Bartholomew Paprocki (1543–1614) was a Polish

Poles

thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...

 and Czech writer, historiographer, translator, poet, herald

Herald

A herald, or, more correctly, a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is often applied erroneously to all officers of arms....

 and pioneer in the Polish and Czech genealogy.

Biography

He was born in Dobrzyń Land

Dobrzyn Land

Dobrzyń Land is a historic region around the town of Dobrzyń nad Wisłą in Poland, east of the Vistula River and south of the Drwęca, where it borders on the Kulmerland...

s town—Paprocka Wola in 1543, son of Jędrzej Paprocki and Elżbieta from Jeżewski. Paprocki was a Polish noble

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

 clan and they bore Jastrzębiec coat of arms.
Bartosz studied at the Jagiellonian University

Jagiellonian University

The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....

. He began writing poems, but then dedicated himself to historiography

Historiography

Historiography refers either to the study of the history and methodology of history as a discipline, or to a body of historical work on a specialized topic...

 and heraldry

Heraldry

Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...

. In 1577, he participated in the Siege of Gdańsk

Siege of Danzig (1577)

The Siege of the city of Danzig in 1577 by king Stephen Báthory of Poland ended militarily inconclusive.The conflict begun as the city of Danzig, along with the Polish episcopate and a portion of the Polish szlachta, did not recognize the election of Bathory to the Polish throne and instead...

. He was Podczaszy

Podczaszy

Podczaszy was since the 13th century a court office in Poland and later in Lithuania. Podczaszy was the deputy of Cześnik, with the time more important than his superior....

 of Dobrzyń. In XVIc. `80s, he joined the pro—Habsburg

Habsburg

The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

 party and supported Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor

Maximilian II was king of Bohemia and king of the Romans from 1562, king of Hungary and Croatia from 1563, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation from 1564 until his death...

 in the 1587 royal election, although he could have been bribed. After the Battle of Byczyna

Battle of Byczyna

The Battle of Byczyna or Battle of Pitschen was the deciding battle of the 1587–1588 War of the Polish Succession, which erupted after two rival candidates were elected to the Polish throne...

 in 1588, when Archduke Maximilian was defeated by the supporters of Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...

 under leadership of Jan Zamoyski

Jan Zamoyski

Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...

, Paprocki was made to abandon Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and settle in Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

. There he spent 22 years, learned the Czech language

Czech language

Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...

 and wrote about the history and heraldry of Bohemia and Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

. He also translated Jan Kochanowski

Jan Kochanowski

Jan Kochanowski was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language.He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz, and the greatest Slavic poet, prior to the 19th century.-Life:Kochanowski was born at...

 poems into Czech and wrote some for his own. Later received the Czech Indygenat

Indygenat

Indygenat in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a recognition of foreign status as a noble. A foreign noble, after indygenat, received all privileges of a Polish szlachcic. In Polish history, 413 foreign noble families were recognized...

. He was admirer of Michał Sędziwój (Michael Sendivogius) scientific achievements, whom he dedicated the third part of "Ogród królewski..." published in 1599.

His wife was much older, but rich. Jadwiga Kosobudzka (died about 1572) a castellan's

Castellan

A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...

 daughter from Sierpc

Sierpc

Sierpc is a town in Poland, in the north-west part of the Masovian Voivodeship, about 125 km northwest of Warsaw. It is the capital of Sierpc County. Its population is 18,777 . It is located near the national road No 10, which connects Warsaw and Toruń...

, a widow of Wisniowski. They had no children and their marriage was unfortunate, Paprocki was tyrannized by his wife. Because of this experience, Paprocki remained misogynist till his death. In 1610, Paprocki came back to Poland, lived in Wąchock

Wachock

Wąchock is a town in Starachowice County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, near Starachowice. In 2006, it had 2,777 inhabitants.- History :...

 and Ląd monasteries. Paprocki died on December 27, 1614 and was buried at Franciscan abbey in the city of Lviv

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

. He was called the father of Polish and Czech genealogy

External links

• Genealogy of Paprocki family