Maciej Stryjkowski

Maciej Stryjkowski (also referred to as Strykowski and Strycovius; ca. 1547 — ca. 1593) was a Polish-Lithuanian historian, writer and a poet, notable as the author of "Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Ruthenia" (1582), considered the first printed book on the history of Lithuaniapl icon cite web | author=Czesława Osipowicz | title=Polacy - twórcy na Litwie (Poles - Creating in Lithuania) | publisher=Wspólnota Polska | year= | work=Świat Polonii | url=http://www.wspolnota-polska.org.pl/index.php?id=o_IIIfor11 | accessdate=2006-06-28 ] .

Maciej Stryjkowski was born around 1547 in Stryków, a small town in the Polish region of Masovia. He graduated from a local school in Brzeziny, after which he joined the army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and served in the forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, though it is not certain whether he actually took part in any war. Despite being a Masovian, he spent most of his life in the Grand Duchy, initially as a soldier. Around 1573, at the age of roughly 25, he retired from active service and became a protégé of Melchioras Giedraitis, the bishop of Samogitia. Eventually Stryjkowski became a Catholic priest and settled in the parish of Georgenburg, a small village in the Lithuanian-Prussian borderland. There he devoted his life to writing a monumental chronicle of the lands of Poland-Lithuania, eventually published in Königsberg in 1582. The book, published under the title of "Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia, and all of Ruthenia of Kiev, Moscow, Novgorod..."The full title of the book in contemporary Polish language was long "Kronika Polska, Litewska, Żmódzka y wszystkiej Rusi Kijowskiey, Moskiewskiey, Siewierskiey(...) y rozmaite przypadki woienne y domowe, pruskich, mazowieckich, pomorskich y inszych krain Królestwu Polskiemu y Wielkiemu Xięstwu Litewskiemu przyległych(...)" and included all of the lands of mediaeval Ruthenia listed separately, as well as a short explanation of sources used. Because of that, it is usually referred to by its opening names only] pl icon cite book | author =Maciej Stryjkowski | coauthors = | title =Kronika polska, litewska, żmódzka i wszystkiéj Rusi Macieja Stryjkowskiego | year =1985 | editor = | pages =572 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe | location =Warsaw | id = | url = | format = | accessdate = ] is a classic piece of literature written in the Polish language and detailed much of the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its parts from their legendary roots up to 1581. Some fragments of his work are written in Lithuanian language. cite web|url=http://postilla.mch.mii.lt/Istorija/stryjkovskis.htm |title=Motiejus Stijkovskis |accessdate=2007-10-08 |last=Kuolys |first=Darius |work=Informational Centre of Samogitian Culture |language=Lithuanian ] . He did also encouraged Lithuanian nobility to use Lithuanian language.

The chronicle was a successful compilation of earlier chronicles by Jan Długosz and Maciej Miechowita, but did also include Ruthenian letopises, folk tales and legendspl icon cite encyclopedia | year = 2005 | title = Stryjkowski, Maciej | encyclopedia =PWN Encyclopedia | publisher = PWN | location = Warsaw | id = ] . It instantly gained much fame among the szlachta and it is often argued that Stryjkowski was among the Polish-Lithuanian writers to shape the Lithuanian national identity, as his works were later copied by scores of writers and chroniclers in all parts of the regionpl icon cite web | author=Czesław Miłosz | title=Aby duchy umarłych zostawiły nas w spokoju (So that the spirits of the dead leave us in peace) | publisher=Znak | year=Kraków | work=Czesław Miłosz homepage | url=http://www.milosz.pl/e_aduznws.php | accessdate=2006-06-28 ] pl icon cite web | author=Maria Konopka-Wichrowska | title=My, Litwa... (We, the Lithuania) | publisher= | year= | work=Unofficial page of Berezino | url=http://www.berezino.net/MyLitwa.html | accessdate=2006-06-28 ] . Until 19th century the works of Stryjkowski were considered to be the basic sources of information on early period of history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuaniapl icon cite journal | author = Aleksander Krawcewicz | year = | month = | title = Formowanie się koncepcji genezy Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego w polskiej historiografii (Formative Period of the Concept of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in Polish Historiography) | journal = Białoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne | volume =11 | issue = | pages =1
doi = | id = | url =http://www.bialorus.pl/index.php?secId=49&docId=66&&Rozdzial=historia | format = | accessdate =2006-06-28 ] . It was not until the advent of modern historiography that his chronicle started to be criticised and disputed, mainly due to his favour of the magnates, lack of distinction between legends and historic accounts and his theory on the Roman origin of the Lithuanian ruling families.

In 1577 Stryjkowski also authored a large epic poem "On the beginnings of the famed nation of Lithuania (...)"As in the case of his chronicle, the full title was "O początkach, wywodach, dzielnościach, sprawach rycerskich i domowych sławnego narodu litewskiego, żemojdzkiego i ruskiego, przed tym nigdy od żadnego ani kuszone, ani opisane, z natchnienia Bożego a uprzejmie pilnego doświadczenia", which could be roughly translated as "On the beginnings, accounts, virtues, marital and domestic affairs of the famed nations of Lithuania, Samogitia, Ruthenia; never before touched or described by anyone, put down out of God's inspiration and own experience"] pl icon cite book | author =Maciej Stryjkowski | coauthors =Augustyn Rotundus, Maria Karpluk, Jan Sękowski, Maria Ściebora, Jan Safarewicz | title =O początkach, wywodach, dzielnościach, sprawach rycerskich i domowych(...) | year =1978 | editor =Julia Radziszewska | pages =762 | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =PIW | location =Warsaw | id = | url = | format = | accessdate = ] , which however was not published until after Stryjkowski's death. He died around the year 1593, though the exact date and place remain unknown.

ee also

*Alexander Guagnini

Notes and references

::In-line:::General:
# J. Radziszewska, Maciej Stryjkowski, historyk-poet z epoki Odrodzenia, Katowice, 1978.
# cite book | author =Julia Radziszewska | coauthors = | title =Maciej Stryjkowski: historyk-poeta z epoki Odrodzenia (Stryjkowski: a Renaissance historian and poet) | year =1978 | editor = | pages = | chapter = | chapterurl = | publisher =Silesian University | location =Katowice | id = | url = | format = | accessdate =
# * [http://www.tekstai.lt/metai/20060809/lietdiev.htm List of Lithuanian Gods Found in Maciej Sryjkowski chonicle] by Gintaras Beresnevičius

External links

* [http://www.mb.vu.lt/unesco/knygos/knygos/istorija/strik/mstrik.htm Front page] of Strykowski's chronicle and his contemporary portrait