Samuel Ludwik Twardowski (before 1600 – 1661) was a Polish

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

diarist A diary is a writing, written or audiovisual Memorabilia, memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by Calendar date, date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwriti ...

, and

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

who gained popularity in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. He was called by his contemporaries the "Polish

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

Life and works

He was a member of Polish nobility (

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

), born in Lutynia in

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

region. He was educated in a Jesuit school in

Kalisz Kalisz () is a city in central Poland, and the second-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, with 97,905 residents (December 2021). It is the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of Gr ...

. Twardowski took part in the 1621 battle of Chocim against the Turks. He was one of the less wealthy nobles and earned his living as a retainer at

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s' courts of various richer families (such as Zbarascy, Wiśniowieccy, Leszczyńscy). During The Deluge, at first he supported the Swedes, but later joined the Polish king John II Casimir. He served as a secretary of Krzysztof Zbaraski on a

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1622–1623. During that time he authored a diary describing the journey in verse: ''Przewazna legacja J.O. Ksiazecia Krzysztofa Zbaraskiego'' ("The Important Mission of His Grace Duke Krzysztof Zbaraski", published in 1633). He also wrote about other historical events, which became a recognizable theme in his works. His most famous and respected work was ''Wojna domowa z Kozaki i Tatary, Moskwa, potya Szwedami i z-Wegry'' ("A Civil War with the Cossacks and Tatars, Muscovy, and then with the Swedes and Hungarians", published in 1681 in

). ''Wojna domowa'' is a narrative poem, whose style was inspired by classical and Renaissance authors. It is an account of the

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

' revolt, the

Khmelnytsky Uprising The Khmelnytsky Uprising, also known as the Cossack–Polish War, Khmelnytsky insurrection, or the National Liberation War, was a Cossack uprisings, Cossack rebellion that took place between 1648 and 1657 in the eastern territories of the Poli ...

against Polish domination and

polonisation Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. That Cossacks, under the leadership of

Bohdan Khmelnytsky Zynoviy Bohdan Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky of the Abdank coat of arms (Ruthenian language, Ruthenian: Ѕѣнові Богданъ Хмелнiцкiи; modern , Polish language, Polish: ; 15956 August 1657) was a Ruthenian nobility, Ruthenian noble ...

, also struggled against the Polish-Lithuanian nobility who controlled the regions of modern Ukraine in the mid-17th century. The revolt shook the entire Commonwealth. Twardowski gives first hand accounts of the 1649 siege of Zbaraż and the 1651

battle of Berestechko The Battle of Berestechko (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Битва під Берестечком, Polish language, Polish: ''Bitwa pod Beresteczkiem''; 28 June – 10 July 1651) was fought between the Cossack Hetmanate and Crimean Khanate ag ...

. His work is considered one of the most authoritative histories of the period.

His other historical works included the ''Książę Wiśniowiecki Janusz'' ("Prince Janusz Wiśniowiecki", published in 1648), poem ''Satyr na twarz Rzeczypospolitej'' ("Satire on the face of Rzeczpospolita", 1640), another epic poem ''Władysław IV'' ("Władysław IV Vasa", published in 1649) and ''Wojna domowa'' ("Civil war"). Twardowski also wrote

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

pastoral romances, in which he employed the technique of Spanish verse narratives. Those poems include as ''Nadobna Paskwalina'' ("Fair Pasqualina", published in 1655) and mythological themes, in ''Dafnis w drzewo bobkowe przemieniela sie'' ("Daphne Transformed into a Laurel Tree", published in 1638). Four of his poems were translated into English by Michael J. Mikoś and issued in ''Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature: An Anthology''. Ed. Michael J. Mikoś. Columbus, Ohio/Bloomington, Indiana: Slavica Publishers. 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twardowski, Samuel 17th-century Polish historians 17th-century Polish male writers Polish male non-fiction writers 17th-century Polish nobility Polish male writers Polish satirists Polish male poets Polish male essayists 16th-century births 1661 deaths Baroque writers People from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth