by P K Adams
The couple’s happiness was short-lived. In the vein of a tragic fairytale, Barbara died in May 1551 at the age of thirty, just six months after being crowned queen at the Wawel Cathedral. Contemporary rumors abounded about poisoning by her mother-in-law, but modern scholars dismiss the theory. Based on medical reviews of the historical record, Barbara died of a disease of the reproductive system, possibly cancer. Zygmunt August was heartbroken. In the years that followed, he dramatically limited the entertainments at his court, spent more time hunting at Knyszyn, and focused on expanding the royal art and tapestry collection. The walls of his private apartments were lined with black cloth, and he abandoned the colorful Italian and Spanish outfits he had once favored for mourning black, which he wore until his death in 1572.
Though it was a love match, the marriage, as predicted, was politically disastrous. The kingdom’s lower nobility (szlachta)—whose power was significant due to its representation in the parliament (which voted on taxes, conscription, and other important laws)—adamantly opposed it. They could not stomach a woman of inferior birth (and a mistress) being elevated to the ranks of royalty. Zygmunt August’s relations with the szlachta were always tricky, as he was a proponent of a strong monarchy and central power. In the wake of the marriage to Barbara, those relations deteriorated further, preventing him from conducting several major, and much needed, judicial and administrative reforms. Some argue that this ongoing conflict laid the groundwork for the collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian state in the late eighteenth century.
There is some uncertainty regarding the birthdate of Bona’s trusted courtier (and murderer) Gian Lorenzo Pappacoda, with some sources claiming it could have been as late as 1541. I do not think that is likely, but in 1545 he was almost certainly younger than my portrayal of him in Midnight Fire. However, I chose to include him as one of the characters because of the sinister role he was to play in Bona’s life in 1557. After the queen’s death, suspicion fell quickly on Pappacoda, and he promptly defected to Spain, proving once and for all that he was a Habsburg agent. Polish emissaries acting on behalf of Zygmunt August made an effort to apprehend him, but Philip II protected him, although later Pappacoda, too, was murdered.
The idea of a poisoned ruff was partly based on a rumor regarding the sudden death of Jeanne d’Albret in 1572. According to many contemporaries, the queen of Navarre, who supported Protestants, fell victim to the queen of France, Catherine de’ Medici (who was Italian by birth and a staunch Catholic). Catherine was alleged to have sent Jeanne a pair of poisoned gloves as a gift. There is no solid evidence for this claim, but the rumor sufficed to blacken Catherine’s reputation during her lifetime and for centuries afterward. Regardless of the true cause of Jeanne’s death, I find the parallels between Catherine and Bona—both Italian, both powerful queens, and both largely rejected by their subjects—to be uncanny.
On a final note, there are no surviving records of the plan or the interior of the ducal palace in Vilnius. The reconstruction of the current palace (completed in 2018) is based on a modern design. The layout presented in this novel is therefore my own invention, although it is informed in part by historical drawings and paintings, all of which date from later periods than the setting of this story.
Thank you for reading Midnight Fire. I hope you enjoyed it. Would you kindly take a few minutes to support independent publishing by leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads? I will greatly appreciate it!
If you want to stay up to date on my Jagiellon Mystery series or learn more about my other writing projects, feel free to get in touch via my website’s Contact Me form at www.pkadams-author.com or my Facebook Author Page at www.facebook.com/PKAdamsAuthor.
You can also follow me on Twitter @pk_adams
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my editor Carolyn Pouncy for helping me make this novel the best it can be. I am grateful to Jake Conner, Jena Henry, Gifford MacShane, and Wendy Stanley who read the full manuscript of Midnight Fire, as well as to Elaine Buckley, who read extensive excerpts, for their very insightful comments. This story would not be what it is without your honest and generous feedback.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P.K. Adams is the pen name of Patrycja Podrazik. She has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s degree in European Studies from Yale University. She is a blogger and historical fiction reviewer at www.pkadams-author.com. Her debut novel, The Greenest Branch, a Novel of Germany’s First Female Physician, was a semifinalist for the 2018 Chaucer Book Awards for Pre-1750 Historical Fiction. She is a member of the Historical Novel Society and lives in New England.