Konferencja
Scientific conference: "Royal traces in the Wschowa region and the Greater Poland-Silesia border. On the 1000th anniversary of the Kingdom of Poland and 300 years since the marriage of Maria Leszczyńska to Louis XV"
The 19th scientific conference devoted to the historical heritage of the Wschowa region and the Greater Poland-Silesia borderland will be held on November 18–20, 2025.
The title of this year's conference is: "Royal Traces in the Wschowa Land and the Greater Poland-Silesia Border. On the 1000th Anniversary of the Kingdom of Poland and 300 Years Since the Coronation of Maria Leszczyńska."
The conference organizers are: the District Museum in Leszno, the Czas A.R.T. Association and the Department of Modern History to the 18th Century at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
The year 2025 marks a special anniversary for Poland and the history of the Wschowa region. In 1025, the Polans became a kingdom – the coronation of Bolesław Chrobry began to build Poland's importance on the map of Europe. Seven centuries later, in 1725, the daughter of King Stanisław Leszczyński and Katarzyna Opalińska became Queen of France.
During the conference days in Leszno and Wschowa, lectures and panels will be presented devoted to Maria Leszczyńska, her family and the connections between the Wschowa region and the Greater Poland-Silesia borderland and crowned heads and royal families.
The title of this year's conference is: "Royal Traces in the Wschowa Land and the Greater Poland-Silesia Border. On the 1000th Anniversary of the Kingdom of Poland and 300 Years Since the Coronation of Maria Leszczyńska."
The conference organizers are: the District Museum in Leszno, the Czas A.R.T. Association and the Department of Modern History to the 18th Century at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
The year 2025 marks a special anniversary for Poland and the history of the Wschowa region. In 1025, the Polans became a kingdom – the coronation of Bolesław Chrobry began to build Poland's importance on the map of Europe. Seven centuries later, in 1725, the daughter of King Stanisław Leszczyński and Katarzyna Opalińska became Queen of France.
During the conference days in Leszno and Wschowa, lectures and panels will be presented devoted to Maria Leszczyńska, her family and the connections between the Wschowa region and the Greater Poland-Silesia borderland and crowned heads and royal families.
Conference program
November 18, 2025 – LESZNO, Town Hall
10.00 Opening of the conference
10:15–11:45 Panel I
Katarzyna Kuras / Jagiellonian University in Kraków
From Greater Poland to Versailles: The Fate of Maria Leszczyńska, Queen of France (1725–1768)
Magdalena Kuran / University of Łódź
„[…] miałabyś najpierwsze do najjaśniejszych na świecie koron prawo” - Cardinal Armand G. M. de Rohan's speech to Maria Leszczyńska (on her wedding day, August 15, 1725, in Strasbourg)
Adam Perłakowski / Jagiellonian University in Kraków
Letters from Maria Leszczyńska to Arvid Horn from 1726–1734 from the ‘Arvid Horn Samling’ collection of the Archives of the Kingdom of Sweden in Stockholm
11.45–12.00 Break
12.00–13.30 Panel II
Barbara Hryszko / Ignatianum University in Kraków
Mythology in the Presentation of Queen Maria Leszczyńska of France
Zuzanna Rybińska / Leszno District Museum
Princess, queen, mother, artist... The many faces of Maria Leszczyńska
Marianna Czerwińska / National Museum in Poznań
Embroidery by Maria Leszczyńska from the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts
13:30–14:00 Break
14.00–15.30 Panel III
Michał Kuran / University of Łódź
The Splendours of the Imperial Court. About the Solemn Audience with His Turkish Majesty the Emperor, which Rafał Leszczyński, the Starost of Wschowa, held in May 1700 as an envoy of Augustus II.
