GALLERIES - TEMPORARY EXHIBITION

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Royal autographs

All royal autographs presented here come from the collection of the State Archive in Cracow, mostly from Branch I at Wawel Castle (no 1, 3 – 15), and Branch III at 16 Sienna Street (nr 2).

Documents with the signatures of rulers do not constitute a special archival collection; they can be found in the parchment and paper document collections, as well as in the so-called ” manor archives” of the Sanguszko, Chodkiewicz, Tarnowski, Potocki, Dzieduszucki families.

It should be stressed that the personal signatures of Polish kings start to appear on documents as late as the 15^th century, which was the result of Polish legal and chancery customs – a seal was sufficient identification of a ruler. The oldest known royal signatures are those of Władysław II Warneńczyk (1434-1444). However, their authenticity is quite uncertain (none of them is in the collection of the State Archive in Cracow) and there is no signature on the documents by his heir, Kazimierz IV Jagiellonczyk (1447-1492). The first doubtless autographs belong to King Jan Olbracht (1492-1501).

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