Casimir Jagiellon ( la, Casimirus; lt, Kazimieras; pl, Kazimierz; 3 October 1458 – 4 March 1484) was a prince of the
Kingdom of Poland and of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Second son of King
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV (in full Casimir IV Andrew Jagiellon; pl, Kazimierz IV Andrzej Jagiellończyk ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447, until his death. He was one of the mo ...
, he was tutored by
Johannes Longinus, a Polish
chronicler
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
and
diplomat. After his elder brother
Vladislaus was elected as
King of Bohemia in 1471, Casimir became the
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
. At the age of 13, Casimir participated in the failed military campaign to install him as
King of Hungary. He became known for his piety, devotion to God, and generosity towards the sick and poor. He became ill (most likely with
tuberculosis) and died at the age of 25. He was buried in
Vilnius Cathedral
The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika; pl, Bazylika archikatedralna św. Stanisława Biskupa i św. Władysława, historical: ''Kościół Kated ...
and his cult grew. His canonization was initiated by his brother King
Sigismund I the Old in 1514 and the tradition holds that he was canonized in 1521.
The age of the
Protestant Reformation was not conducive to the cult of saints. Veneration of Casimir saw a resurgence in the 17th century when his feast day was confirmed by the pope in 1602 and the dedicated
Chapel of Saint Casimir was completed in 1636. Casimir became a
patron saint of
Lithuania and Lithuanian youth. In
Vilnius, his feast day is marked annually with
Kaziuko mugė
Kaziuko mugė or Saint Casimir's Fair is a large annual folk arts and crafts fair in Vilnius, Lithuania, dating to the beginning of the 17th century. The fair is traditionally held in city's markets and streets on the Sunday nearest to 4 March (Fe ...
(a trade fair) held on the Sunday nearest to 4 March, the anniversary of his death. There are more than 50 churches named after Casimir in Lithuania and Poland, including
Church of St. Casimir, Vilnius and
St. Kazimierz Church, Warsaw, and more than 50 churches in Lithuanian and Polish diaspora communities in America. Women's congregation
Sisters of Saint Casimir
The Sisters of Saint Casimir are a Roman Catholic religious community of women founded in 1907 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Mother Maria Kaupas. It is dedicated to Saint Casimir, patron saint of Lithuania.
Description
Mother Maria, a native of ...
was established in 1908 and remains active in the
United States.
Biography
Early life and education
A member of the
Jagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...
, Casimir was born in
Wawel Castle
The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established ...
in
Kraków. Casimir was the third child and the second son of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania
Casimir IV and Queen
Elisabeth Hamsburg of Austria. Elisabeth was a loving mother and took active interest in her children's upbringing. The Queen and the children often accompanied the King in his annual trips to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
From the age of nine, Casimir and his brother
Vladislaus were educated by the Polish priest Fr.
Jan Długosz
Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histor ...
. The boys were taught Latin and German, law, history, rhetoric, and classical literature. Długosz was a strict and conservative teacher who emphasized ethics, morality, and religious devotion. According to
Stanisław Orzechowski (1513–1566), the princes were subject to
corporal punishment which was approved by their father. Długosz noted Casimir's skills in oratory when he delivered speeches to greet his father returning to Poland in 1469 and Jakub Sienienski, the
Bishop of Kujawy, in 1470.
Hungarian campaign
Prince Casimir's uncle
Ladislaus the Posthumous,
King of Hungary and
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohe ...
, died in 1457 at the age of 17, without leaving an heir. Casimir's father, King Casimir IV, subsequently advanced his claims to Hungary and Bohemia, but could not enforce them due to the
Thirteen Years' War (1454–66). Instead,
Hungarian nobles
The Hungarian nobility consisted of a privileged group of individuals, most of whom owned landed property, in the Kingdom of Hungary. Initially, a diverse body of people were described as noblemen, but from the late 12th century only high ...
elected
Matthias Corvinus
Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...
and
Bohemian nobles selected
George of Poděbrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad ( cs, Jiří z Poděbrad; german: Georg von Podiebrad), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the ...
as their kings. George of Poděbrady died in March 1471. In May 1471,
Vladislaus, eldest son of Casimir IV, was elected to the throne of Bohemia. However, a group of Catholic Bohemian nobles supported Matthias Corvinus instead of Vladislaus II. In turn, a group of Hungarian nobles conspired against Matthias Corvinus and invited the Polish king to overthrow him. King Casimir IV decided to install his son, Casimir, in Hungary.
