Papers by Jakub Niedzwiedz
Odrodzenie i Reformacja w Polsce, Mar 5, 2024
Firenze University Press eBooks, 2020
Essays on the Spread of Humanistic and Renaissance Literary Civilization in the Slavic World (15t... more Essays on the Spread of Humanistic and Renaissance Literary Civilization in the Slavic World (15th-17th Century). An Introduction 7 Giovanna Siedina Humanism, the Renaissance and Russian Culture between the 15th and 17th Centuries: Preliminary Thoughts 17 Marcello Garzaniti Old Russian Translation of Cosmographia, sive De Situ Orbis by Pomponius Mela: Reception of Renaissance Culture in Muscovy (15th-17th Centuries) 37 Tatiana Matasova Michael Marullus Tarchaniota's De laudibus Rhacusae and His Early Years 53 Vedran Stojanović Artistic Expression of the Translatio imperii Concept in the Latin Epic Poetry of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th Century and the European Literary Context 75 Žanna Nekraševič-Karotkaja Classical Tradition in Czech Renaissance and Baroque Literature 97 Lubor Kysučan Poetic Mapping of the Polish Crown at the Turn of the 16th and 17th Centuries and Its Relation to Cartographic Imitation in Renaissance Poetry 117 Jakub Niedźwiedź
Ostatnie lata przyniosły szereg ważnych edycji tekstów powstałych w Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narod... more Ostatnie lata przyniosły szereg ważnych edycji tekstów powstałych w Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów. Wydanie traktatu Andrzeja Wolana, przygotowane przez Romana Mazurkiewicza i Macieja Edera, zasługuje na szczególne wyróżnienie, i to co najmniej z dwóch powodów. Po pierwsze, wprowadza do polskiej re eksji humanistycznej ciekawy tekst i przywraca pamięć o jego autorze, jednym z czołowych prozaików XVI wieku. Po drugie, prowokuje do postawienia wielu pytań o znaczenie pojęć, takich jak: literatura polska czy staropolska, litewska, obywatel Polski, Litwin, gente X, natione Y i na odwrót. Wbrew pozorom, nie jest to tylko zabawa słowami, ale pytania o podstawy naszej współczesnej tożsamości. Edycja składa się z dwóch części: znakomicie przygotowanych edytorsko tekstów, z obszernym komentarzem edytorskim, dogłębnymi, erudycyjnymi objaśnieniami oraz z przyzwoitego wstępu. Mazurkiewicz i Eder przygotowali wydanie właściwie dwóch utworów: traktatu Wolana De libertate politica sive civili, opublikowanego po łacinie w drukarni Łazarzowej w Krakowie w 1573 roku, oraz tłumaczenia tego dzieła na język polski O wolności Rzeczypospolitej albo ślacheckiej, przygotowanego przez Stanisława Dubingiewicza i opublikowanego w Wilnie w drukarni Jana Karcana brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk
Terminus, Apr 15, 2014
The paper has two aims: one is to publish a critical edition of an early humanistic poem, the oth... more The paper has two aims: one is to publish a critical edition of an early humanistic poem, the other is to explain the circumstances in which it was written. The study engages the traditional methods of textual criticism. The author analyses several sources, among them the manuscript 802 preserved in the Kornik Library which contains the poem. In the first part of the paper Jacob’s biography is reminded. Jacob of Sienno (Jakub z Sienna, 1413–1480) was a diplomat, a politician, the bishop of Kujawy and next the archbishop of Gniezno. He was born in an nobleman family, studied in Rome and in the mid 1430’s pursued his ecclesiastical and political career. He turned back to Italy many times, both as a royal diplomat and a political refugee during his conflict with king Casimir IV Jagiellon. The author stresses the fact that in his Italian journeys he must have come in contact with the early Humanistic culture, which is proved for instance by his collection of Renaissance decorated books acquired in Italy. In the second part the author reveals the circumstances in which the poem was written. The deliberations here touch upon the problem of authorship. Although some researchers made a conjecture that the author would have been Leonardo Mansueti (1414–1480), the Master General of the Dominican Order and Jacob’s friend, a hypothesis that an anonymous Cracow scholar would have been the grateful poet is more convincing. The author reminds a long-standing relationship between Jacob and the University of Cracow. As a patron of the university the bishop made it a gift of his library. The third part contains analysis of the text. The poet drew a picture of a bishop-good shepherd and a wise statesman devoted to the country. To construct such a figure, typical for Renaissance literature in the next century, he employed the classical rhetoric, astrology and especially the Stoic philosophy. The analysis leads to the conclusion that To Jacob of Sienno can be one of the first Humanistic panegyrics in Poland. It can be considered a result of Jacob’s patronage on literature and fine arts. At the end the author asserts that the bishop courts in Poland in the 15th century were important centres of Humanistic culture, among them Jacob’s court. Future research on this topic can shed new light on the beginnings of the Renaissance in Poland. Additionally, the paper provides critical edition of the Latin text and its Polish translation with commentaries.
