Mikołaj Hussowczyk (, , ). Other name spelling variants include Hussoviensis, Hussovianus, Ussovius, Hussowski, Gusowski); ( – ) was an early

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 ...

poet and humanist of

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 ...

and the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

, and a cultural and social activist. His most notable work is the poem ''Carmen de statura...bisontis'' (Song about...the

bison A bison (: bison) is a large bovine in the genus ''Bison'' (from Greek, meaning 'wild ox') within the tribe Bovini. Two extant taxon, extant and numerous extinction, extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American ...

Biography

Little is known of his life, except during the 1520s. His place of birth is alternatively stated as Husów/ Hussowo near

Łańcut Łańcut (, ; ; ) is a town in south-eastern Poland, with 18,004 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (since 1999), it is the Capital (political), capital of Łańcut County. History Archeological investigat ...

or in an unspecified Belarusian village with similar-sounding name. Edmund Kotarski
Mikołaj HUSSOWSKI (Hussowczyk, Hussovius, z Hussowa)
VIRTUAL LIBRARY OF POLISH LITERATURE, University of Gdańsk Some folkloristic features in the works of Husowski may point to regions in the vicinity of

Hrodna Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman River, from Minsk, about from the border with Poland, and from the border with Lithuania. Grodno serves as the ad ...

. He was probably a student of Kraków Academy since 1504. Before 1515 he became cleric of Diocese of Przemyśl and public notary of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. Hussowczyk served the Grand Treasurer of the Crown Andrzej Kościelecki and prepared his last will when he was one death bed in Pszczyna in 1515. Next Hussowczyk became a courtier of Grand Chancellor of Lithuania Mikołaj Radzwiłł. At his request Hussowczyk prepared the last will of Radzwiłł's cousin Zofia Sudymuntówna in 1518. In 1521 he travelled to Rome with a stuffed

European bison The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...

, which was supposed to be a gift from Mikołaj Radzwiłł to

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

. In Rome, Hussowczyk met Erazm Ciołek, the

Bishop of Płock A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. At this occasion Hussowczyk prepared ''Carmen de statura...bisontis''. Sadly both gifts turned out to be redundant, because pope died in December 1521, before giving the audience. Ciołek died in 1522 and Radzwiłł's a year before, so Hussowczyk deprived of a patron settled down in

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 ...

, where he probably had his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

. Hussowczyk was active in both the Crown and Lithuania, along with his uncertain birthplace, modern Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian researchers tend to ascribe works of Hussowczyk to their respective cultural heritages.(Darashkyevich) Віктар Дарашкевіч. Паэма жыцця // Песня пра зубра, Мінск, 1980. pp. 171—184.

Works

Per the scope of his literary works, Hussowczyk is considered to be the founder of the Belarusian Renaissance literary tradition, and author of the oldest examples of Polish-Latin poetry of the early Renaissance. Hussowczyk wrote in publicistical, epic, heroic, lyrical, historical and satirical genres. His

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

poem ''Carmen de statura, feritate ac venatione bisontis'' ("A Song about the Appearance, Savagery and Hunting of the Bison", Kraków 1523) is considered to be the first large scale fictional work about Medieval Lithuania (or Belarus), describing the

's life and habits, Lithuania's landscape and the relationship of its inhabitants with the environment. Written in Latin for

, an avid hunter, the poem stems from Hussowczyk's experience in hunting and observing bison, and contains no literary comparisons with ancient legendary creatures. Due to the deaths of both the Pope and Hussowczyk's patron, bishop Ciołek, the poem was eventually presented to Polish Queen Bona in Kraków. According to Polish researcher Edmund Kotarski, Hussowczyk belonged to the circle of Polish-Latin poets of the early Renaissance. His best known works are: *
Carmen de statura feritate ac venatione bisontis
' (English: The Song about Bison, Its Stature, Ferocity and Hunt), written in Classical Latin, 1522. * ''Nova et miranda victoria de Turcis mense Iulio'' (New and famous victory over Turks in month of July), written in one day, under the impression from the victory of the Polish Great Hetman of the Crown Mikołaj Firlej over Turks by Trembowla on July 2, 1524. * ''De vita et gestis Divi Hyacinthi'' (Life and feats of St. Hyacynth), about Polish Saint Hyacinth (1525).

Notes

References

External links

Biography and text of "Carmen de bisontis", translation into Polish
by Jan Kasprowicz
A poem on bison, translation into English
by Michał J. Mikoś * Dariusz Rott
Mikołaj HussowskiText of "Carmen de bisontis" in LithuanianText of "Carmen de bisontis" in Belarusian"Hunting the Lithuanina Bison" Amphora 6.1, by Frederick J. Booth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussowski, Mikolaj 1480s births 1530s deaths 16th-century writers in Latin Polish male writers Polish male poets Polish satirists Polish Roman Catholics Polish Roman Catholic priests Neo-Latin poets Belarusian male writers Belarusian Roman Catholic priests

Biography

Works

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links