Wacław Potocki (; 1621–1696) was a Polish

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

('' szlachcic''),

moralist Moralism is any philosophy with the central focus of applying moral judgements. The term is commonly used as a pejorative to mean "being overly concerned with making moral judgments or being illiberal in the judgments one makes". Moralism has s ...

, poet, and writer. He was the

podczaszy Deputy cup-bearer () was since the 13th century a court office in Poland and later in Lithuania. Deputy cup-bearer was the deputy of the cup-bearer, with the time more important than his superior. Since the 14th–16th century an honorable court ...

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 ...

from 1678 to 1685. He is remembered as one of the most important Polish

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

artists. His most famous works are: ''Transakcja wojny chocimskiej'' (also known as ''Wojna chocimska'' or ''The Chocim War'') and his collection of epigrams, ''Ogród fraszek'' (''Garden of Rhymes''). They give a vivid picture of ideas and manners among 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

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

) towards the end of the Polish Golden Age, and of many political and religious conflicts.

Biography

Wacław Potocki was born to a minor szlachta family, belonging to the

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

Christian sect of the

Polish brethren The Polish Brethren (Polish: ''Bracia Polscy'') were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658. By those on the outside, they were called " Arians" or " Socinians" ( ...

. It is likely that he attended the Polish brethren

Racibórz Racibórz (german: Ratibor, cz, Ratiboř, szl, Racibōrz) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Racibórz County. With Opole, Racibórz is one of the historic capitals of Upper Silesia, being ...

academy. After The Deluge (the Swedish invasion and occupation of Poland from 1655 to 1657), the Polish brethren were sentenced to be exiled from the Commonwealth for their support of the invading Swedes. Wacław was given a choice between exile and conversion to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, and he reluctantly chose conversion. His wife, however, refused at first, and for many years he feared for her life. He then worked on his estate in Łuzna in the Podkarpacie region of the Commonwealth. He participated in the fight against the

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

uprisings in 1638, took part in the

Battle of Beresteczko The Battle of Berestechko ( pl, Bitwa pod Beresteczkiem; uk, Берестецька битва, Битва під Берестечком) was fought between the Ukrainian Cossacks, led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, aided by their Crimean Ta ...

in 1651, and in the wars against Sweden (1656–1657). Between 1665 and 1666 he supported the rokosz of Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski. Later he supported kings Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki and Jan III Sobieski. He argued for the reform of the Commonwealth political system, and for stabilisation through the introduction of an hereditary monarchy instead of the

elective monarchy An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by an elected monarch, in contrast to a hereditary monarchy in which the office is automatically passed down as a family inheritance. The manner of election, the nature of candidate qualifications, and t ...

. When the Polish brethren were exiled after the Deluge for the support they gave to invaders, he supported them, and for this he was criticized by some Catholic szlachta. He outlived his wife and children: two of his sons died during the wars, and his daughter, rumoured to have inherited his literary talent, died young. He lived with his family until his death in 1696, and was buried in Biecz.

Works

He started writing around 1646, mostly for his own pleasure, and initially with no intention of publication, but he was convinced to share his works by his relative,

Samuel Przypkowski Samuel Przypkowski (Przipcovius, Pripcovius) (1592–19 April 1670, Königsberg) was a Polish Socinian theologian, a leading figure in the Polish Brethren and an advocate of religious toleration. In ''Dissertatio de pace et concordia ecclesiae'', ...

. He wrote many classic poems and novels about the life of the szlachta. During his lifetime only ''Poczet herbów'' (''Herbary'') and two shorter works were published. His most famous work, ''Transakcja wojny chocimskiej'' (''The Progress of the War of Chocim''), was written during the period 1669–1672, and first printed in 1850. It is his biggest novel, and is generally considered to be the best epic novel written in the Commonwealth. Historically accurate, though somewhat idealizing the Polish heroes, it describes the battle of Chocim in 1621 and is based on the diaries of Jakub Sobieski. His epigrams were written around 1670 and 1695, and first published in 1907. He translated John Barclay's Argenis (1621), published in 1697.

Notes

External links

Wacław Potocki in Virtual Library of Polish LiteratureWacław Potocki
at poezja.org *

– Scans of a Polish poetic translation by Wacław Potocki, Warszawa 1697 {{DEFAULTSORT:Potocki, Waclaw 1621 births 1696 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Unitarianism People from Gorlice County 17th-century Polish nobility Polish Roman Catholics Polish male writers Polish poets Baroque writers

Biography

Works

See also

Notes

External links