Szlachcic jako pobożny chrześcijanin w XVII-wiecznych katolickich drukowanych kazaniach pogrzebowych

The subject of the article is religiousness of the Polish nobleman in the light of the published 17th century funeral sermons. In the ideal model created by sermons this religiousness had a few aspects. The first one was offering testimony to the truth of the Catholic religion, which was connected with an inevitable attack against Protestants, especially in the first half of the 17th century. Next, the role of the ethos of the Christian knight was emphasized. Funeral preachers attached great significance, probably also under the influence of the families of the deceased, to offerings to the Church as well as to alms for the faithful. These were reasonable in the process of building the position of the nobleman's family in the local community and in the Republic. The published funeral sermons devoted relatively little space to private religiousness, in this respect focusing on the preparation for good death, according to the principles that had been worked out in the 15th century, and made popular again in the post-Trent epoch. The texts of the sermons were both occasional religious works and a medium that had an impact on the public opinion.