Marcin Bielski (1495 – December 18, 1575) was a Polish

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...

 chronicler and satirical poet. He was born of noble parentage on the patrimonial estate of Biała, Pajęczno County (whence the family name), in the Polish province of Sieradz

Sieradz

Sieradz is a town on the Warta river in central Poland with 44,326 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodship , but was previously the eponymous capital of the Sieradz Voivodship , and historically one of the minor duchies in Greater Poland.It is one of the oldest towns in Poland,...

. The name Wolski is derived from his estate at Wola. One of two Polish writers of the same name, he was the first to use the Polish language, hence his designation as the father of Polish prose.

Life

Bielski was educated at the University of Kraków

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....

, founded by Casimir the Great

Casimir III of Poland

Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...

 in 1364, and spent some time with the military governor of that city. He served in the army in the wars against the Wallachia

Wallachia

Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...

ns and 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,...

, and participated in the Battle of Obertyn

Battle of Obertyn

The Battle of Obertyn was fought between Moldavian Prince Petru Rareş and Polish King Zygmunt Stary, in the town of Obertyn, north of the Dniester River, now in Ukraine. The battle ended with a Polish victory and the reconquest of Pokutia....

 (Galicia) in 1531.

He was the author of several works, including:

• Zywoty Filosofow (Lives of the Philosophers, 1535)
• Kronika Swiata (Universal Chronicle, 1550-64), from the earliest time down to his day, divided into six periods. This was the first important universal history
  Universal history
  Universal history is basic to the Western tradition of historiography, especially the Abrahamic wellspring of that tradition. Simply stated, universal history is the presentation of the history of humankind as a whole, as a coherent unit.-Ancient authors:...
  
   published in the national idiom, and the first attempt at a comprehensive history of Poland, from 550 to 1580; in the second edition (1554) there is a reference to America. After the author's death the work was continued, rearranged, and brought down to the year 1597, under the title of Kronika Polska (Chronicle of Poland) by his son Joachim (b. 1540; d. 1599), secretary to King Sigismund III
• Sprawa Rycerskiego, a treatise on military art (1569), according to the Greek science of warfare, in eight parts. It contains valuable data about the Polish army and kindred subjects.

After Bielski's death, several satirical poems by him were published:

• Seym Majowy (The May Diet, 1590), descriptive of the degradation of Hungary, and an appeal to his countrymen to emulate a higher standard of life
• Seym Niewiesci, (Woman's Council, 1586-95), analytical of the then existing political conditions in Poland
• Sen Maiowy (Dream of a Hermit, 1586)
• Komedia Justina y Konstanciey (Comedy of Justinian and Constantia, 1557)