Stańczyk
Stańczyk | |
---|---|
Muscovites have captured Smolensk . This event happened in 1514. | |
Born | c. 1480 |
Died | c. 1560 |
Nationality | Polish |
Other names | Gąska |
Occupation | Jester |
Stańczyk (c. 1480–1560) (Polish pronunciation:
Name, identity and historicity
Scarcity of sources gave rise to four distinct hypotheses in the 19th century: that he was entirely invented by
Almost nothing is known about Stańczyk's life and even his name and identity are a matter of dispute. Contemporary sources mention court jesters named Gąska and Stańczyk. Notably, both names are featured in two short poems by Jan Kochanowski.
By any measure Stańczyk's fame and legend were already strong during his own time, the Renaissance. The popularity later reappeared in 19th century and remained well known to present times.[4] Unlike jesters of other European courts, Stańczyk has been always considered to have been much more than a mere entertainer.[6]
He is remembered as a man of great intelligence and a political philosopher gifted with formidable insight into Poland's current and future situation. He used his job to criticize and warn his contemporaries by the use of
The best known anecdote about Stańczyk is that of a hunting incident. In 1533 King Sigismund the Old had a huge bear brought for him from Lithuania. The bear was released in the forest of Niepołomice near Kraków so that the king could hunt it. During the hunt, the animal charged at the king, the queen and their courtiers which caused panic and mayhem. Queen Bona fell from her horse which resulted in her miscarriage. Later, the king criticized Stańczyk for having run away instead of attacking the bear. The jester is said to have replied that "it is a greater folly to let out a bear that was already in a cage". This remark is often interpreted as an allusion to the king's policy toward Prussia which was defeated by Poland but not fully incorporated into the Crown.
Stańczyk as a symbol
Stańczyk became a popular historical figure in Polish literature after the partitions (1795). Some writers treated him as a symbol of Poland's struggle for independence, others provided him with rather Shakespearean traits. He appears in a work of, among others, Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz (in Jan z Tęczna. Powieść historyczna, 1825)[8] and several works by Józef Ignacy Kraszewski (1839, 1841).[9]
Teka Stańczyka
In 1869 a group of young conservative publicists:
Stańczyk in the arts
Stańczyk was also one of Jan Matejko's favorite historical figures and he appears in a number of his paintings, such as in the Prussian Homage. Matejko, giving the jester his own facial features, created the popular image of Stańczyk that is familiar to most modern Poles. The painter always depicted Stańczyk with a very concerned and reflective look on his face, in stark contrast to his cap and bells and other jester's gear. Matejko's vision of Stańczyk influenced the way other artists, such as Leon Wyczółkowski, later depicted the jester.
The most notable appearance of Stańczyk in literature is in Stanisław Wyspiański's play Wesele (The Wedding) where the jester's ghost visits the Journalist, a character modeled after Rudolf Starzewski , editor of the Kraków-based paper Czas (Time), associated with the Stańczycy faction. In the play, Stańczyk accuses the Journalist, who calls the jester a "great man", of inactivity and passive acceptance of the nation's fate. At the end of their conversation, Stańczyk gives the Journalist his "caduceus" (the jester's marotte) and tells him to "stir the nation" but not to "tarnish the sacred things, for sacred they must remain". Thus Wyspiański reinforced Stańczyk's role as a symbol of patriotism and skeptical political wisdom.
Stańczyk is also prominently featured in a 1908 painting entitled Reality by the Polish Symbolist painter Jacek Malczewski.[10]
References
- ISBN 978-83-04-03251-4.
- ^ ISBN 978-83-222-0473-3.
- ^ a b Stanisław Eile (1960). "Stańczyk". Pamiętnik literacki (in Polish). 2. Wrocław: Zakład im. Ossolińskich: 260–263.
- ^ Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe: 200.)
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(help - ^ The etymologic analysis of Stańczyk's name is provided in: Warsaw University, Institute of Polish Language (corporate author) (1992). Prace filologiczne (in Polish). Warsaw: Skł. gł. w Księgarni E. Wendego. pp. 283–290.
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has generic name (help) - ^ The difference between Polish and foreign traditions in this context is discussed in: Hilary Meciszewski (1 May 1844). "Humorystyka". Dwutygodnik Literacki (in Polish) (3). Kraków: 68–74.
- ^ Helena Kapełuś, ed. (1964). Stanisław z Bochnie, kleryka królewski (in Polish). Wrocław: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich.
- ^ Julian Krzyżanowski (1958). "Stańczyk w Janie z Tęczyna Niemcewicza". W wieku Reja i Stańczyka: szkice z dziejów Odrodzenia w Polsce. Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. p. 371. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ISBN 978-83-231-1996-8. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
- ^ Agata Szkup. "Rzeczywistość Jacka Malczewskiego". desa.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 7 January 2024.
Further reading
- Obraz głupca i szaleńca w kulturach słowiańskich [The Image of a Fool and a Madman in Slavic Cultures] (in Polish). Warsaw: Warsaw University. 1996. p. 179.
- Julian Krzyżanowski (1958). "Błazen starego króla. Stańczyk w dziejach kultury polskiej". W wieku Reja i Stańczyka: szkice z dziejów Odrodzenia w Polsce. Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe. pp. 328–406. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
External links
- (in Polish) Stańczyk, WIEM Encyklopedia
- (in Polish) Andrzej Solarz, Stańczyk, Internetowy Kurier Proszowicki - SERWIS Ziemi Proszowickiej
- (in Polish) Liliana Sonik, "Stańczyk na dworze królowej Bony wobec straconego Smoleńska", Dziennik Polski, 26 April 2010