Szymon Starowolski
Encyclopedia
Szymon Starowolski was a writer, scholar and historian in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
. He was probably born near Pruzhany
, and died near Kraków
. He was very prolific writer, left behind over 70 works, mostly in Latin. Some of them survived until its translation into Polish.
Szymon Starowolski was born into an impoverished Lithuania
n noble family. As a young man he visited the courts of many magnate
s, including the famous Chancellor Jan Zamoyski
(at age 17) and Bishop Jakub Zadzik
. After his studies, he traveled in the service of the Ostrogski
family through Western Europe (Germany, France, Holland), where he visited the University of Louvain
. On his return, from 1612 to 1619 Starowolski studied and taught at the Kraków Academy (Jagiellonian University
), and then at the Cistercian monastery in Wąchock
.
Starowolski became secretary to the famous Polish military commander, Hetman
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
, whom he accompanied at the Battle of Chocim
(1621). Later he served as tutor to many young nobles, among them Aleksander Koniecpolski
, son of Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. Connected with many other powerful magnate courts, he often traveled abroad.
In 1639 he was ordained a Catholic
priest, and subsequently became a canon
and worked as a preacher, cantor
and canon in Kraków and Tarnów
. During the Swedish invasion of Poland (the Deluge
), he performed the functions of a bishop in place of Piotr Gembicki
.
) in history, geography, law, strategy, theology, literature and politics. His greatest passion was history. He became expert on the Ottoman Empire
, which he considered both a great threat to Poland and a fascinating neighbor. In his Latin works, addressed to foreign readers, he defended the good name of Poland, while in his Polish writings he called for thorough reform of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
. He stressed that every person is responsible for his actions, and that a higher position entails not only more privileges but also more responsibilities. He wrote over seventy books.
His critics have pointed out that Starowolski was an advocate of religious intolerance
; he supported repressions against the Hussite
s, railed against the tolerant Statutes of Warsaw and apostates from Catholicism, tried to have Protestant schools and printing presses closed down and insisted that the Edict of Wieluń
, passed in 1424 as an exception to Poland's general policy of religious toleration, was still law. He also believed that Christian dissenter
s should be considered as non-Christians along with Muslims and Jews
.
While he advocated better treatment of peasants (serfs
), he wrote that according to God's will there were three social class
es: the nobility (the rulers), the priests (the guardians of morality), and the peasants (laborers).
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 probably born near Pruzhany
Pruzhany
Pruzhany is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pruzhany is the center of a district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 20.000 people. The town is located at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal, which give the start to Mukhavets River.-History:Pruzhany has been known...
, and died 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...
. He was very prolific writer, left behind over 70 works, mostly in Latin. Some of them survived until its translation into Polish.
Life
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n noble family. As a young man he visited the courts of many 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...
s, including the famous Chancellor 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...
(at age 17) and Bishop Jakub Zadzik
Jakub Zadzik
Jakub Zadzik was a Polish Great Crown Secretary from 1613 to 1627, bishop of Chełmno from 1624, Crown Deputy Chancellor from 1627, Great Crown Chancellor from 1628 to 1635, bishop of Kraków from 1635, diplomat, szlachcic, magnate in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
. After his studies, he traveled in the service of the Ostrogski
Ostrogski
Ostrogski was one of the greatest Ruthenian princely families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.They were most likely of Rurikid stock and descended from Sviatopolk II of Kiev. Some scholars however claim their descent from Galicia-Volhynia line of Rurikid dynasty. Vasilko Romanovich Prince of...
family through Western Europe (Germany, France, Holland), where he visited the University of Louvain
Catholic University of Leuven
The Catholic University of Leuven, or of Louvain, was the largest, oldest and most prominent university in Belgium. The university was founded in 1425 as the University of Leuven by John IV, Duke of Brabant and approved by a Papal bull by Pope Martin V.During France's occupation of Belgium in the...
. On his return, from 1612 to 1619 Starowolski studied and taught at the Kraków Academy (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....
), and then at the Cistercian monastery in Wąchock
Wachock
Wąchock is a town in Starachowice County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, near Starachowice. In 2006, it had 2,777 inhabitants.- History :...
.
Starowolski became secretary to the famous Polish military commander, Hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was a famous Lithuanian military commander and one of the most prominent noblemen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Biography:...
, whom he accompanied at the Battle of Chocim
Battle of Khotyn (1621)
The Battle of Khotyn was a battle fought between a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army and an invading Ottoman Imperial army. Here, for a whole month , the Commonwealth forces halted the Ottoman advance...
