Jan Andrzej Morsztyn
Encyclopedia
Jan Andrzej Morsztyn was a Polish
poet, member of the landed gentry
, and official in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
. He was starosta
of Zawichost
, Tymbark
and Kowal
. He was also pantler
of Sandomierz
(1647-58), Royal Secretary (from 1656), a secular referendary
(1658–68), and Deputy Crown Treasurer
from 1668. Apart from his career at the Polish court, Morsztyn is famous as a leading poet of the Polish Baroque
and a prominent representative of Marinist
style in Polish literature
. Over his lifetime he accumulated considerable wealth. In 1683 he emigrated to France
.
, near Kraków
, into a wealthy Calvinist
family of coat-of-arms
Leliwa. He studied at Leiden University
and, with his brother, traveled extensively in Italy and France. After returning to Poland, he became a retainer of the magnate
Lubomirski
family, and through them became attached to the royal court
. He was a deputy to the Sejm
s of 1648, 1650, 1653, 1658 and 1659. He served on numerous Sejm commissions for diplomatic, legal and fiscal matters. He took part in diplomatic missions to Hungary (1653), Sweden (1655) and Austria (1656).
He was named Royal Secretary in 1656, Crown Referendary in 1658, and Deputy Crown Treasurer
in 1668. During those years he took part in many diplomatic mission
s and negotiations; he was part of the mission that negotiated the Treaty of Oliwa (1660). He fought in The Deluge and in the Chmielnicki Uprising.
In politics he represented the pro-French faction, promoting the French candidate in the royal election of 1668, and become a vocal supporter of French policies in the Commonwealth. He accepted French pension and citizenship. When king Jan III Sobieski distanced himself from France, and allied with Austria, he was accused of treason and emigrated to France in 1683, where he assumed the title of comte
de Châteauvillain
and spent the last years of his life as a royal secretary. The Sejm of 1686 stripped him of all offices and titles and banned him from the country.
Jan Morsztyn died 8 January 1693 in Paris
.
(1589-1649) and Lady Anne Campbell, eldest daughter of the seventh Can of Argyll. She went to Poland with her older brother Scots
-born colonel
Lord Henry Gordon de Huntly, who served the king of Poland for several years. Lord Gordon returned to Scotland, and died at Strathbogie. Catherine (Katarzyna) was a lady-in-waiting
at the Court of Queen Marie Louise de Gonzague
. They had a son and three daughters, who all married members of high European aristocracy
, except one daughter who became a nun
.
They became Prince Kazimierz Czartoryski
's parents-in-law, by their younger daughter Isabella Morsztynowna
. Through the Czartoryski family, they are :
. His language was marked by the extravagant style of 16th-century Italian Marinism
. He had written most of his works before becoming Deputy Crown Treasurer in 1668. Morsztyn, a courtier and political intriguer, considered his writing a hobby and let most of his works circulate in manuscript
, afraid that wider publication could prove damaging to his career. Thus most of his works first appeared in print only in the 19th century.
A master of poetic form, he wrote the collections of verses Kanikuła (Dog Days, 1647) and Lutnia (Lute, 1661). He was concerned less with the "worldly happiness" but rather, with its inherent self-contradictions, such as paradoxes of love, full both of frivolity and metaphysical fear.Nonetheless some of his other works had political subtones, like Pospolite ruszenie
or Pieśń w obozie pod Żwańcem (Song in the camp near Żwaniec), which criticized szlachta
unwillingness to react to potential dangers (from Tatars
or Cossacks). Unlike his cousin, Zbigniew Morsztyn
, few of his works can be counted as religious poetry, the notable exception being the Pokuta w kwartanie.
He was also a known translator (of Torquato Tasso
, Giambattista Marino and Pierre Corneille
). His translation of Corneiile's Le Cid
was the first translation of this work into Polish and has remained the standard Polish version even today.
In 1660 he coauthored a proposal for the reform of the Sejm.
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...
poet, member of the landed gentry
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...
, and official in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
. He was starosta
Starosta
Starost is a title for an official or unofficial position of leadership that has been used in various contexts through most of Slavic history. It can be translated as "elder"...
of Zawichost
Zawichost
Zawichost is a small town in Sandomierz County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland. It is located by the Vistula River in southern Poland, near Sandomierz....
, Tymbark
Tymbark
Tymbark is a village in southern Poland, some 80 km south-east of Kraków, population 2,400 . It lies approximately west of Limanowa and south-east of the regional capital Kraków....
and Kowal
Kowal
Kowal is a town in Włocławek County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,478 inhabitants .The town is the birthplace of Casimir III, King of Poland .Kowal is also a common last name in the Ukraine, which means Smith....
. He was also pantler
Stolnik
Stolnik was a court office in Poland and Muscovy, responsible for serving the royal table.- Stolnik in Crown of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania : In Crown of Poland under the first Piast dukes and kings, this was a court office....
of Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
(1647-58), Royal Secretary (from 1656), a secular referendary
Referendary
Referendary is the English form or rendering of a number of administrative positions, of various rank, in chanceries and other official organisations.-Secular:...
