From the Good Mistress to the Apostle of Culture. The Evolution of the Attitudes of Polish Female Landowners vis‑à‑vis the Rural Population in the Nineteenth Century 

During the nineteenth century, the personal model of a Borderlands female landownerwas transformed as a result of changes that were economic (enfranchisement), socio‑cultural, and political. The Polish manor house within the Stolen Lands in the nineteenth century became a stronghold of Polish culture, Catholicism, and patriotism, effectively protecting its inhabitants against Russification. Throughout the nineteenth century, the role of the landowner’s manor house remained unchanged, but the relations between the manor and the common people were transformed. Female inhabitants of manors in the first half of the nineteenth century played the role of the “good mistress.” They took care of their subjects, organized refreshments during the holiday season, acted as philanthropists, founders of almshouses, and suppliers of “manor pharmacies.” This pattern began to change in the post‑enfranchisement era. At the end of the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth century, Polish female landowners became the organizers of secret folk schools, initiated vocational courses, nurseries, and rural theatre and singing clubs. More and more educated women from the Borderlands became involved in social activities for the benefit of the countryside. In this article, I show the evolution of “female virtues” through the prism of relations between the manor house and the local community. The sources for the text are Borderland memoirs, educational publications, and surviving correspondence.