Abstract

This paper presents the images of women in European culture and Old Polish Literature. The works devoted to women from the Middle Ages to Baroque focused on their social and political duties or artistic creation. The authors chose different literary forms: chronicles, poems, epigrams, laments, odes, sonnets, or epic works. The created characters included: a saint, a beloved lady, a donna angelicata, a hero of a chronicle or an autobiography. The works described their life, creative activity, or artistic aspirations. Some of them are panegyric poems, religious works, meditations, or love poetry. Women with an amazing sense of observation were discovering the space of literature and were participating in a world in its dynamic changes. They were excellent creators of humanistic and religious literature, referring to ancient tradition and European values.