Silva rerum (plural: ''silvae rerum'', Latin for "forest of things"; also Polonized as sylwa, sometimes described as home chronicle) was a multi-generational chronicle kept by many

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and Lithuanian noble families from the 16th through 18th centuries.J. Niedźwiedź, ''Sylwa, silva rerum'' in ''Słownik sarmatyzmu'' pod red. A. Borowskiego, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 2001 Some authors of modern Polish

postmodern literature Postmodern literature is a form of literature that is characterized by the use of metafiction, unreliable narration, self-reflexivity, intertextuality, and which often thematizes both historical and political issues. This style of experimenta ...

try to create works similar to the silvae rerum of the past.Przemysław Czapliński
Klucze do sylwy
, Przegląd Polski on-line, 07-12-01 __NOTOC__ In historical Poland it was written by members of the

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

(Polish nobility) as a diary or memoir for the entire family, recording

family traditions Family tradition, also called family culture, is defined as an aggregate of attitudes, ideas and ideals, and environment, which a person inherits from their parents and ancestors. Modern studies of family traditions The study of family t ...

, among other matters; they were not intended for a wider audience or printing (although there were a few exceptions); some were also lent to friends of the family, who were allowed to add their comments to them. It was added to by many generations, and contained various information: diary-type entries on current events, memoirs, letters, political speeches, copies of legal documents, gossips, jokes and anecdotes, financial documents, economic information (price of grain, etc.), philosophical musings, poems, genealogical trees, advice (agricultural, medical, moral) for the descendants and others. The wealth of information in silva is staggering; they contain anything that their authors wished to record for future generations. Some silvae rerum were of truly enormous proportions, with thousands of pages (Gloger cites one of 1764 pages) although most common size is from 500 to 800 pages. They were written from 16th century (the earliest entries are from the times of the king

Stefan Batory Stefan may refer to: * Stefan (given name) * Stefan (surname) * Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname * Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname * Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer * Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...

) to the mid-18th century (times of the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

kings in Poland). Silvae rerum were the source of our modern knowledge of poems by such writers as

Andrzej Morsztyn Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621–93) was a Polish poet, member of the landed nobility, and official in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was ''starosta'' of Zawichost, Tymbark and Kowal. He was also pantler of Sandomierz (1647–58), Royal S ...

, and even long diaries, including the famous ''Chocim War'' by

Wacław Potocki Wacław Potocki (; 1621–1696) was a Polish nobleman (''szlachcic''), moralist, poet, and writer. He was the podczaszy of Kraków from 1678 to 1685. He is remembered as one of the most important Polish baroque artists. His most famous works a ...

and the ''Diaries'' by

Jan Chryzostom Pasek Jan Chryzostom Pasek of Gosławice (c.1636–1701) was a Polish nobleman and writer during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He is best remembered for his memoirs ('' Pamiętniki''), which are a valuable historical source about ...

.Zygmunt Gloger, ''Ksie̜ga rzeczy polskich'', 1886, Nakł. Macierzy Polskiej
Google Print, p. 407-410
(public domain) They also contain a wealth of information about the customs of Polish nobility of the past centuries.Joanna Partyka, "Szlachecka silva rerum jako zrodlo do badan etnograficznych" (The nobility's "silva rerum" as a source for ethnographic research), Etnografia Polska (32) 1988 A major collection of silvas perished during the destruction of Polish libraries by Germans in World War II. ''Silva Rerum'' (2008-2016) is the title of a four part saga of internationally bestselling historical novels by Lithuanian writer

Kristina Sabaliauskaitė Kristina Sabaliauskaitė is an art historian, doctor honoris causa of Vilnius Academy of Arts and one of the most prominent contemporary Lithuanian writers. Born in Vilnius, she has been based in London since 2002. She worked as a foreign corresp ...

about the noble Norvaiša family set in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1659-1795.

References

{{Reflist

External links

*Stanisław Burkot
review of silva rerum by Kajetan KraszewskiSilva rerum by Kristina Sabaliauskaite

See also

References

External links

Further reading