Poland amassed an army of 12,000 men, commanded by
Piotr Dunin and
Dziersław of Rytwiany. Both King Casimir and Prince Casimir participated in the campaign. In October 1471, the Polish army crossed the Hungarian border and slowly marched towards
Buda
Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
. Matthias Corvinus managed to win over the majority of the Hungarian nobles, including the main conspirator Archbishop
János Vitéz, and the Polish army did not receive the expected reinforcements. Only Deák, Perény and Rozgonyi families sent troops. Upon hearing that Corvinus' army of 16,000 men camped outside of
Pest, the Polish army decided to retreat from
Hatvan
Hatvan is a town in Heves county, Hungary. Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty".
Etymology
Hatvan is the Hungarian word for "sixty". It is a common urban legend that the town got this name because it is 60 km from Budapest, but in fact the n ...
to
Nitra
Nitra (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of about 78,353, it is the fifth ...
. There the soldiers battled food shortages, spreading infectious diseases, and the upcoming winter. The Polish King also lacked funds to pay the mercenaries. As a result, the Polish army decreased by about a third. In December 1471, Prince Casimir, fearing for his safety, was sent to
Jihlava closer to the Polish border and that further eroded their soldiers' morale. Corvinus took Nitra and a one-year truce was completed in March 1472 in Buda. Prince Casimir returned to
Kraków to resume his studies with Długosz.
Długosz remarked that Prince Casimir felt "great sorrow and shame" regarding the failure in Hungary. Polish propaganda, however, portrayed him as a savior, sent by divine providence, to protect the people from a godless tyrant (i.e. Matthias Corvinus) and marauding pagans (i.e. Muslim
Ottoman Turks
The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922).
Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...
). Prince Casimir was also exposed to the cult of his uncle King
Władysław III of Poland
Władysław III (31 October 1424 – 10 November 1444), also known as Ladislaus of Varna, was King of Poland and the Supreme Duke (''Supremus Dux'') of Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1434 as well as King of Hungary and Croatia from 1440 until h ...
who died in the 1444
Battle of Varna
The Battle of Varna took place on 10 November 1444 near Varna in eastern Bulgaria. The Ottoman Army under Sultan Murad II (who did not actually rule the sultanate at the time) defeated the Hungarian–Polish and Wallachian armies commanded ...
against the Ottomans. This led some researchers, including
Jacob Caro
Jacob Caro (February 2, 1835G. Kaufmann, Chronik der königlichen Universität Breslau, Jahrgang 17 (1903), p. 133. The birth year 1836 results from a wrong adaptation of the Jewish calendar. – December 12, 1904) was a German historian.
Caro ...
, to conclude that the Hungarian campaign pushed Prince Casimir into religious life.
Later life and death
As his elder brother, Vladislaus II, ruled Bohemia, Prince Casimir became the heir apparent to the throne of Poland and Lithuania. Italian humanist writer
Filippo Buonaccorsi (also known as Filip Callimachus) was hired to become Casimir's tutor in political matters, but his Renaissance views had less influence on Casimir than Długosz. In 1474, the Italian merchant and traveler
Ambrogio Contarini Ambrogio Contarini (1429 – 1499) was a Venetian nobleman, merchant and diplomat known for an account of his travel to Iran.Bertotti, Filippo (1992), "Contarini, Ambrogio", in: ''Encyclopædia Iranica'', Vol. VI, Fasc. 2, p. 220Online (Accessed Fe ...
met with Prince Casimir and was impressed by his wisdom. Prince Casimir completed his formal education at age 16 and spent most of his time with his father. In 1476, Prince Casimir accompanied his father to
Royal Prussia where he tried to resolve the conflict with the
Prince-Bishopric of Warmia
The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia ( pl, Biskupie Księstwo Warmińskie; german: Fürstbistum Ermland) was a semi-independent ecclesiastical state, ruled by the incumbent ordinary of the Warmia see and comprising one third of the then diocesan area ...
