The Babin Republic (

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

: ''Rzeczpospolita Babińska'') was a satirical,

carnival Carnival (known as Shrovetide in certain localities) is a festive season that occurs at the close of the Christian pre-Lenten period, consisting of Quinquagesima or Shrove Sunday, Shrove Monday, and Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras. Carnival typi ...

and

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newslet ...

founded in 1568 by Stanisław Pszonka and in Babin,

Lublin Voivodeship Lublin Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) of Poland, located in the southeastern part of the country, with its capital being the city of Lublin. The region is named after its largest city and regional capital, Lu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Its Latin motto was: '' Omnis Homo Mendax'' ("Every man is a liar"). The Babin Republic was set up as a parody of a republican state. To this end, the Republic bestowed sarcastic "offices" and "titles" to those who embarrassed themselves in public due to some fault or folly, and to those who told ridiculously untrue stories.''A New Miscellany of Humour, Literature, and the Fine Arts''
p.4. People with poor speaking skills were declared "Speakers of the Republic", gossipmongers were made members of the "Secret Council", litigious people were declared "Justices of the Peace", people who exaggerated their hunting exploits were made "Masters of the Hunt", etc. All nominations were dutifully entered into the ''Memorial Register of Babin Officials''. There was a total of 411 accounts in the register. Some of the fanciful stories show influences of Rabelais and

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...

. The society was an institution in the cultural life in post-

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Poland and survived until 1677. The Babin Republic spawned a few humorous expressions in Polish of the time, such as ''rycerz z Babina'' ("a Babin knight"), meaning "coward", or ''wiesci z Babina'' ("news from Babin"), meaning "false rumors".

References

Sources

* ''Babinische Republik'', Meyers Konversations-Lexikon. 4th Ed., Vol 2, Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig, 1885–1892, p. 203. * Bronisław Nadolski, Cyprian Mielczarski, Dobrosława Platt. ''Towarzystwa literackie i naukowe''. In: Teresa Michałowska, Barbara Otwinowska, Elżbieta Sarnowska-Temeriusz: ''Słownik literatury staropolskiej : średniowiecze, renesans, barok.'' Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich – Wydaw., 2002. * K. Bartoszewicz, ''Rzeczpospolita Babińska'' Lwów 1902. * T. Chabros ''Z tradycji Lubelszczyzny. Babińskie facecje''. In: ''Życie Lubelskie'' 1956, z. 6, nr 4. * A. Kossowski ''Protestantyzm w Lublinie i w Lubelskiem w XVI i XVII wieku'' Lublin, 1933. * A. Kuś ''Rzeczpospolita Babińska''. In: ''Odrodzenie i Reformacja'', b. 47, 2003. * J.A. Wadowski ''Kościoły lubelskie na podstawie źródeł archiwalnych'' Kraków 1907, p. 337. * T. Wojtaszko ''Rzeczpospolita babińska przez wieki i okupacje'' Retro, Lublin 1994.

External links

1560s establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Cultural organisations based in Poland Polish literature 1568 establishments in Europe 16th-century establishments in Poland Literary societies Tall tales {{Poland-org-stub

See also

References

Sources

External links