Religious Practices of Widows as an Example of Piety at Noble Courts in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Saxon Era

Faith played an important role in the lives of older Polish widows, significantly influencing their actions and behaviour. For most women, religiosity was an important, if not the most important, sphere of their earthly existence, determining their everyday life and the nature of the holidays which they celebrated, and shaping their outlook and values. Participation in religious life was a way to extend their activity in public life, and in the case of noblewomen and female magnates, to create the policy of their courts and emphasize the prestige of their families. Widows’ practices can be divided into individual (worshipping divine beings and patron saints, active participation in masses and services, receiving holy sacraments, etc.) and public, which mainly included charity and donations. However, the sources analysed suggest that widows’ religiosity did not have a unique character that could be reserved exclusively for widowhood. Rather than that, it was standard practice, and resulted from fashion and the requirements of the post-Tridentine Church.