(see
War of the Priests). In 1478
Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania demanded that King Casimir IV leave either Prince Casimir or Prince
John I Albert
John I Albert ( pl, Jan I Olbracht; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland from 1492 until his death in 1501 and Duke of Głogów (Glogau) from 1491 to 1498. He was the fourth Polish sovereign from the Jagiellonian dynasty, the s ...
in Lithuania as a regent. King Casimir IV feared separatist moods and refused, but after settling the conflict in Prussia, moved to
Vilnius.
Between 1479 and 1484 his father spent most of his time in Vilnius attending to the affairs of Lithuania. In 1481,
Mikhailo Olelkovich Mikhailo Aleksandrovich Olelkovich (executed on August 30, 1481 in Vilnius) was a Ruthenian noble from the Olelkovich family of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was the brother of Prince Simeon Olelkovich of Kiev and cousin of Grand Prince Ivan ...
and his relatives planned to murder King Casimir and Prince Casimir during a hunt at a wedding of
Feodor Ivanovich Belsky. The plan was discovered and Prince Casimir, perhaps fearing for his safety, was sent to Poland to act as vice-regent. Around the same time his father tried to arrange his marriage to
Kunigunde of Austria
Kunigunde of Austria (16 March 1465 – 6 August 1520), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duchess of Bavaria from 1487 to 1508, by her marriage to the Wittelsbach duke Albert IV.
Biography Early life
Kunigunde was born in Wiener Neustadt, ...
, daughter of Emperor
Frederick III. It is often claimed that Prince Casimir refused the match, preferring to remain celibate and sensing his approaching death. According to
Maciej Miechowita
Maciej Miechowita (also known as ''Maciej z Miechowa, Maciej of Miechów, Maciej Karpiga, Matthias de Miechow''; 1457 – 8 September 1523) was a Polish renaissance scholar, professor of Jagiellonian University, historian, chronicler, geograp ...
, Prince Casimir developed
tuberculosis. In May 1483, Prince Casimir joined his father in Vilnius. There, after the death of
Andrzej Oporowski, Bishop and
Vice-Chancellor of the Crown, Prince Casimir took over some of his duties in the chancellery. However, his health deteriorated while rumors about his piousness and good deeds spread further. In February 1484, the
Polish sejm
The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of th ...
in
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...
was aborted as King Casimir IV rushed back to Lithuania to be with his ill son. Prince Casimir died on 4 March 1484, in
Grodno. His remains were interred in
Vilnius Cathedral
The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika; pl, Bazylika archikatedralna św. Stanisława Biskupa i św. Władysława, historical: ''Kościół Kated ...
, where the dedicated
Saint Casimir's Chapel was built in 1636.
Veneration
Pious life and attributed miracles
Surviving contemporary accounts described Prince Casimir as a young man of exceptional intellect and education, humility and politeness, who strove for justice and fairness. Early sources do not attest to his piety or devotion to God, but his inclination to religious life increased towards the end of his life. Later sources provide some stories of Casimir's religious life.
Marcin Kromer
Marcin Kromer (Latin: ''Martinus Cromerus''; 11 November 1512 – 23 March 1589) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He wa ...
(1512–1589) claimed that Casimir refused his physician's advice to have sexual relations with women in hopes to cure his illness. Other accounts claimed that Casimir contracted his lung disease after a particularly hard fast or that he could be found pre-dawn, kneeling by the church gates, waiting for a priest to open them.
Zacharias Ferreri (1479–1524) wrote that Casimir composed a prayer in
hexameter on Christ's
incarnation but this text has not survived. Later, a copy of ''Omni die dic Mariae'' (''Daily, Daily Sing to Mary'') was found in Casimir's coffin. The hymn became so strongly associated with Casimir that sometimes it known as ''Hymn of St. Casimir'' and he is credited as its author. The lengthy hymn has an intricate
meter and rhyme scheme (alternate
acatalectic
An acatalectic line of verse is one having the metrically complete number of syllables in the final foot. When talking about poetry written in English the term is arguably of limited significance or utility, at least by comparison to its antonym, ...
and
catalectic
A catalectic line is a metrically incomplete line of verse, lacking a syllable at the end or ending with an incomplete foot. One form of catalexis is headlessness, where the unstressed syllable is dropped from the beginning of the line.
