The research project Her Name Was Agnieszka focuses on Agnieszka, a female court dwarf and close companion to Sophia Jagiellon of Poland (1522–1575), who lived with her at the courts in Poland and later in Wolfenbüttel and Schöningen. Although little is known about Agnieszka’s origins or personal history, she appears to have held a position of trust, assisting Sophia in her correspondence and possibly acting as her confidante. Through archival research, the project aims to contextualize (if possible, even reconstruct) Agnieszka’s life within 16th-century European court culture, where individuals with bodily differences were often treated as entertainers or curiosities.
The project contributes to a larger study on early modern entertainers who fell into a stigmatized niche (e.g., Romani musicians) by focusing on marginalized figures in European cultural history.

https://muzykologia.uj.edu.pl/instytut/pracownicy/-/journal_content/56_INSTANCE_Pl4GTGO2JbJS/6464892/147991392