Marcin Różycki / University of Wrocław
The first and last "Stanisławczyk." Władysław Poniński in the service of Stanisław Leszczyński
Agnieszka Jakuboszczak / Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
The image of Maria Leszczyńska in 19th-century historiography: selected examples
Accompanying event:
5:00 p.m. Leszno District Museum, 31 G. Narutowicza Street: Opening of the exhibition "Maria Leszczyńska. A Polish woman on the French throne"
November 19, 2025 – WSCHOWA, Royal Castle
9:30–11:00 Panel IV
Bartosz Tietz / Museum of the Wschowa Region
A Piast center on the periphery. Wschowa between the mid-13th and mid-14th centuries in the concept of "gateway cities"
Joanna Karczewska / University of Zielona Góra
Privileges for Wschowa granted by Kazimierz Wielki and Władysław Jagiełło as a prerequisite for the city's growing importance
Bernadetta M. Puchalska-Dąbrowska / University of Białystok
The figure of St. Jadwiga, Duchess of Silesia, in the so-called Hornigów Codex of 1451
11.00–11.30 Break
11:30–13:00 Panel V
Adrian Gendera / Leszno District Museum
Denarius and groschen in the service of medieval propaganda – an analysis of selected items from the collections of the Leszno District Museum
Ryszard Kozłowski / Polish Numismatic Society, Zielona Góra Branch
Royal mints in Wschowa
Anna Polak / Interdisciplinary Center for Modern Technologies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Izabela Zakrzewska / Tourist Information Center in Żagań
Royal wedding in Wschowa, princely roots in Żagań. Around the marriage of Kazimierz Wielki to Jadwiga Żagańska – towards the Jadwiga Żagańska Trail
Sławomir Majoch / John Paul II Pontifical University of Krakow
Ewa Sułkowska and her illustrations for J. U. Niemcewicz's Historical Songs
13:00–14:00 Break
14.00–16.00 Panel VI
Tomasz Kościański / State Archives in Leszno
Activities of the Dzików Confederates in the Wschowa region in 1735
Mariusz Pawelec / Opole
Władysław Bekiesz de Kornyáth (ca. 1568 – after 1600) – actual or alleged starost of Wschowa?
Grzegorz Glabisz / Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
The role of Franciszek Kwilecki, Starost of Wschowa, in the political life of Greater Poland in the second half of the 18th century
Zdzisław Włodarczyk / Wieluń Scientific Society
The stay of the Prussian King Frederick William II in Wschowa on October 14–15, 1793
Accompanying event:
Przemysław Wojciech / Wschowa Land Museum
Queen Louise Maria Gonzaga on the 380th anniversary of her marriage by proxy. Wschowa's accent in the Polish legation to Paris
4:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Curatorial tour of temporary exhibitions at the Wschowa Land Museum: "Ludwika Maria Gonzaga. On the 380th Anniversary of the Polish Legation to Paris" and "Polish Cinderella – the granddaughter of the starost of Wschowa, queen of France"
10.00 Opening of the conference
10:15–11:45 Panel I
Katarzyna Kuras / Jagiellonian University in Kraków
From Greater Poland to Versailles: The Fate of Maria Leszczyńska, Queen of France (1725–1768)
Magdalena Kuran / University of Łódź
„[…] miałabyś najpierwsze do najjaśniejszych na świecie koron prawo” - Cardinal Armand G. M. de Rohan's speech to Maria Leszczyńska (on her wedding day, August 15, 1725, in Strasbourg)
Adam Perłakowski / Jagiellonian University in Kraków
Letters from Maria Leszczyńska to Arvid Horn from 1726–1734 from the ‘Arvid Horn Samling’ collection of the Archives of the Kingdom of Sweden in Stockholm
11.45–12.00 Break
12.00–13.30 Panel II
Barbara Hryszko / Ignatianum University in Kraków
Mythology in the Presentation of Queen Maria Leszczyńska of France
Zuzanna Rybińska / Leszno District Museum
Princess, queen, mother, artist... The many faces of Maria Leszczyńska
Marianna Czerwińska / National Museum in Poznań
Embroidery by Maria Leszczyńska from the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts
13:30–14:00 Break
14.00–15.30 Panel III
Michał Kuran / University of Łódź
The Splendours of the Imperial Court. About the Solemn Audience with His Turkish Majesty the Emperor, which Rafał Leszczyński, the Starost of Wschowa, held in May 1700 as an envoy of Augustus II.