(1621). Later he served as tutor to many young nobles, among them Aleksander Koniecpolski
Aleksander Koniecpolski (1620-1659)
Prince Aleksander Koniecpolski was a Polish nobleman. He became the Grand Standard-Bearer of the Crown in 1641, the Palatine of Sandomierz Voivodeship in 1656, and the Starost of Perejasław, Korsun, Płoskirow and Dolina. He was the son of the famous hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski....
, son of Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. Connected with many other powerful magnate courts, he often traveled abroad.
In 1639 he was ordained a Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
priest, and subsequently became a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
and worked as a preacher, cantor
Cantor (church)
A cantor is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor....
and canon in Kraków and Tarnów
Tarnów
Tarnów is a city in southeastern Poland with 115,341 inhabitants as of June 2009. The city has been situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999, but from 1975 to 1998 it was the capital of the Tarnów Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east-west connection...
. During the Swedish invasion of Poland (the Deluge
The Deluge (Polish history)
The term Deluge denotes a series of mid-17th century campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667, thus comprising the Polish–Lithuanian theaters of the Russo-Polish and...
), he performed the functions of a bishop in place of Piotr Gembicki
Piotr Gembicki
Piotr Gembicki , Deputy Crown Chancellor and Bishop of Przemyśl from 1635, Great Crown Chancellor from 1638, Bishop of Kraków from 1642 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Biography:...
.
Works
Starowolski is famous for his many writings (in Polish and LatinLatin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) in history, geography, law, strategy, theology, literature and politics. His greatest passion was history. He became expert on the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, which he considered both a great threat to Poland and a fascinating neighbor. In his Latin works, addressed to foreign readers, he defended the good name of Poland, while in his Polish writings he called for thorough reform of 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 stressed that every person is responsible for his actions, and that a higher position entails not only more privileges but also more responsibilities. He wrote over seventy books.
His critics have pointed out that Starowolski was an advocate of religious intolerance
Religious intolerance
Religious intolerance is intolerance against another's religious beliefs or practices.-Definition:The mere statement on the part of a religion that its own beliefs and practices are correct and any contrary beliefs incorrect does not in itself constitute intolerance...
; he supported repressions against the Hussite
Hussite
The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...
s, railed against the tolerant Statutes of Warsaw and apostates from Catholicism, tried to have Protestant schools and printing presses closed down and insisted that the Edict of Wieluń
Edict of Wielun
The Edict of Wieluń was a 1424 law issued in Wieluń by King of Poland Władysław II Jagiełło under pressure from the Catholic Church. The edict outlawed Hussitism and represented a temporary regression for the Kingdom of Poland, which had a long tradition of religious toleration....
, passed in 1424 as an exception to Poland's general policy of religious toleration, was still law. He also believed that Christian dissenter
Dissenter
The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...
s should be considered as non-Christians along with Muslims and Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
.
While he advocated better treatment of peasants (serfs
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
), he wrote that according to God's will there were three social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
es: the nobility (the rulers), the priests (the guardians of morality), and the peasants (laborers).
- Lament of the Dying Mother, Poland, over her Undutiful Sons - published soon before his death, an important work in political sciencePolitical sciencePolitical Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. - Reformacja obyczajów polskich (Reform of Polish customs) - on how Poland should look like according to the God's plan
- Scriptorum Polonicorum Hecatontas seu Centum illustrium Poloniae scriptorium elogia et vitae - Setnik pisarzy polskich (A Hundred Polish Writers), 1625 - a short biography of Polish authors, with the titles of their works
- Wojownicy sarmaccy, czyli pochwały mężów słynących męstwem wojennym w pamięci naszej lub naszych pradziadów - biographies of famous Polish warriors and kings
- The Perfect Knight - the ideal Christian soldier who selflessly serves his country, defends the faith, and strives for moral uprightness
- O slawnych mowcach Sarmacji ("De claris orationibus oracoribus Sarmatiae", On the Famous Speakers of Sarmatia), 1628.
- The Lord's Sanctuary and The Ark of the Testament - sermons
- Monumenta Sarmatorum - about ancient art, collecting information about old tombstones (digital copy)
- Various treaties on moral issues, aiming to reform Polish society
See also
- Andrzej Frycz ModrzewskiAndrzej Frycz ModrzewskiAndrzej Frycz Modrzewski was a Polish Renaissance scholar, humanist and theologian, called "the father of Polish democracy." His book De Republica emendanda was widely read and praised across most of Renaissance Europe.-Life:Modrzewski was born in Wolbórz Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski (ca....
- Piotr SkargaPiotr SkargaPiotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
- Wacław of Szamotuły
- Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki
- List of Poles
External links
- Biography of Copernicus (Erna Hilfstein: Starowolski's biographies of Copernicus, Studia Copernicana, 1980, ISBN 8304003368 http://books.google.com/books?id=K0ZKAAAAIAAJ&pgis=1)