Published: 2025-09-09

Fatigue and rest in the daily lives of travelers on the example of Aleksander Janusz Zasławski-Ostrogski’s travel journal (1667–1669)

Adam Kucharski
Echa Przeszłości
Section: ARTICLES
https://doi.org/10.31648/ep.11729

Abstract

In the 17th century, during extended educational journeys to foreign lands, the key role was played by scientific pursuits and broadly defined peregrinator activities. Such journeys lasted two years or longer on average, and increasing fatigue was their natural consequence; fatigued travelers had to take a rest to recuperate and regain their strength. It should be noted that a trip from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to Western and Southern Europe was long and arduous. In the 17th century, fatigue became a subject of scientific inquiry in Galileo’s research. A journal kept by father Kazimierz Jan Wojsznarowicz, a mentor who accompanied the young Polish magnate Aleksander Janusz Zasławski-Ostrogski during his European travels (1667–1669), is a valuable source of information about the intensity of the above phenomena and the way in which they were described by travelers. The discussed itinerary covers Zasławski-Ostrogski’s trip to Germany, Northern and Southern Netherlands, France, Italy, Austria, and Bohemia. The journal describes several types of rest breaks, depending on the distance traveled, including longer stays in large cities such as Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris, and Rome. These rest periods involved both passive and active relaxation. In his journal, father Wojsznarowicz rarely describes the fatigue experienced by both travelers and focuses more on rest breaks and recreational opportunities. However, the journal clearly indicates that foreign travel was an arduous undertaking during which night rest was short and sleep-deprived wayfarers spent long hours in speeding carriages on poorly maintained roads.

Keywords:

fatigue, rest, sleep, educational journey, Aleksander Janusz Zasławski-Ostrogski

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Citation rules

Kucharski, A. (2025). Fatigue and rest in the daily lives of travelers on the example of Aleksander Janusz Zasławski-Ostrogski’s travel journal (1667–1669). Echa Przeszłości, (XXVI/1), 63–84. https://doi.org/10.31648/ep.11729

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