Constantia Zierenberg (1605–1653) was a singer and musician from Danzig (Gdańsk) in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

.Daniel Stone,''A History of East Central Europe'', University of Washington Press, 2001, p. 30,
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/ref> Constantia, the daughter of Anna Kerlin and Johann Zierenberg, who would be mayor from 1630 to 1642, was raised as a

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

. She received an excellent musical education and was also a painter. Constantia was fluent in six languages:

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. She sang for both

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

(reigned 1587–1632) and for

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and claimant of the thrones of Monarchy of Sweden, Sweden and List of Russian monarchs, Russia. Born into the House of Vasa as a prince ...

(1632–1648) on the occasion of their visits to Danzig. Constantia went to the imperial city of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and on a year-long trip to a number of other European cultural cities. Back home, in 1628, Constantia married the Calvinist Sigmund Kerschenstein (born 1603). They had three children, only one of whom survived her when she died in 1653. Numerous poetic and other literary works were dedicated to her, like Johann George Moeresius who wrote a series of poems in her honour. In 1626, the

ese publisher Filippo Lomazzo compiled and published the musical

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

''Flores praestantissimorum virorum a Philippo Lomatio Bibliopola delibati''. It is preceded by a page-long dedication ''ad nobilissiam Constantiam Czirenbergiam Gedanensiam''

In the dedication, she is praised for her musical talent, especially for her singing, which was recognized and admired by the most accomplished musicians and royalty of her time.

Notes

Sources

Katarzyna Grochowska, ''From Milan to Gdańsk: The Story of A Dedication''
1605 births 1653 deaths Musicians from Gdańsk Polish folk singers Polish women folk singers Calvinist and Reformed writers 17th-century Polish women 17th-century women singers 17th-century Polish people Polish painters Polish women painters {{poland-singer-stub