The paper aims to present some aspects of Janicki’s poetry devoted to some Various existence problems of that times, i. e. social status of the poor, the education opportunities for them, and insisting on the greater care of the country from the nobility
The author briefly presents the life and work of André Motte (who died 28 November 2021), who was a professor of ancient philology and philosophy at the University of Liège, and details his longtime cooperation with the ancient philologists and philosophers of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Mikołaj Kotwicz of Żnin (c. 1440–1507) studied law at the Jagiellonian University and probably graduated in Bologna, where he earned a doctor’s degree. Having returned to his country, he was ordained a priest and found employment at the court of Zbigniew Oleśnicki, the Primate of Poland. In Renaissance Italy, where the works of ancient writers drew much scholarly interest, he acquired a wide knowledge of ancient history and literature, as well as mastered Latin and learned poetic art. His command of the latter is evident in his unfinished work “Sbigneis”. It was the only epic poem in medieval Poland, unfortunately made only as an exposition, with the narrative cutting off at the mid point of the hexameter. The poem, modeled on ancient epics such as Greek Iliad by Homer, Roman “Punica” by Silius Italicus, or “Pharsalia” by Lucan, was supposed to narrate a long-standing armed conflict between the related houses of Oleśnicki and Gruszczyński. The idea to embark on such an interesting social issue, albeit touched upon in an exposition only, attests to Kotwicz’s considerable talent and unusual poetic art. The conflict and the composition are clearly outlined; the Latin lan - guage and dactylic hexameter are impeccable. The style of the narrative and the rhetorical figures featured therein are well suited to the epic genre. Only an elaboration of the topic and the ending are missing. The talented author would probably have finished the poem if it had not been for the unfortunate external circumstance following the real-world death of the main character (Zbigniew Oleśnicki), a difficulty that Kotwicz was unable to surmount. Therefore, the epic muse Calliope did not spread her wings in the Polish Middle Ages, even though she was on the right way thanks to a poet from Żnin.
The paper aims to present some aspects of Janicki’s poetry devoted to various existence problems of thosetimes, i. e. the social poor, education opportunities for them, and insisting on the nobility taking greater careof the country.
The author’s scope is to briefly present the life and the area of scientific interest of Jan Horowski, an outstandingscholar, especially in the Greek literature and school didactics of Latin.
The article contains a short presentation of the treatise entitled How to write history. The hand which wrote it was Lucian of Samosata’s, a Greek rhetor and sophist (2nd cent.). It is the sole treatise concerning methodology of history that the antiquity left us. Knowledge of the text is also transparent in the writings of authors who created on the territory of the Polish “Republic of the Gentry” in the 16th and 17th cent., and who were keen on historiographic reflection, such as Stanisław Iłowski, Jan Firlej of Dąbrowica, Bartłomiej Keckermann and Szymon Starowolski.
Based on Facta et dicta memorabilia by Valerius Maximus, the author discusses a type of moralising history in the ancient times and selected examples of its fates in Antiquity, the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque periods in Europe,Poland in particular. The quoted translations of excerpts from Book IV indicate the need to effect a Polish translation of the text.
Klemens Janicki (1516-1543), arguably the greatest Latin poet in Poland, is little known to the people of our times. He was a citizen of Greater Poland, born in Januszkowo near Żnin. In each of the genres practiced by him, be it elegy or epigram, complaint or satire, or wedding song, not to speak of the paraphrase of the psalms of David, we fi nd minor or major references to religion. What did the author convey in them? Beautiful images of faith in God the Father, the humanity of Christ, the powerful intercession of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary; depictions of the holy Polish martyrs, Adalbert and Stanislaus; the author’s own attitude to historical and his contemporary representatives of the Church. These images give preeminent evidence of the Catholic profi le of the faith professed by Janicki. The occasional critical words do not pertain to the truths of faith as such but to inadequate obedience of them in everyday life, so the criticism indicates the poet’s intellectual and emotional support of those truths and his concern for an explicitness of people’s attitudes irrespective of their social status. Lutheran infl uences are scarce in his works, though noticeable in some utterances. He was strongly opposed to Islam which was then spreading through armed invasion. Being versatile in the philosophy and spirit of the ancient world he did not identify with it in questions of faith and morality. Janicki’s faith – as can be gathered from the presented themes – was the mature Catholic faith of a renaissance intellectual and not that of a meek and humble son of a peasant from Januszkowo near Żnin.
PL
Klemens Janicki (1516-1543), bodaj największy poeta łaciński w Polsce, dla ludzi naszych czasów jest postacią mało znaną. Wielkopolanin, urodził się w Januszkowie pod Żninem. W każdym gatunku jego twórczości, czy to będzie elegia, czy epigram, czy skarga i satyra, czy pieśń weselna, nie mówiąc o parafrazie psalmu Dawidowego, znajdziemy mniejsze lub większe nawiązania do religii. Co w nich autor przekazał? Przepiękne obrazy wiary w Boga Ojca i Syna Bożego, w człowieczeństwo Chrystusa, w potężne wstawiennictwo Najświętszej Bogarodzicy Dziewicy, namalował wzory świętych polskich męczenników, Wojciecha i Stanisława, nakreślił swój stosunek do historycznych i aktualnych przedstawicieli Kościoła. Obrazy te zdecydowanie świadczą o katolickim profilu wyznawanej wiary. Pojawiające się w nich niekiedy słowa krytyczne nie dotyczą samych prawd wiary, lecz przestrzegania ich w praktyce codziennego życia, i wskazują raczej na intelektualną i emocjonalną sympatię dla nich oraz na troskę poety o jednoznaczność ludzkich postaw niezależnie od społecznego statusu. Luterańskie wpływy na niego były niewielkie, chociaż widoczne w niektórych wypowiedziach. Z całą mocą natomiast występował przeciw islamowi szerzącemu się w Europie przez zbrojne najazdy. Znając na wylot filozofię i ducha starożytnego świata, nie identyfikował się z nim w kwestiach wiary i moralności. Wiara Janickiego bowiem – jak to wynika z przedstawionych wątków – była dojrzałą katolicką wiarą renesansowego intelektualisty, a nie cichego i pokornego syna chłopa z Januszkowa pod Żninem.
In this commemorative article, the author presents the Latin translation of one of Solon’s elegies (27W) which was placed in Chronicon regum Poloniae (from Lech until Mieszko I), a 16th-century chronicle by Gliczner, who was a theologian and pedagogue born in Żnin. In addition, mentions of the Polish studies and contemporary translations of that elegy were made, and based on the Latin translation, a Polish translation was produced in prose poetry.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.