Offering Reassurance as a Form of Strengthening Humanity Not Only during a Pandemic. The Inter-Generational Transmission of Wincenty Kadłubek’s Message

Master Wincenty (ca. 1150–1223), who has been known as Kadłubek since the 15th century, was an unquestionable ally of mankind and especially of Poles. In his work entitled Magistrii Vincentii Chronicon Polonorum he encouraged his readers not to neglect reassurance and to seek it wherever possible. He also advised people to try to enjoy offering reassurance to others and to lead a good life connected with faith in God, which in his belief constitutes the most reliable “safeguard of your happiness”. This article aims to provide answers to several questions (and at the same time to solve a number of related research problems), How does Wincenty perceive reassurance and what significance does he attribute to offering it to other people? What advice does he give on not losing but gaining reassurance and on offering reassurance to others? What factors in his belief constitute stumbling blocks in the process of drawing reassurance for oneself and how to protect oneself against them (i.e., how to prevent their occurrence and how to overcome them)? The use of hermeneutic methods in studying the problems of providing reassurance as a social skill, an element that is very conspicuous in Master Wincenty’s literary output, seems well justified, considering the cognitive and noetic significance of the research subject.

Master Wincenty (ca. 1150–1223), who has been known as Kadłubek since the 15th century, was an unquestionable ally of mankind and especially of Poles. In his work entitled Magistrii Vincentii Chronicon Polonorum he encouraged his readers not to neglect reassurance and to seek it wherever possible. He also advised people to try to enjoy offering reassurance to others and to lead a good life connected with faith in God, which in his belief constitutes the most reliable “safeguard of your happiness”. This article aims to provide answers to several questions (and at the same time to solve a number of related research problems), How does Wincenty perceive reassurance and what significance does he attribute to offering it to other people? What advice does he give on not losing but gaining reassurance and on offering reassurance to others? What factors in his belief constitute stumbling blocks in the process of drawing reassurance for oneself and how to protect oneself against them (i.e., how to prevent their occurrence and how to overcome them)? The use of hermeneutic methods in studying the problems of providing reassurance as a social skill, an element that is very conspicuous in Master Wincenty’s literary output, seems well justified, considering the cognitive and noetic significance of the research subject.