Wielogłos, Apr 29, 2014
Multi-Literacy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: A New Research Approach The paper deals with the ... more Multi-Literacy in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: A New Research Approach The paper deals with the problem of using different languages of writing in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15 th-17 th centuries. Among them there were: Latin, Polish, Ruthenian, Church-Slavonic, Lithuanian, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, Arabic and Greek, written in fi ve alphabets: Latin, Cyryllic, Hebrew, Arabic and Greek. The author noticed that this multilingualism and multi-alphabeticism was omitted in Polish studies about history of literature of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He argues that including these two issues in the studies on the Commonwealth's history is crucial to better understand the muli-cultural and multi-ethnic character of this country. One of the main questions of the paper is about the relationship between a script and an identity. The author notices that comparative approach can be especially productive in such research. He enlists similar borderline processes in use of writing in medieval and early modern England,
Terminus, Dec 30, 2022
Some Remarks on the Exhibition The Vistula River: The Queen of the Polish Rivers in the National ... more Some Remarks on the Exhibition The Vistula River: The Queen of the Polish Rivers in the National Museum in Cracow In this paper, the author shares some comments on the exhibition Wisła królowa pol skich rzek (The Vistula River: The Queen of the Polish Rivers) organized in the National Museum in Cracow (29.03.2022-4.09.2022). The curator Iwona Długopolska gathered maps, atlases, engravings and literary works from the 16th-mid 19th centuries from the collection of the National Museum. All of them deal with the Vistula River. The author focuses on the cultural dimensions of the representations of the river. At the beginning of the paper, there are remarks about the physiology of viewing. The author stresses the fact that exhibitions can be a way of carrying out historical research. In the next parts, he puts forth a classification of the interpretations of the river as a cultural phenomenon into four major groups, i.e. the economy, the war, the city and the expressions of the Polish national identity. He also links literary works by Polish authors with the visual representations of the Vistula.
Terminus, Dec 28, 2017
Pod koniec XVI wieku Amsterdam stał się głównym centrum produkcji map w Europie i pozostawał kart... more Pod koniec XVI wieku Amsterdam stał się głównym centrum produkcji map w Europie i pozostawał kartografi cznym hegemonem przez następne sto lat. Rozkwit kartografi i w Holandii w XVII wieku miał ogromny wpływ na rozwój kultury w całej Europie: malarstwa, literatury, sztuki wojennej, dyplomacji, architektury itd. W Zjednoczonych Prowincjach mapy odgrywały szczególnie ważną rolę. Służyły one na ogromną skalę do tworzenia zrębów i rozwijania wczesnonowożytnego państwa, imperium kolonialnego, a także kapitalizmu. Książka Elisabeth A. Sutton jest próbą przyjrzenia się temu zagadnieniu. Jest to cykl studiów, w których autorka skupiła się na analizie map produkowanych w latach 1608-1652 przez Claesa Jansza Visschera, właściciela jednej z najważniejszych ofi cyn kartografi cznych Amsterdamu. Visscher opracowywał mapy między innymi dla Kompanii Wschodnioindyjskiej i Zachodnioindyjskiej. W sumie wydał TERMINUS
Studi Slavistici, Feb 2, 2019
The author declares that there is no conflict of interest * This work was supported by the Nation... more The author declares that there is no conflict of interest * This work was supported by the National Science Centre (Poland) under Grant The Relationship Between Polish Literature and Cartography in the 16 th and the First Half of the 17 th Centuries (Związki literatury polskiej i kartografii w xvi i i poł. xvii w.
