What happened
Maciej (Maćko) Borkowic was one of the most powerful magnates of Greater Poland and the palatine of Poznań. In 1352 he led a confederation of Greater Poland nobles against the royal governor, and he was later accused of treason, banditry and conspiring against King Casimir the Great. In 1360 he was arrested in Kalisz, and the king personally sentenced him to death by starvation. The sentence was carried out at the royal castle of Olsztyn near Częstochowa – according to tradition, Borkowic was locked in the dungeon of the round tower, where he died on 9 February 1360. Local tales, repeated today in guidebooks to the Jura region, say that his ghost has found no rest: the figure of the condemned man is said to appear on the crown of the walls, and moans and wailing can be heard in the ruins. The story of his death by starvation in the tower is retold every year at night-time events in the castle.
Witnesses
Folk tradition and tourists' accounts; the legend is cited in tourist guides to the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland. No specific witnesses.
Explanations and hypotheses
Borkowic's death at Olsztyn is a historical fact, although the details – such as his being walled up in a particular tower – come from tradition. The stories of his ghost have no historical sources; they are a typical legend attached to a place of cruel punishment. Tales also place other ghosts in the ruins of the same castle, including a lady in white and a weeping child linked to Kasper Karliński's defense of the castle in 1587. The ruins are now one of the main attractions of the Trail of the Eagles' Nests.
Legend A story handed down through generations – it can be neither confirmed nor disproved.
Sources
- Zamek Królewski w Olsztynie k. Częstochowy – Legendy
- Słownik historyczno-geograficzny ziem polskich w średniowieczu (IH PAN) – Olsztyn
- Nauka w Polsce (PAP) – Archeolog: wiemy więcej o dawnym wyglądzie zamku w Olsztynie k. Częstochowy (2015)
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