Full of bad feelings, Jadwiga Andegaweńska sought support not only in the Church, but also in the occult. In her time, it did not offend anyone.
Jadwiga became pregnant only after twelve years of marriage. Plunged in black thoughts, she expected the worst. Her correspondence clearly shows that she was afraid of dying in childbirth. The pregnancy also sharpened her already clear fascination with astrology.
Made for the queen of Florian Psalter were decorated with zodiacal motifs. Also, the mysterious monogram she used - in the form of two connected letters M - is sometimes assigned a meaning not so much religious, but magical. No wonder then that even now, at a decisive turn in her life, the ruler turned to the adepts of the art of divination.
Methods Borrowed From Baal Priests
The oldest preserved Polish horoscope comes from 1398 and it was created by one of the scholars in the ruler's circle. It could have been a doctor, but also a clergyman, because although the Church repeatedly chased the enthusiasts of predicting the future, in Jadwiga's time the criticism clearly subsided.
Only a few years earlier, the chancellor of the University of Paris had advocated full harmony between theology and astrology. And other specialists emphasized that both horoscopes and the whole of astrology fit into the philosophy of nature created by God the Father himself. Similar translations were necessary, because it could not be concealed that the methods of interpreting the signs of the zodiac did not originate in the world of Latin civilization.
Elijah Slaying the Prophets of Baal. A biblical drawing from the 19th century
Astrologers took full advantage of the work of Arab scientists, and even - from occult treatments developed before the birth of Christ. The horoscope ordered by Jadwiga, for example, was to be based on techniques practiced by ... Babylonian priests of Baal. An ancient deity, in the eyes of the people of the Church personifying the falsehood of the ancient rites, and even presented as one of the faces of Satan:Beelzebub.
The first Polish horoscope
The queen did not ask about the future fate of the child, about his health, abilities and potential. She just wanted to know if it would meet the country's expectations. So:will he be a man. The horoscope writer went to great lengths to identify the "masculinity" or "femininity" of the signs of the zodiac, the position of the moon and the sun, and the nature of the planet "ruling the horoscope."
With the help of the brightest lady, who remembered well each of those rare evenings when her husband visited her in her bedroom, he appointed the day of conception of the child to September 16, 1398. He proclaimed that on this date it was ruled by the Sun, which, through its heat, produces the male sex. Moreover, the act of rapprochement was to take place under the aegis of Sagittarius, also considered a fiery sign. There could only be one verdict. A son grew up in the womb.
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Error predictions
The astrologer also set a date of birth. They were to take place on June 10, 1399. They didn't. The solution came after two consecutive weeks of anticipation. At that time, the main predictions of the master of the zodiac also turned out to be incorrect. This was admitted by the anonymous author of the horoscope himself in a slightly mumbling, full of repetitions, and above all full of remorse and disbelief note:
I stated that a boy will be born on the tenth day and there will be a girl and she was born in the morning on Sunday, June 22, about one hour twenty-eight minutes before noon, and I predicted the boy to be born from the main signs, because conception in the male sign stimulates in the womb towards male signs, but in female signs, moreover, the mother in the corner a was rising, and in the male sign the Moon is understood in the aquarius.
The king's daughter was born and I was wrong, I didn't know.
The astrologer explained himself to himself, because he could not apologize to the exhausted queen for his mistake. Jadwiga was unable to get up from the bed after giving birth. She died four weeks later, right after her little daughter, Elizabeth Bonifacia.
Bibliography:
The article was based on the literature and sources collected by the author during the work on the book "Ladies of the Polish Empire. The Women Who Built a Power " , mainly on the basis of the work by:E. Śnieżyńska-Stolot, Horoscopes of Queen Jadwiga's child , "Bulletin of the Jagiellonian Library", vol. 53 (2003).