A line ...
trochaic dimeter
In poetry, a dimeter is a metrical line of verse with two feet. The particular foot
The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In m ...
with
internal rhyme In poetry, internal rhyme, or middle rhyme, is rhyme that occurs within a single line of verse, or between internal phrases across multiple lines. By contrast, rhyme between line endings is known as end rhyme.
Internal rhyme schemes can be denoted ...
in the first and third verses (aa/b, cc/b)) and was most likely written by
Bernard of Cluny
Bernard of Cluny (or, of Morlaix or Morlay) was a twelfth-century French Benedictine monk, best known as the author of ''De contemptu mundi'' (''On Contempt for the World''), a long verse satire in Latin.
Life
Bernard's family of origin and place ...
.
One of the first miracles attributed to Casimir was his appearance before the Lithuanian army during the
Siege of Polotsk in 1518. Casimir showed where Lithuanian troops could safely cross the
Daugava River and relieve the city, besieged by the army of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow. Ferreri's hagiography of 1521 mentions many miracles of Casimir are known but describes only one – a Lithuanian victory against the Russians. The description lacks specifics, such as date or location, but most likely refers to the Lithuanian victory in 1519 against Russian troops that raided environs of Vilnius, and not the more popular story of the Siege of Polotsk.
Canonization and official veneration
Casimir's official cult started spreading soon after his death. Already in 1501,
Pope Alexander VI, citing chapel's splendor and Casimir's miracles, granted a special
indulgence to those who would pray in the chapel where Casimir was buried from one
vespers
Vespers is a service of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic (both Latin and Eastern), Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies. The word for this fixed prayer time comes from the Latin , meaning ...
to another during certain Catholic festivals, and would contribute to the upkeep of the chapel. In 1513,
Andrzej Krzycki
Andrzej Krzycki of the Kotwicz heraldic clan (also Andreas Cricius) (Krzycko Małe, 7 July 1482 – † Skierniewice, 10 May, 1537) was a Renaissance Polish writer and archbishop. Krzycki wrote in Latin prose, but wrote poetry in Polish. He is oft ...
wrote a poem mentioning numerous wax
votive offerings on Casimir's grave. In 1514, during the
Fifth Council of the Lateran, Casimir's brother
Sigismund I the Old petitioned the pope to canonize Casimir. After repeated requests, in November 1517,
Pope Leo X appointed a three-bishop commission and later sent his legate
Zacharias Ferreri to investigate. He arrived at Vilnius in September 1520 and completed his work in about two months. His findings, the first short
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...
of Casimir, was published in 1521 in
Kraków as ''Vita Beati Casimiri Confessoris''. The canonization was all but certain but Pope Leo X died in December 1521. Research of
Zenonas Ivinskis and
Paulius Rabikauskas showed that there is no documentary proof that he issued a
papal bull canonizing Casimir but many important documents were lost during the
Sack of Rome (1527). The
Protestant Reformation attacked the cult of saints and there were no new canonizations between 1523 and 1588. However, Casimir was included in the first ''
Roman Martyrology,'' published in 1583.
The cause of Casimir's cult was taken up by the new Bishop of Vilnius
Benedykt Woyna (appointed in 1600). He sent canon Gregorius Swiecicki to Rome with a letter from King
Sigismund III Vasa requesting to add the feast of Casimir to the
Roman Breviary and
Roman Missal. The
Sacred Congregation of Rites
The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by '' Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it had its functions reassigned by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969.
The Congregation was charged with th ...
refused the request but on 7 November 1602
Pope Clement VIII
Pope Clement VIII ( la, Clemens VIII; it, Clemente VIII; 24 February 1536 – 3 March 1605), born Ippolito Aldobrandini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1592 to his death in March 1605.
Born ...
issued a
papal brief
A papal brief or breve is a formal document emanating from the Pope, in a somewhat simpler and more modern form than a papal bull.
History
The introduction of briefs, which occurred at the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Eugene IV (3 Ma ...
