The "grand tour" of Aleksander Jan and Jan Stanisław Jabłonowski in the eighties of the 17thcentury

In the years 1682-1688, the sons of hetman Stanisław Jabłonowski, Aleksander Jan and Jan Stanisław Jabłonowski had embarked on a great educational journey across Europe, the so called grand tour during which they visited even the most remote corners of our continent; in the course of their travels, they visited France, Spain, Italy, and even distant England. Thanks to the diary of their youthful journey which has been preserved intact, it is possible for us today to learn many interesting details concerning their grand tour: "Diarium mansionis Parisiis et diarium itineris in Angliam conscriptum ab me Alexandro in Jabłonow Jabłonowski". The manuscript of the diary, written in Latin and consisting of over 500 pages, can be found in the Counts’ Czartoryski Library in Kraków; its reference number is: 1152 II. In the volume, one can find notes which were recorded by the two Jabłonowski brothers during the time of their studies in the Jesuit College Louis-le-Grand in Paris; the hetman’s sons made note of all their daily events, giving accounts of their meetings, visits, the course of their studies. One can also find descriptions of historical monuments as well as meetings with various contemporary luminaries. At the end of August and at the beginning of September 1685, the Jabłonowski brothers set off for England. In their diary, they gave a detailed account of their stay on the Island; the account constitutes one of the more interesting descriptions of this type in Poland. In November 1686, following a longer sojourn in Paris, brothers Aleksander and Jan Stanisław Jabłonowski set out on another leg of their journey, this time across Spain and Italy. They gave a detailed account of this part of the journey in their diary. Finally, it ought to be said that the diary reveals and illustrates a very interesting phenomenon, namely that of how popular and indeed widespread the idea of travel had become among the inhabitants of the Polish Commonwealth of Nations.