Terminus, Dec 19, 2017
Th e paper is divided into two parts. In the fi rst one the author discusses a discovery and rece... more Th e paper is divided into two parts. In the fi rst one the author discusses a discovery and reception of Th e Atlas of the Principality of Polotsk in the 19 th-21 st centuries. In the other the content of six papers about the Atlas is commented.
Terminus, Feb 20, 2013
The main goal of the paper is to answer the question of what was unique about the use of books in... more The main goal of the paper is to answer the question of what was unique about the use of books in Vilnius between 1522 and 1610. The reason to take a closer look at the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania is the fact that it has always been a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious city. This observation allows the author to assume that the use of books there could have been different than in other European cities of the time. To find possible answers to the question posed, the author traces the changes in production, distribution and reading of books in the city. The research is based on several sorts of sources, such as printed books, manuscripts and documents from Vilnius archives (mainly the municipal archive, the Catholic chapter, the castle court etc.). He was supported by contemporary studies about early modern Vilnius scriptoria and printing houses (Kawecka-Gryczowa, Topolska, Nikalaieu), bookbinders (Laucevičius), book writing (Ulčinaitė, Narbutienė, Narbutas) and the history of the city (Frick). At the beginning of the paper the author recalls the main facts about Vilnius in the 16 th century. The city had increasingly grown in importance as a political, economical and cultural centre of the Jagiellonian monarchy. The central part, divided in four chronologically arranged chapters, focuses on several problems, among them: the beginnings of Cyrillic prints and Skaryna's printing house, languages and alphabets of books (Latin, Ruthenian, Polish, Lithuanian, German, Hebrew, yiddish and Arabic), book production, dissemination, storage and reading. The author notices that a significant contributing factor to the spreading book culture in Vilnius was the royal court and chancery. He puts emphasis on the significance of humanistic schools that were established in Vilnius in the 2 nd half of the 16 th century by four different Christian confessions (Calvinist, Catholic, Lutheran and Orthodox). The most influential one was the Jesuit Academy of Vilnius. This process was accompanied by the establishment of no less than 11 printing houses. Having said that, the author argues that books printed in Vilnius, imported to the city and held in its libraries reflect a fruitful competition between main religious communities.
Terminus, Feb 23, 2014
A New Edition of Abraomas Kulvietis's Confessio fi dei Th e paper discusses the latest edition of... more A New Edition of Abraomas Kulvietis's Confessio fi dei Th e paper discusses the latest edition of the works of a Lithuanian humanist and propagator of the Reformation, Abraham Kulwieć (Abraomas Kulvetis, ca. 1510/1512-1545), edited by a Lithuanian scholar, Dainora Pociūtė. In the fi rst part the author raises the question of Kulvetis's absence in the contemporary historical studies of Polish Renaissance literature. In the second part of the paper the author reminds the role of this person in the development of humanist culture and Reformation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the fi rst half of the 16 th century.
East European Politics and Societies, Jan 14, 2019
The very title of Jakub Niedźwiedź's article, translated by David Frick as "Multiscripturality in... more The very title of Jakub Niedźwiedź's article, translated by David Frick as "Multiscripturality in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: New Research Approaches," indicates that this is a pioneering work in a field located at the intersection of sociolinguistics, history of literature, and history. The concept of "multiscripturality," a neologism in English, is a literal translation of the neologism coined by the author in Polish. As Frick remarks in his comments, the translator uses this key term "to bring the reader to the text," in order to arouse curiosity about the topic. But Frick's endeavor, which we commend here, is also a painstaking effort to "bring the text to the reader," that is, to make the subject matter accessible to anyone unfamiliar with the broader historical context and with the styles of expression typical of Polish scholarship and, more generally, of written Polish. This aim could be successfully achieved only by a translator who is not only fluent in both languages but also possesses an intimate familiarity with the nuances of the subject matter and with the expectations of the translated text's intended audience.