''Quae ad sanctorum'' which authorized his feast ''sub duplici ritu'' on 4 March but only in Poland and Lithuania. The brief also mentioned that Casimir was added to the ranks of saints by Pope Leo X. In the absence of any earlier known papal document explicitly mentioning Casimir as saint, the brief is often cited as Casimir's canonization. Swiecicki returned to Vilnius with the papal brief and red velvet
labarum with the image of Saint Casimir. The city organized a large three-day festival on 10–12 May 1604 to properly accept the papal flag. On the third day, the
cornerstone
The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
Over tim ...
was laid for the new
Church of St. Casimir. The coffin of Casimir was taken out of the crypt and elevated to the altar. Swiecicki testified that when the coffin was opened in August 1604 a wonderful smell filed the cathedral for three days.
In 1607 and 1613, Bishop Woyna declared Casimir patron saint of Lithuania (''Patronus principalis Lithuaniae''). The issue of a universal Casimir's feast was not forgotten and in 1620 Bishop
Eustachy Wołłowicz
Eustachy Wołłowicz ( lt, Eustachijus Valavičius; 1572–1630) was Bishop of Vilnius in 1616–1630. He was one of the more accomplished bishops of Vilnius in the 17th century.
A son of the Protestant father and Eastern Orthodox mother, Wołło ...
petitioned
Pope Paul V
Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...
to add Casimir to the
Roman Breviary and
Roman Missal. This time the
Sacred Congregation of Rites
The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by '' Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it had its functions reassigned by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969.
The Congregation was charged with th ...
granted the request in March 1621 and added his feast ''sub ritu semiduplici''. In March 1636,
Pope Urban VIII allowed the celebration of the feast of Casimir with an
octave (''duplex cum octava'') in the
Diocese of Vilnius and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. That is equivalent of proclaiming Casimir as the
patron saint of Lithuania. On 28 September 1652,
Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in January ...
allowed a fest of
transfer of relics of Casimir on a Sunday following the
Assumption of Mary
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
. On 11 June 1948, when many Lithuanians were
displaced war refugees,
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII ( it, Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (; 2 March 18769 October 1958), was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death in October 1958. ...
named Casimir the special patron of Lithuanian youth.
Iconography
Saint Casimir's painting in
Vilnius Cathedral
The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika; pl, Bazylika archikatedralna św. Stanisława Biskupa i św. Władysława, historical: ''Kościół Kated ...
is considered to be miraculous. The painting, probably completed around 1520, depicts the saint with two right hands. According to a legend, the painter attempted to redraw the hand in a different place and paint over the old hand, but the old hand miraculously reappeared. More conventional explanations claim that three-handed Casimir was the original intent of the painter to emphasize the exceptional generosity of Casimir ("But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."
Matthew 6:3) or that the old hand bled through a coat of new paint (similar to a
palimpsest). Around 1636 the painting was covered in gilded silver clothing (''
riza
:
A riza ( Russian: риза, "vestment," "robe"; Ukrainian: шати, ''shaty'', "vestments") or oklad (оклад, "covered"), sometimes called a "revetment" in English, is a metal cover protecting an icon. It is usually made of gilt or silv ...
'').
Casimir's iconography usually follows the three-handed painting. He is usually depicted as a young man in long red robe lined with
stoat fur. Sometimes he wears a red cap of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, but other times, to emphasize his devotion to spiritual life, the cap is placed near Casimir. Almost always he holds a lily, a symbol of virginity, innocence, and purity. He might also hold a cross, a rosary, or a book with words from ''Omni die dic Mariae'' (Daily, Daily Sing to Mary). The towns of
Kvėdarna
Kvėdarna is a town in Šilalė district municipality, Tauragė County, Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is ...
and
Nemunaitis in Lithuania have Saint Casimir depicted on their coat of arms.
Physical remains and relics
Casimir was buried in the
crypt
A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...
under the Royal Chapel of
Vilnius Cathedral
The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius ( lt, Vilniaus Šv. Stanislovo ir Šv. Vladislovo arkikatedra bazilika; pl, Bazylika archikatedralna św. Stanisława Biskupa i św. Władysława, historical: ''Kościół Kated ...
(present-day Wołłowicz Chapel to the left from the main entrance), constructed by his father in the
Gothic style
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
in 1474. In 1604, the coffin was elevated from the crypt to the altar and in 1636 moved to the dedicated
Chapel of Saint Casimir. The present-day sarcophagus was made in 1747 under the last will of Bishop of Warmia
Christopher Johan Szembek
Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...
