What happened
Stanisław Stadnicki, starost of Zygwulsk and lord of Łańcut, went down in history as a brawler nicknamed the “Devil of Łańcut”. His contemporaries believed he had sold his soul. He waged private wars, raided his neighbours and ignored court verdicts, until on 14 August 1610 he was defeated at Tarnawa by Łukasz Opaliński and killed during the retreat. Legend says his crimes were so great that his spirit found no rest – after dark a black rider arrives at the castle and roams the corridors. Łańcut also has gentler ghosts. The Blue Lady is Izabela Lubomirska, née Czartoryska, to whom the castle owes its 18th-century splendour: in a blue crinoline and a tall wig she appears in the sculpture gallery or rests on a sofa in her boudoir. The White Lady is her daughter Julia, wife of Jan Potocki, who died young of tuberculosis – she is said to sit at a writing desk in the Chinese salon, writing letters to her beloved, Eustachy Sanguszko.
Witnesses
Guides and museum staff; the legends have been described by the weeklies “Wprost” and “Rzeczpospolita”.
Explanations and hypotheses
Stadnicki is well known from history and literature – the hero of novels, plays and the TV series “Rycerze i rabusie”. As “Wprost” notes, the present castle was built after his death by the Lubomirski family, so the “Devil” would be haunting a building he never knew. The tales of the ladies grow out of real biographies and romantic letters. Today the castle is a museum, and the ghost stories are part of the guides' repertoire.
Legend A story handed down through generations – it can be neither confirmed nor disproved.
Sources
More: Wikipedia (pl) Wikipedia (en)