Set in Poland in the year 1670, Netflix’s latest offering of the same name chronicles the account of Jan Pawel, a Polish nobleman. For as long as he could remember, Jan Pawel (Bartlomiej Topa) had only one dream: to go down in history as the most famous man in Poland. Jan had three children: Stanislaw (Michal Balicki), Jakub (Michal Sikorski), and Aniela (Martyna Byczkowska). As for his wife, Zofia (Katarzyna Herman), she wasn’t someone you would call to rejuvenate your boring party. She was more like the lost soul of a dead person, endlessly tormenting a man, as Jan Pawel stated on multiple occasions. They had very little in common except their shared hatred for their neighbor, Andrzej, who owned a bigger half of their village.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Jan Pawel Hate Andrzej?
Andrzej was just another landowner, like Jan Pawel, who wanted to raise the taxes given by the nobles to the king. As for Jan, he wanted to become the king of Poland and have his name etched in history. Jan had inherited the village from his ancestors, but as soon as he took over, the province saw a decline. Jan’s field failed to yield enough produce, but he always blamed it on his bad luck. Some years later, Andrzej moved into the neighborhood after his wife’s death and bought up half of the village. Surprisingly, his farms produced 10 times more crops than Jan’s, and he wouldn’t tell him how. Jan wanted to find out why his manor was failing in comparison to his enemy’s manor. It turned out, Andrzej gave incentives, while Jan didn’t. Jan called him an idiot and stated that sharing incentives would make peasants lazy. This was why Jan often faked letters from the king and increased the duties of his workers from 4 to 5 days.
How Dysfunctional Was Jan’s Family?
As established earlier, Jan Pawel had three children: Stanislaw, Jakub, and Aniela. Stanislaw was the eldest, so he was probably next in line to inherit Jan’s entire holdings. However, the father and son were always in disagreement as Stanislaw spent his hours with barn animals and creating music with his friends, something Jan didn’t really appreciate. Stanislaw did something that further disappointed Jan. Stanislaw got engaged to a city girl, Jadwiga. Jan hated the city and believed it to be a place where corrupt and morally dead people lived. Stanislaw had wanted to get married ever since he turned 14, so he couldn’t be happier when Jadwiga agreed to marry him. Unfortunately, the marriage fell through when Jan severed Rozalia’s (Stanislaw’s potential mother-in-law) finger while flaunting his sword-swinging skills.
Jan’s second son, Jakub, was the pride of the family and was already following in the footsteps of his father. Jakub’s desire for a prosperous Poland was more than Jan could ever ask for. Jakub was a peculiar soul. In one instance, he noticed a man, Marian, who closely resembled Jesus, and believed him to be the same. Jakub had earlier instructed his father to whip a peasant for lying, but when Jan tried to confirm it, Jakub backed down. Jakub figured he could become Jesus’ disciple, but Zofia wasn’t on board. She made Marian walk on water, and he obviously failed and died because he couldn’t swim. Everyone called Marian a false prophet after that. Jakub was also a scheming fella, and when Stanislaw left home in anger, Jakub hatched plans to push him out of his father’s will. To put it in simple terms, Jakub wasn’t as brilliant as his father marketed him to be; however, he wasn’t as dimwitted as Stanislaw. In addition, Jakub made it look like Aniela was having an affair with a blacksmith. The aim here was to get her written out of his father’s will.
Aniela was Jan’s only daughter and probably the brightest of the bunch. She believed all human beings were equal, be they peasants or rich nobles. Aniela was also a strong advocate of women’s rights and a climate activist.
Since Aniela was a noblewoman, she wasn’t allowed to hang out with the peasants. But she loved annoying her parents more than anything and often dressed in rags to sing and dance with the laborers. Aniela also organized an equality march, but the plan fell through when her uncle, Bogdan (Dobromir Dymecki), got kidnapped by Tatars. Bogdan was eventually rescued, or, to be more precise, bought back from the Tatars for 500 coins. As the series progressed, Aniela suspected that Zofia was having an affair with Cieslaw, Jadwiga’s father. Aniela found a beautiful dress in her mother’s bedroom, something Zofia didn’t usually wear. She followed her and saw that Zofia was going to a shelter to support those in need. This was what Aniela thought was going on, but in reality, Zofia was having an affair with Rozalia.
Last but not least, Bogdan was Jan’s brother-in-law and possibly the most foolish member of the family. Bogdan thought of himself as a superior race since he was Polish and always believed that his village was going to get attacked any time now. At one instance, Bogdan ate some edible mushrooms and started thinking of himself as a Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, he was also kidnapped by the Tatars, and Jan had to pay them handsomely to release him. Bogdan claimed that he wasn’t racist, but almost every word that came out of his mouth established him as xenophobic. He also joined Jakub on a mission to exorcise a lady living in a nearby village, but when they failed, Bogdan blamed it on cultural differences and fragile parenting.
How Did Andrzej And Jan Escape The Murder Charge?
Towards the end of 1670, a rich magnate’s son, Henryk, arrived in the village, and Jan immediately jumped on the opportunity to invite him into his home. Henryk was in search of a wife, and Jan wondered who would be more suitable to wed him than his darling daughter, Aniela. Andrzej had a similar idea and wanted Henryk to marry one of his three daughters. But, make no mistake, Henryk wasn’t a great catch but a drug addict. Henryk kept snorting some kind of powder. He made a mockery of both Andrzej and Jan in their own hamlet. Henryk organized a hunting competition so his suitors and their kin could bring him a nice supper. Andrzej shot a wild boar, and his daughters finished it with their bare hands in hopes of impressing Henryk. As for Jan, his hunting trophy included tomatoes.
Things escalated when Andrzej and Jan both fired on Henryk, believing him to be an elk. Even though Andrzej and Jan hated one another, they had to unite to save themselves in case someone came looking for Henryk. Since the one who died was a noble, Father Viper was called to investigate. Eventually, he found out that Andrzej and Jan had something to do with Henryk’s disappearance. To save themselves, the duo framed Bogdan for the murder, but he ended up becoming a very wealthy man. Why? Henryk was a wanted murderer with a huge bounty on his head. As for Aniela, she confessed her love to the blacksmith, who had been eyeing her.
Even though Jan Pawel of 1670 might not be a genius, a successful businessman like his arch-nemesis, or a great noble, he was someone who cared for his family more than anything. Yes, he forced his peasants to work overtime and told them to repent whenever they asked him for their dues, but it was all done so his village, Adamczycha, could prosper. In addition to being somewhat dimwitted, Jan failed to notice that his wife was having an extramarital affair and instead assumed that she was having a sleepover. But it was surely satisfying to see Jan buying back the bigger half of the village from his nemesis, Andrzej.
