Marcin Bielski (or ''Wolski''; 1495 – 18 December 1575) was a Polish soldier, historian, chronicler,

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

poet, writer and translator. His son, , royal secretary to king

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

, was also a historian and poet. He was born of noble parentage on the patrimonial estate of Biała (whence the family name), Pajęczno County, in the Polish province of Sieradz. His alternate surname ''Wolski'' derives 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 Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the fo ...

Life

Bielski was educated at the

University of Kraków The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university in ...

, founded by

Casimir the Great Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He w ...

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 or Walachia (; ro, Țara Românească, lit=The Romanian Land' or 'The Romanian Country, ; archaic: ', Romanian Cyrillic alphabet: ) is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and s ...

ns and

Tatars The Tatars ()Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different Turki ...

, and participated in the

Battle of Obertyn The Battle of Obertyn (August 22, 1531) was fought between Moldavian Voivode Petru Rareş and Polish forces under hetman Jan Tarnowski, in the town of Obertyn, south of the Dniester River, now in Ukraine. The battle ended with a Polish victory and ...

(

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

) 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 A universal history is a work aiming at the presentation of a history of all of mankind as a whole, coherent unit. A universal chronicle or world chronicle typically traces history from the beginning of written information about the past up to t ...

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''; pl) by his son Joachim (b. 1540; d. 1599), secretary to King

Sigismund III Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

*''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)

References

*Estreicher, ''Polish bibliography (1800-70)'' *Bohomolec, ''Collection of Histories'' (Warsaw, 1764) *—, ''Martin Bielski'' (Warsaw, 1764) *Sobieszczanski, ''Chronicle of Poland'' (Warsaw, 1851) *Turowski, ''Chronicle of Poland'' (

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

, 1855–62) *''This article incorporates text from the 1913 ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' article
Marcin Bielski
by Joseph Smolinski, a publication now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired ...

.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bielski, Marcin 1495 births 1575 deaths 16th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Polish poets Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Jagiellonian University alumni

Life

See also

References