(1680–1740). It is made of linden wood and covered with silver plates; its corners are decorated with gilded eagles. The sarcophagus was removed from the cathedral on three occasions. In 1655, before the
Battle of Vilnius during the
Deluge
A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood.
The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis.
Deluge may also refer to:
History
*Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Com ...
, the relics were removed most likely by
Jerzy Białłozor
Jerzy Białłozor (c. 1622-1665) was a Polish nobleman, bishop of Smoleńsk since 1658 and Wilno since 21 November 1661, secretary of the King.
Son of Krzysztof Białłozor the Marshal of Upita and starost of Abele.
References
* Ryszard Mien ...
and hid by
Cyprian Paweł Brzostowski and later by the
Sapiehas in the
Ruzhany Palace
Ruzhany Palace ( be, палац у Ружанах, pl, Pałac w Różanie) is a ruined palace compound in Ruzhany village, Pruzhany Raion (district), Brest Voblast (province), Western Belarus. Between the 16th and 19th centuries Ruzhany, the ...
. They were returned to the devastated chapel in 1663. The relics were removed for a short time in 1702 during the
Battle of Vilnius of the
Great Northern War. In October 1952, the relics were quietly moved to the
Church of St. Peter and St. Paul by the order of
Soviet authorities. The cathedral was turned into an art gallery. The relics returned to their place in 1989 when the cathedral was reconsecrated.
After the rediscovery of the
Catacombs of Rome
The Catacombs of Rome ( it, Catacombe di Roma) are ancient catacombs, underground burial places in and around Rome, of which there are at least forty, some rediscovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, either ...
in 1578, the cult of
relics spread throughout Europe (see also
catacomb saints
Catacomb saints were the bodies of ancient Christians that were carefully exhumed from the catacombs of Rome and sent abroad to serve as relics of certain saints from the 16th century to the 19th century. They were typically lavishly decorated wit ...
) and the trend did not skip Casimir. The coffin of Casimir was opened in early 1602 and in August 1604. At the time, canon Gregorius Swiecicki testified that despite humidity the body was intact. But in 1667 there were only bones left; they were inventoried and placed into six cloth bags. Surviving written records indicate that the coffin was opened in 1664, 1667, 1677, 1690, 1736, 1838, 1878 (twice), and 1922. There are several recorded instances when Casimir's relics were gifted to prominent figures and societies: to musicians'
confraternity
A confraternity ( es, cofradía; pt, confraria) is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy. They are most ...
at
San Giorgio Maggiore, Naples San Giorgio Maggiore is a basilica church located on the corner of Via vicaria Vecchia and Via Duomo, in central Naples, Italy. The apse of the church lies diagonally across the street from San Severo al Pendino.
A church at the site was built ...
in early 1650s, to King
John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.
Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...
and
Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdin ...
[ in October 1677, to the ]Sodality of Our Lady
The Sodality of Our Lady, also known as the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary (in Latin, ''Congregationes seu sodalitates B. Mariæ Virginis''), is a Roman Catholic Marian society founded in 1563 by young Belgian Jesuit Jean Leunis (or Jan) a ...
of the Jesuit academy in Mechelen and the Order of Malta in October 1690, to Queen Maria Josepha of Austria in February 1736, to Cistercian abbot Sztárek Lajos of in 1860. Many more relics of Casimir can be found in local churches. In particular, in 1838, two teeth and ten unspecified bones were removed from the coffin; the bones were cut into small pieces and distributed among various churches. In 1922, the bones were wrapped in a new cloth and the old cloth was distributed as a relic. It was the last time that a relic of Casimir (one tooth for the Church of St. Casimir) was taken.
Dedications
In his 1970 monograph priest Florijonas Neviera (Florian Niewiero, 1896–1976) counted churches named after Casimir. He found 12 churches in Lithuania (as of 1940), 48 churches and 5 chapels in Poland, 23 Lithuanian and 36 Polish churches in United States (as of 1964), five churches in Canada ( Montreal, Winnipeg, Toronto, Portneuf, and Ripon), two churches in United Kingdom ( London and Manchester), and two churches in Belarus ( Vselyub and Lepiel
Lyepyel ( be, Ле́пель, Liepieĺ; pl, Lepel; russian: Ле́пель, Lepel, ; yi, ליעפּליע, Li'epli'e) is a town located in the center of the Lyepyel Raion (district) in the Vitebsk Province of Belarus near Lyepyel Lake. Lyepye ...
