Polish hymn 'Bogurodzica' on show at National Library
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
19.11.2016 13:14
A manuscript of “Bogurodzica” (Mother of God), purportedly the oldest hymn in Polish, is on display on Saturday at the National Library in Warsaw.
Part of one of the existing early "Bogurodzica" manuscripts. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
A one-day event, it is a rare opportunity to see one of the three oldest existing manuscripts of the hymn, which historian Jan Długosz described as the "carmen patrium" (hymn of the motherland).
It was probably composed somewhere between the 10th and 13th centuries and played the role of the national anthem for hundreds of years.
According to many historians, it was sung by Polish knights at the start of the Battle of Grunwald against the Teutonic Knights in 1410. It also accompanied the coronation ceremonies of the first kings of the Jagiellonian dynasty (late 14th and 15th century).
The “Bogurodzica” manuscript on view at the National Library comes from the middle of the 15th century. Visitors to the National Library can listen to lectures about the hymn and a concert of medieval music.
The show is another in a series of one-day displays of the oldest relics of Polish history at the National Library. (mk/vb)