(1658–68), and Deputy Crown Treasurer
Podskarbi
Podskarbi in Poland then in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was minister responsible for the treasury. Since 1569 also a senatorial office. The title although meaning treasurer can be deconstructed as "under[King]-treasury" - treasury as an old-fashioned adjective...
from 1668. Apart from his career at the Polish court, Morsztyn is famous as a leading poet of the Polish Baroque
Baroque in Poland
The Polish Baroque lasted from the late 16th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance style which sought to depict the beauty and harmony of...
and a prominent representative of Marinist
Marinism
Marinism is the name now given to an ornate, witty style of poetry and verse drama written in imitation of Giambattista Marino , following in particular La Lira and L'Adone.-Features:The critic James V...
style in Polish literature
Polish literature
Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages, used in Poland over the centuries, have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German and...
. Over his lifetime he accumulated considerable wealth. In 1683 he emigrated to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Biography
Morsztyn was born 24 July 1621 at WiśniczWisnicz
Wiśnicz is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Małogoszcz, within Jędrzejów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately west of Małogoszcz, north-west of Jędrzejów, and west of the regional capital Kielce.The village has a population of...
, near Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, into a wealthy Calvinist
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
family of coat-of-arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
Leliwa. He studied at Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
and, with his brother, traveled extensively in Italy and France. After returning to Poland, he became a retainer of the magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
Lubomirski
Lubomirski
Lubomirski family is a Polish szlachta family. The family used the "Szreniawa without a cross" arms and their motto was: Nil conscire sibi ....
family, and through them became attached to the royal court
Royal court
Royal court, as distinguished from a court of law, may refer to:* The Royal Court , Timbaland's production company*Court , the household and entourage of a monarch or other ruler, the princely court...
. He was a deputy to the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
s of 1648, 1650, 1653, 1658 and 1659. He served on numerous Sejm commissions for diplomatic, legal and fiscal matters. He took part in diplomatic missions to Hungary (1653), Sweden (1655) and Austria (1656).
He was named Royal Secretary in 1656, Crown Referendary in 1658, and Deputy Crown Treasurer
Podskarbi
Podskarbi in Poland then in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was minister responsible for the treasury. Since 1569 also a senatorial office. The title although meaning treasurer can be deconstructed as "under[King]-treasury" - treasury as an old-fashioned adjective...
in 1668. During those years he took part in many diplomatic mission
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
s and negotiations; he was part of the mission that negotiated the Treaty of Oliwa (1660). He fought in The Deluge and in the Chmielnicki Uprising.
In politics he represented the pro-French faction, promoting the French candidate in the royal election of 1668, and become a vocal supporter of French policies in the Commonwealth. He accepted French pension and citizenship. When king Jan III Sobieski distanced himself from France, and allied with Austria, he was accused of treason and emigrated to France in 1683, where he assumed the title of comte
Comte
Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...
de Châteauvillain
Châteauvillain
Châteauvillain is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France.-Geography:The Aujon flows north-northwestward through the western part of the commune and crosses the village.-See also:*Communes of the Haute-Marne department...
and spent the last years of his life as a royal secretary. The Sejm of 1686 stripped him of all offices and titles and banned him from the country.
Jan Morsztyn died 8 January 1693 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Family and descendants
In 1659 he married Catherine Gordon of Huntly (1635 - 1691), the youngest daughter of George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of HuntlyGeorge Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Huntly
George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Huntly , styled Earl of Enzie from 1599 to 1636, eldest son of George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly by Lady Henrietta Stewart, daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, was brought up in England as a Protestant, and later created Viscount Aboyne by Charles I.On...
(1589-1649) and Lady Anne Campbell, eldest daughter of the seventh Can of Argyll. She went to Poland with her older brother Scots
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
-born colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Lord Henry Gordon de Huntly, who served the king of Poland for several years. Lord Gordon returned to Scotland, and died at Strathbogie. Catherine (Katarzyna) was a lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
at the Court of Queen Marie Louise de Gonzague
Ludwika Maria Gonzaga
Marie Louise Gonzaga was queen consort to two Polish kings: Władysław IV Vasa, and John II Casimir Vasa...
. They had a son and three daughters, who all married members of high European aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
, except one daughter who became a nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
.
They became Prince Kazimierz Czartoryski
Kazimierz Czartoryski
Prince Kazimierz Czartoryski was a Polish-Lithuanian magnate.Kazimierz became Podczaszy of Lithuania since 1699, Grand Treasurer of Lithuania in 1707–1709, nominated by King Stanisław Leszczyński. He was also Deputy Chancellor of Lithuania in 1712–1724...
