Polish Enlightenment

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The ideas of the

Poland's king, Stanisław August Poniatowski (second half of the 18th century), went into decline with the Third Partition of Poland (1795) – a national tragedy inspiring a short period of sentimental writing – and ended in 1822, replaced by Romanticism.[1]

History

Polish Enlightenment, while sharing many common qualities with the classical Enlightenment movements of

Wettin dynasty
, reducing Poland from a major European player to the puppet of its neighbours. Thus, while men of the Enlightenment in France and Prussia wrote about the need for more checks and balances on their kings, Polish Enlightenment was geared towards fighting the abuses stemming from too many checks and balances.

Portrait of the Prozor Family, by Franciszek Smuglewicz, 1789

The differences did not end there. Townsfolk and bourgeoisie dominated Western Enlightenment movement, while in the Commonwealth most of the reformers came from szlachta (nobility). Commonwealth szlachta (forming 10% of its population) considered the idea of equality to be one of the foundations of its culture, and reformers fought to expand it towards other social classes. Religious tolerance was an ideal of the szlachta.

Constitution of 1791

Ideas of that period led eventually to the

Polish culture for many years.[1]

Załuski Library, Poland's first public library, by Zygmunt Vogel, 1801

The ideas of the Polish Enlightenment also had a significant impact abroad. From the Bar Confederation (1768) through the period of the Great Sejm and until the aftermath of the Constitution of May 3, 1791, Poland experienced a large output of political, particularly constitutional, writing.

Important institutions of the Enlightenment included the National Theatre founded in 1765 in Warsaw by King Stanisław August Poniatowski; and in the field of advanced learning: the Commission of National Education established by the Sejm in 1773; the Society for Elementary Books; as well as the Corps of Cadets (Knight's military school) among others. In expanding the field of knowledge, there was the Society of Friends of Science set up in 1800 soon after the Partitions. Popular newspapers included Monitor and Zabawy Przyjemne i Pożyteczne (Games Pleasant and Useful).

Notable persons

Architecture

Main article: Neoclassical architecture in Poland
Palace on the Water
.

The center of the

Wawrzyniec Gucewicz and Bertel Thorvaldsen
.

The first stage, called the Stanislavian style, followed by an almost complete inhibition and a period known as the

Palace on the Water, Królikarnia and the palace in Jabłonna
.

From the period of the Congress Kingdom are Koniecpolski Palace and the

Bank Square in Warsaw, the edifices of the Treasury, Revenue and the Commission of Government, the building of the Staszic Palace, Mostowski Palace
and designed the Grand Theatre.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Jerzy Snopek, "The Polish Literature of the Enlightenment." Archived 2011-10-05 at the Wayback Machine (PDF 122 KB) Poland.pl. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  2. ^ John Stanley (March–June 2004). "Literary Activities and Attitudes in the Stanislavian Age in Poland (1764–1795): A Social System?". findarticles.com. Archived from the original on 2011-05-14. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
  3. ^ Manfred Kridl (1967). A survey of Polish literature and culture. Columbia University Press. pp. 192, 343.
  4. ^ Wojciech Słowakiewicz (2000). Wielka encyklopedia polski (in Polish). Fogra.

Further reading

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