Italians have Laura and Petrarch, the French have Abelard and Heloiza, and the English have Romeo and Juliet. Poles are not geese and decided to publicize the story of their own pair of great lovers. I don't think it really worked out, counting that Stanisław and Anna Oświęcim were half-siblings, and in fact they were not united by any kind of love apart from sister-brotherly love.
The graves of the Oświęcim family of the Radwan coat of arms are located in the crypt under the chapel erected in the years 1647-1648 in the Franciscan church in Krosno in the Podkarpacie region. We are not talking about any particularly powerful family. Stanisław Oświęcim was a Sanok hunter, marshal of the court of Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski and a courtier of King Władysław IV Waza. He has never received great honors or held high governmental positions.
He would probably have gone into oblivion like hundreds of other mighty men of the modern era, but by chance he became the hero of a legend that for a short time matched the history of Romeo and Juliet. Stanisław had a sister, Anna, who died in 1647, for whom he built the aforementioned chapel. He had an inscription on the tombstone: The chapel was built in memory of Anna of Kunowa Oświęcim - the saddest brother Stanisław . It may be the most ordinary funeral text, but people living at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries began to look for hidden meanings in it. This is how saddest brother transformed into ... most faithful lover .
The new legend was first reported by Gazeta Lwowska in 1812. In turn, in 1840 the historian Żegota Pauli wrote the following:
If France boasts the tomb of Abelard and Heloise, if Italy proudly displays the remains of Laura and Petrarch, then our land can also boast the resting place of two lovers whose lives are stranger the event was still attached. It is the tomb of Stanisław and Anna from Kunowa Oświęcim, brother and sister, but also the most faithful lovers who fell victim to their constant and unwavering love, frequently visited by wanderers.
Ludwig Zejszner wrote in 1848 in greater detail and a romantic note about the incestuous relationship:
And here [in the chapel in Krosno] there are hidden remnants of charming beauty, incomparable charms of Anna, who was loved by her brother Stanisław (...). He made a long effort in Rome for permission to reunite with his sister (...). Beautiful Anna died a few days before the permit was granted. My brother, distressed, abandoned the world, devoted himself to meditation, erected a chapel and immortalized the memory of beloved Anna with a painting of a wonderful brush. (…) This loving couple reunited in the grave. (...) In order that he could see his beloved Anna even after his death, he ordered a glass to be made on the coffin.
What a sweet story! Over the years, it was simplified and embellished even more. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Anna and Stanisław ceased to be half-siblings, and even began to write that they died simultaneously:Anna from joy after receiving the papal dispensation, Stanisław from regret after her departure.
A courtier and traveler in his lifetime, an incest in the grave
Professor Michał Rożek, author of the book "Smakowitości customowe", lists the entire list of artistic works devoted to the unfortunate couple. M. Bołoz-Antoniewicz wrote the song "Anna Oświęcimówna", M. Karłowicz wrote the symphonic poem "Love and death of Stanisław and Anna Oświęcim". S. Bergman painted the picture 'Stanisław Oświęcim at Anna's corpse. In addition, dramas and novels were created ... The last pictures based on the described legend were painted in the 1980s!
What was the reality like? Apparently, Stanisław didn't care so much about his sister's death. He fought during the Swedish Deluge, continued to act at court, and died only ten years later. There are no surviving sources confirming or even suggesting an erotic relationship between half-siblings. As for papal dispensations for siblings - nothing like this existed.
Considering how severely incest was applied in modern times (marriages were forbidden up to the seventh degree of kinship!), Stanisław would probably have fallen in his grave if he heard what legend was made him a hero ...