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Papers by Jakub Niedzwiedz
The aim of the book Nieśmiertelne teatra sławy. Teoria i praktyka twórczości panegirycznej na Litwie w XVII–XVIII w. (The Immortal Theatres of Fame: Theory and Practice of Panegyrics in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 17th–18th centuries) is to answer the question of the significance to the early literary culture of Lithuania of the rhetorical genus demonstrativum. The region studied, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was a component part of the joint state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and a territory where several cultural models, linguistic systems, and religion were in contact with each other.
The first chapter presents a discussion of the research conducted hitherto on laudatory literature. I have shown the process of degradation to which this branch of letters was subjected by Post-Romantic scholars, and the 20th-century attempts to rehabilitate the concept of the panegyric.
In my second chapter I define the principal terms used by rhetoricians to write about laudatory literature. I have classified laudatory works largely on the basis of the function which these historic texts performed.
Chapters three and four contain an account of the theory of laudation in ancient Greece and Rome, and also in modern Europe. I concentrate on five authors: Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, Priscian of Caesarea, and J.C. Scaliger. I subdivide rhetorical texts into three genres, including the genus demonstrativum and its modifications; and I discuss the topoi of laudation. I found questions concerning the ethos of the panegyrical speaker and the problems of origins and elocution relevant issues.
Chapter five presents the significance of laudatory literature in the culture of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. I describe the conditions in which panegyrics were created, the ways in which they were disseminated, and their place in the Lithuanian system of clientage. I emphasise the role played by the Jesuits. Most of the contemporary panegyrics, the majority of which were published, were penned in the Academy of Vilnius and other colleges run by the Jesuits of Lithuania. In this chapter I also address the function of socialisation played by panegyrical literature. The ability to deliver a speech in praise of someone or something was one of the essential social skills among the nobility and gentry. Moreover it was also a critical factor in the way reality was perceived: in terms of virtue and vice, praise and censure, and by means of the laudatory topoi. The strong impact of cliental relations on the structure of Lithuanian panegyrical literature proved highly relevant. In the 17th century the links between the Jesuit colleges and their aristocratic patrons “institutionalised” the panegyric.
Chapter six is entitled ‘The theory of laudation in 17th–18th-century Lithuania.’ In it I discuss the sources of the genus demonstrativum and the role it plays in them, and then go on to present its definition, subject, aim, the role in it of the category of appropriateness, recommended style, and matters concerning amplification. I devote separate attention to the interpretation of the various opinions held on the subject of disposition in works of laudation.
The book’s last five chapters give an account of the main trends in panegyric writing in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first to be considered is the printed panegyric, defined as an independent laudatory work (or anthology of works on the same subject), the purpose of which is to demonstrate the virtues and achievements of the person praised. Panegyrics came in a variety of generic forms, e.g. epic poems, elogia, speeches, and would often combine a number of different modes of expression within a single work. The final parts of the book show the role and forms of the principal panegyric genres, the elogium, the epic, and the emblem. An extensive chapter on eulogising homiletics, especially funerary sermons, is also to be found at the end of the book.
An important phenomenon presented in this chapter is the transformation which occurred in printed panegyrics in the early 17th century. A characteristic feature of the ‘new’ panegyrics was their generic syncretism, their tendency to combine the visual and verbal art-forms, and to experiment with style and structure. A gradual moving away from the imitation of the Classical authors may be observed, in favour of emulation, or even outright defiance, of their accomplishments. In the Latin poetry and prose this led to a severing off from the Classical roots and consequently to the exhaustion of the literary language’s potential for renewal. On the other hand the formal experiments manifest in the Polish-language poetry would provide inspiration for the literature of subsequent times.
The supplement at the end of the book contains a collection of passages cited from manuscript treatises on rhetorics and poetry, and a bibliography. Its purpose is to provide a record of some of these forgotten texts and make them more accessible to modern readers.
translated by Teresa Bałuk-Ulewiczowa