Now his book - How I rediscovered Lodz Town Charter - is ready and will be available for purchase  in Poland starting July 27, 2018.

 I did 4 small drawings for my friend's book and I pray the will smartly augment his narrative.
here there are some sketches I did in preparation for the book

sketch 1

sketch 2

sketch 2.1

Valete!