). The women's congregation Sisters of Saint Casimir
The Sisters of Saint Casimir are a Roman Catholic religious community of women founded in 1907 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Mother Maria Kaupas. It is dedicated to Saint Casimir, patron saint of Lithuania.
Description
Mother Maria, a native of ...
was established in 1908 by Maria Kaupas
Maria Kaupas, S.S.C., (January 6, 1880 – April 17, 1940) was an American Catholic religious sister who founded the Sisters of Saint Casimir.
She was born Casimira Kaupas in Ramygala, Russian Empire. At the age of 17, she emigrated to the U ...
and is active in the United States. In 1945, the College of Saint Casimir was established in Rome to educate Lithuanian priests who fled west after World War II.
While the devotion to Casimir is most prevalent in Lithuania and Poland and their diaspora communities, his cult can be found in other countries as well. In the 17th century, at least two societies of Saint Casimir were active in Mechelen and Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, (now Belgium). In the 17th century, Casimir's cult also spread in Italy, particularly Florence, Palermo, Naples; his cult in Rome was more associated with Polish dignitaries and émigrés. Musical performances were organized in Rome in 1675 (words by Sebastiano Lazzarini, music by Francesco Beretta, performed at Santo Spirito in Sassia) and in 1678 (words by Ottavio Santacroce, music probably by Giovanni Bicilli, performed at Santa Maria in Vallicella on the occasion of the visit by Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł
Prince Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł () (26 October 1625 – 14 November 1680) was a Polish–Lithuanian noble and magnate. He is sometimes referred to as ''the first'' Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł, to distinguish him from the other ...
and his wife Katarzyna Sobieska
Katarzyna Sobieska (1634–1694) was the sister of King John III Sobieski of Poland and a noblewoman. She married Władysław Dominik Zasławski in 1650. She was later married to Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł
Prince Michał Kazimier ...
), and in Florence in 1706 (words possibly by Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, music by Alessandro Scarlatti
Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti (2 May 1660 – 22 October 1725) was an Italian Baroque composer, known especially for his operas and chamber cantatas. He is considered the most important representative of the Neapolitan school of opera.
...
). In Palermo, Pietro Novelli
Pietro Novelli (March 2, 1603 – August 27, 1647) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in Palermo. Also known as ''il Monrealese'' or ''Pietro "Malta" Novelli'' to distinguish him from his father, Pietro Antonio Novelli I ...
was commissioned painting ''Coronation of Saint Casimir'' (l’Incoronazione di s. Casimiro) for the altar of (now held at the Galleria Regionale della Sicilia).
The settlements of Saint-Casimir in Canada (founded 1836) and San Casimiro in Venezuela (founded 1785) are named after him. Sculptures of Casimir, among other canonized royals, can be found in San Ferdinando, Livorno San Ferdinando is a Baroque architecture, Baroque style, Roman Catholic church located in Livorno#Venezia Nuova, Venezia Nuova district next to ''Piazza del Luogo Pio'' in Livorno, region of Tuscany, Italy. It is also called San Ferdinando Re or the ...
, Italy and Metropolitan Cathedral, Mexico City. Stained glass windows with Casimir can be found at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph in San Jose, California, and at the Church of St. Peter in Chevaigné, France. Since 1846, there is a nursing home in Paris named ''Maison Saint-Casimir''. It was created by the Polish community of France and is run since its opening by Polish nuns Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.
See also
* Saint Casimir, patron saint archive
References
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External links
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Interactive panorama of Saint Casimir's Chapel at Vilnius Cathedral
{{DEFAULTSORT:Casimir, Saint
1458 births
1484 deaths
Nobility from Kraków
Polish Prince Royals
Jagiellonian dynasty
15th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Burials at Vilnius Cathedral
Lithuanian Roman Catholic saints
Polish Roman Catholic saints
Roman Catholic royal saints
National symbols of Lithuania
15th-century Christian saints
Tuberculosis deaths in Belarus
Sons of kings