Babinic Republic

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Jan Matejko The Babinic Republic , 1881

The Babin Republic ( Polish: Rzeczpospolita Babińska ) was a humorous literary society that was founded in 1568 by the Poles Stanisław Pszonka and Piotr Kaszowski in the village of Babin not far from Lublin . She jokingly bestowed titles and honors on those who had made a fool of themselves.

background

The word Baba means old woman in Polish and the Babina is her property. Pszonka, one of the founders of the company, owned a dilapidated estate called Babin. Since this estate often aroused derisive remarks from strangers because of its name, he and a few other noblemen at the court of the Polish King Sigismund August decided to temporarily proclaim a "Babinic Republic" there and give it the same constitution as the Polish Republic had had since 1505.

The offices of society were assigned according to the maxim omnis homo mendax to those who showed themselves to be unusual in major social events. Country messengers without speaking skills received a diploma as speakers or reporters, talkative people were appointed privy councilors, trial addicts as judges of the peace, drunkards who drew their weapons became crown generals and if someone talked about things he did not understand he became archbishop.

Everyone newly admitted to society had to write a story in prose. 411 stories collected by the company have been preserved. The leading Polish poets of the Renaissance and Baroque periods were associated with the "Babinic Republic". The most famous members included the poets Mikołaj Rej , Jan Kochanowski and Andrzej Trzecieski , Bartosz Paprocki , Mikołaj Sęp Szarzyński , Stanisław Sarnicki and Jan Andrzej Morsztyn, as well as the Polish Chancellor Jan Zamoyski . Due to its growing network, the society was not without influence and was of relatively great importance for social life in Poland until its dissolution in 1677.

literature

  • Karl Friedrich Flögel: The Babinische Republic in Poland. in: History of the grotesque comic. A contribution to the history of mankind. David Siegert, Liegnitz / Leipzig 1788, OCLC 11830671 . Pp. 307/308.
  • The Babinic Republic in Poland. in: Archives for history, statistics, literature and art. Volume 14. Franz Ludwig, Vienna 1823, OCLC 320499178. ( P. 31/32, online )
  • Babinic Republic. in: New Conversations Lexicon or Encyclopedic Concise Dictionary for educated classes. Volume 2, B-Bz. Comptoir for Art and Literature, Cologne 1824, OCLC 166079017 . ( P. 3, online )
  • Rzeczpospolita Babińska . In: Kazimierz Budzyk (ed.): Bibliografia Literatury Polskiej. Nowy Korbut . Piśmiennictwo Staropolskie. tape 1 : Hasła ogólne i anonimowe. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warsaw 1958, p. 172-173 .

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Karl Friedrich Flögel: History of the grotesque comic . a contribution to the history of mankind. David Siegert, 1788, p. 307 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  2. ^ A b Karl Julius Weber: Dymocritos or papers left behind by a laughing philosopher . Volume 12. Brodhag, 1840, OCLC 61934369 , pp. 45–46 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
  3. ↑ Rzeczpospolita Babinska . In: Kazimierz Budzyk (ed.): Bibliografia Literatury Polskiej. Nowy Korbut . Piśmiennictwo Staropolskie. tape 1 : Hasła ogólne i anonimowe. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warsaw 195, p. 172 .
  4. ↑ Babin Republic on elexikon.ch, accessed on August 27, 2014.