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

chronicler A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, ...

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 ...

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

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

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 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 from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...

, was also a historian and poet. He was born of noble parentage on the patrimonial estate of Biała (whence the family name),

Pajęczno County __NOTOC__ Pajęczno County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Łódź Voivodeship, central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. ...

, in the Polish province of

Sieradz Sieradz (,) is a city on the Warta river in central Poland with 40,891 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of the Sieradz County, situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Sieradz is a capital of the historical Sieradz Land. Sieradz is one of the olde ...

. 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 language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

Life

Bielski was educated at the University of Kraków, founded by Casimir the Great 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 (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

ns and

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

, 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 an ...

( Galicia) in 1531. He was the author of several works, including: *''Zywoty Filozofów'' (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 Universal history may refer to: * Universal history (genre), a literary genre **''Jami' al-tawarikh'', 14th-century work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia ** Universal History (Sale et al), ''Universal History'' ...

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 *''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

which quotes the following 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 , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, 1855–62) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bielski, Marcin 1495 births 1575 deaths 16th-century Polish historians 16th-century Polish male writers Polish male non-fiction writers Polish male poets Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Jagiellonian University alumni Polish satirical poets Polish satirists Writers from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth