Najniższy podnóżek, sługa i więzień pański – klientalne listy proszalne czasów saskich

The lowermost servant, yes-man, and prisoner of yours – cliental supplicatory letters of the Saxon period

Development of informal cliental bonds which resulted in the opportunity to gain importance in public domain, were one but not the only goal of this type of social relationship. Material or more often prestige support opened doors to eminent family affinities, paved the way to political and military carriers, won friends and allies, and in this way, guaranteed stability in difficult Saxon times. Political-military and economic situation, presence of enemies, war destruction, natural disasters of those days influenced the durability of such agreements. The person of the protector, his protective means (affinities, finances, offices held, closeness with the court) as well as temperamental traits (accessibility, joviality, openness) proved to be important. A separate issue was cultural patronage in the form of protection over a narrow artistic milieu of the Republic of Poland (architects, painters, musicians, printers, newspaper editors), which was a testimony to mental changes of the age. Or the long-time developed religious patronage over religious institutions and their representatives (monastic congregations and brotherhoods, churches, chapels). The reflection of the stiffening structure of the informal social bonds can be found in all written sources. The most interesting example of the patron – client relationship and the resulting supplicatory attitude are epistolary sources, which in a superb though slightly exaggerated way show the mentality of both sides. Those letters were a ritual cultivated throughout generations, where under complex ceremoniousness and verbiage the actual goals and hopes of both sides appeared. The visible division between the supplicant (client) and the favour-lavishing addressee (patron) outlined in the letters was preserved irrespectively of the status and social position of the correspondents.