's parents-in-law, by their younger daughter Isabella Morsztynowna
Izabela Elżbieta Morsztyn
Princess Izabela Elżbieta Czartoryska was a Polish noble lady.Morsztyn married Kazimierz Czartoryski in 1693. Along with her husband she supported Prince of Conti as a candidate to the Polish throne....
. Through the Czartoryski family, they are :
- great-grand-parents of Stanislaw August PoniatowskiStanislaw August PoniatowskiStanisław II August Poniatowski was the last King and Grand Duke of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
, the last King of Poland (1732-1796). The king's mother, Princess Konstancja CzartoryskaKonstancja Czartoryska (1700-1759)Princess Konstancja Czartoryska was a daughter of the Polish–Lithuanian magnate Kazimierz Czartoryski....
, is Prince Kazimierz Czartoryski's daughter. - ancestors of Mathilde d'Udekem d'AcozPrincess Mathilde, Duchess of BrabantPrincess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant, DHS , is the wife of the heir apparent to the Belgian throne, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant...
, Princess of BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Duchess of Brabant, future Queen Consort of the Belgians.- explanation : Prince Kazimierz Czartoryski's great-grand-daughter Zofia CzartoryskaZofia CzartoryskaPrincess Zofia Czartoryska was a Polish szlachcianka She married Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski on 20 May 1798, at Puławy....
and her husband Stanisław Kostka Zamoyski are Prince Leon Sapieha-KodenskiLeon SapiehaLeon Sapieha was a Polish noble , politician and statesman.Leon was born and educated in Warsaw, and studied law and economic in Paris and Edinburgh from 1820 to 1824. He began to work in the administration in the Polish Kingdom...
's parents-in-law. Prince Leon's great-great-grand-daughter, Princess Zofia SapiehaZofia SapiehaCountess Sophia Komorowska , in Polish Zofia z książąt Sapiehów hrabina Komorowska was a Polish princess and grandmother of Belgian heir apparent's wife, Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant.Princess Sophia Sapieha was a member of a Polish–Lithuanian princely family, the Sapieha...
-Kodenska, is Princess Mathilde's maternal grand-mother, who died in a car accident with the princess's sister, Marie-Alix d'Udekem d'Acoz. Jan Andrzej Morsztyn and Catherine Gordon of Huntly are 11th generation ancestors to Princess Mathilde.
- explanation : Prince Kazimierz Czartoryski's great-grand-daughter Zofia Czartoryska
Works
Jan Andrzej Morsztyn was one of the leading poets of the Polish BaroqueBaroque in Poland
The Polish Baroque lasted from the late 16th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance style which sought to depict the beauty and harmony of...
. His language was marked by the extravagant style of 16th-century Italian Marinism
Marinism
Marinism is the name now given to an ornate, witty style of poetry and verse drama written in imitation of Giambattista Marino , following in particular La Lira and L'Adone.-Features:The critic James V...
. He had written most of his works before becoming Deputy Crown Treasurer in 1668. Morsztyn, a courtier and political intriguer, considered his writing a hobby and let most of his works circulate in manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
, afraid that wider publication could prove damaging to his career. Thus most of his works first appeared in print only in the 19th century.
A master of poetic form, he wrote the collections of verses Kanikuła (Dog Days, 1647) and Lutnia (Lute, 1661). He was concerned less with the "worldly happiness" but rather, with its inherent self-contradictions, such as paradoxes of love, full both of frivolity and metaphysical fear.Nonetheless some of his other works had political subtones, like Pospolite ruszenie
Pospolite ruszenie
Pospolite ruszenie , is an anachronistic term describing the mobilisation of armed forces, especially during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The tradition of wartime mobilisation of part of the population existed from before the 13th century to the 19th century...
or Pieśń w obozie pod Żwańcem (Song in the camp near Żwaniec), which criticized szlachta
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...
unwillingness to react to potential dangers (from Tatars
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
or Cossacks). Unlike his cousin, Zbigniew Morsztyn
Zbigniew Morsztyn
Zbigniew Morsztyn was a Polish poet.Morsztyn was born in Kraków. For 9 years he was in the army, where he fought the Swedes and Russians during the Northern Wars...
, few of his works can be counted as religious poetry, the notable exception being the Pokuta w kwartanie.
He was also a known translator (of Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...
, Giambattista Marino and Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille
Pierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
). His translation of Corneiile's Le Cid
Le Cid
Le Cid is a tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille and published in 1636. It is based on the legend of El Cid.The play followed Corneille's first true tragedy, Médée, produced in 1635. An enormous popular success, Corneille's Le Cid was the subject of a heated polemic over the norms of dramatic...
was the first translation of this work into Polish and has remained the standard Polish version even today.
In 1660 he coauthored a proposal for the reform of the Sejm.
External links
- Selection of poems (English)
Further reading
- Polski Słownik Biograficzny (Dictionary of Polish Biography), vol. 22, Wrocław 1976