Marcin Różycki / University of Wrocław
The first and last "Stanisławczyk." Władysław Poniński in the service of Stanisław Leszczyński
Agnieszka Jakuboszczak / Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
The image of Maria Leszczyńska in 19th-century historiography: selected examples
Accompanying event:
5:00 p.m. Leszno District Museum, 31 G. Narutowicza Street: Opening of the exhibition "Maria Leszczyńska. A Polish woman on the French throne"
November 19, 2025 – WSCHOWA, Royal Castle
9:30–11:00 Panel IV
Bartosz Tietz / Museum of the Wschowa Region
A Piast center on the periphery. Wschowa between the mid-13th and mid-14th centuries in the concept of "gateway cities"
Joanna Karczewska / University of Zielona Góra
Privileges for Wschowa granted by Kazimierz Wielki and Władysław Jagiełło as a prerequisite for the city's growing importance
Bernadetta M. Puchalska-Dąbrowska / University of Białystok
The figure of St. Jadwiga, Duchess of Silesia, in the so-called Hornigów Codex of 1451
11.00–11.30 Break
11:30–13:00 Panel V
Adrian Gendera / Leszno District Museum
Denarius and groschen in the service of medieval propaganda – an analysis of selected items from the collections of the Leszno District Museum
Ryszard Kozłowski / Polish Numismatic Society, Zielona Góra Branch
Royal mints in Wschowa
Anna Polak / Interdisciplinary Center for Modern Technologies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Izabela Zakrzewska / Tourist Information Center in Żagań
Royal wedding in Wschowa, princely roots in Żagań. Around the marriage of Kazimierz Wielki to Jadwiga Żagańska – towards the Jadwiga Żagańska Trail
Sławomir Majoch / John Paul II Pontifical University of Krakow
Ewa Sułkowska and her illustrations for J. U. Niemcewicz's Historical Songs
13:00–14:00 Break
14.00–16.00 Panel VI
Tomasz Kościański / State Archives in Leszno
Activities of the Dzików Confederates in the Wschowa region in 1735
Mariusz Pawelec / Opole
Władysław Bekiesz de Kornyáth (ca. 1568 – after 1600) – actual or alleged starost of Wschowa?
Grzegorz Glabisz / Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań
The role of Franciszek Kwilecki, Starost of Wschowa, in the political life of Greater Poland in the second half of the 18th century
Zdzisław Włodarczyk / Wieluń Scientific Society
The stay of the Prussian King Frederick William II in Wschowa on October 14–15, 1793
Accompanying event:
Przemysław Wojciech / Wschowa Land Museum
Queen Louise Maria Gonzaga on the 380th anniversary of her marriage by proxy. Wschowa's accent in the Polish legation to Paris
4:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m. Curatorial tour of temporary exhibitions at the Wschowa Land Museum: "Ludwika Maria Gonzaga. On the 380th Anniversary of the Polish Legation to Paris" and "Polish Cinderella – the granddaughter of the starost of Wschowa, queen of France"
Participation information
The conference is open to speakers and invited guests only. Any questions regarding participation can be directed to the Education and Marketing Department by phone: +48 65 529 61 43 ext. 3 or email: edukacja@muzeum.leszno
Conference patrons
Honorary patronage:
Wojewódzki Lubuski Konserwator Zabytków – dr Barbara Bielinis-Kopeć Marszałek Województwa Wielkopolskiego – Marek Woźniak
Starosta Wschowski – Waldemar Starosta
Prezydent Leszna – Grzegorz Rusiecki
Konsul Honorowy Republiki Francuskiej – dr hab. Igor Kraszewski, prof. UAM Wydział Historii Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne Oddział w Poznaniu
Polskie Towarzystwo Badań nad Wiekiem Osiemnastym
Media partners:
Kultura u Podstaw
Radio Poznań
Radio Elka
Radio Eska
Panorama Leszczyńska
ABC
Wschowa News
Telewizja Leszno
Wojewódzki Lubuski Konserwator Zabytków – dr Barbara Bielinis-Kopeć Marszałek Województwa Wielkopolskiego – Marek Woźniak
Starosta Wschowski – Waldemar Starosta
Prezydent Leszna – Grzegorz Rusiecki
Konsul Honorowy Republiki Francuskiej – dr hab. Igor Kraszewski, prof. UAM Wydział Historii Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne Oddział w Poznaniu
Polskie Towarzystwo Badań nad Wiekiem Osiemnastym
Media partners:
Kultura u Podstaw
Radio Poznań
Radio Elka
Radio Eska
Panorama Leszczyńska
ABC
Wschowa News
Telewizja Leszno