User:Mikołajski/Sandbox2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stanisław Orzechowski (Ukrainian: Stanislav Orikhovsky) (15131566), Polish catholic preist of Ruthenian descent[1][2], canon of Przemyśl, historian, political and religious writer. Adventurer, advocate of the szlachta rights, pioneer of sarmatism and ideologist of the Golden Liberty.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Stanisław Orzechowski was born in Przemyśl at 11 november 1513, was the sixth son of a rich nobleman and court referrent, Stanisław Okrza Orzechowski from Orzechowice and daughter of an orthodox preist, Jadwiga Baraniecka. As Stanisław wrote once about his identity, he was "gente Ruthenus, Natione Polonum"[2]. Since his childhood was adressed to the seminary, started his education in the cathedral shool. In the years 1526-1528, he studyied at the Jagiellonian University, then continued his studyies in foreign academyies. Till 1540 was getting education in Vienna, Wittenberg, Leipzig, Padua, Bologna, Venice and in the Rome, where he lived in home of cardinal Hieronim de Ghinuccini. In Italy becomed a close friend of Marcin Kromer, as Orzechowski said: "bed mate". There he met also Gasper Contarini, whom philosophic and theologic ideas ingrained Orzechowski`s future outputs.

[edit] Controvercial Preisthood

In 1541 ordered himselve to the priesthood, becomed parish of Żurawica and Pobledno. Then remorsed himself and confessed that lived with a crowd of prostitutes. It`s not clear how many of them he lived with, for sure he had one mistress, Anna from Brzozowa. According to his words, he wanted to continue his name, becouse since all of his brothers died, he was last male hier of Orzechowski family. When Stanisław published in 1547 controvecial "De lege coelibatus...", theologic tract agains celibacy, and announced in public that he wants to marry Anna, he was called on archbishop`s tribunal. Meanwhile Provincial Sejmik (conventiones particulares) of a Lesser Poland[3] welcomed Orzechowski`s confession, but Przemyśl bishop, Jan Dziaduski banished and excomunicated him. This case was investigated by Sejm for 15 years. Orzechowski`s 1550 year`s speech, delivered in his own defence, moved whole Sejm and made him famous. He remised his canon benefice and even suborned two clerics to take marriages. With accordance of whole deputys chamber and support of such figures like Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł, Marcin Zborowski and Rafał Leszczyński, and becouse of Stanisławs Hosius "Confessio catholicae fidei Christiana" (Christian Confession of Catholic Faith) declared at the synod of Piotrków by Orzechowski, his sentence was suspensed in 1552. Was also advised to wait for Papal dispensation before marriage.

Przemyśl cathedral
Przemyśl cathedral

Orzechowski, however took marriage illegaly, it wasn`t Anna Brzozowa this time, but Magdalena Chełmska, Cracovian noble lady, in addition to it, he consecrated marriage of another cleric. This act made Przemyśl bishop even more disgusted and renewed, barely settled down conflict, Orzechowski sentence was taken off suspence. Jan Dziaduski, feared of nobles who standed up for just married Orzechowski, needed to flee from Przemyśl. Papal legate Alvise Lippomano, banished Orzechowski, excomunicated and his property was seizured. Orzechowski, avoided however all of that punisments, thanks to his powerful supporters, and his oratorial genius verbalised in "Pro dignitate sacerdotali oratio". Orzechowski went back to Przemyśl, entered cathedral at the momenth of his judgement deliverance, camed to the pulpit and spoke about liberty and injustice in a way he one could speak. Then went to the court and accused his oppressors. Sejm of 1552 was a breaking point in Polish-Lithuanian relations between church and state, clergy lost rests of its jurisdiction over the szlachta. Orzechowski was finally found innocent by this Sejm, and in 1561 by the church officials at synod in Warsaw. His petitions to Vatican, to recognize his marriage, remined without any response. He had a five childs already.

[edit] Political activity

Orzechowski was in opposing to the King Zygmunt August party, defender of the nobility privilages, opponent of the execution movement and temporary sympatheiser of lutheranism. This verry popular writer and orator delivered famous speech in 1543, so called "First Turcik", in which was calleing for anti-Turkish crusade, year after was published "Second Turcik". Those political tracts were modeled on Demostenes "Philippic". Despite all of controversy, Orzechowski becomed a devoted catholic and counter-reformationist, considered Papacy as a highest authority. Lost his protestant friends, catholicks didn`t forgot his marriage and herecy. Orzechchowski was apologist of the Golden Liberty (Aurea Libertas), on the other hand belived that King`s authority comes from God and that he should hold boundless power, even abolute. Was afraid of reformation and especially the Polish Brethren (antitrinitians, arians) Advocated Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but was awared of political differences, criticised it by insulting Lithuanians in his "Quincunx, or a Design for the Polish Crown Arranged in a Pyramid".

[edit] Ideas and works

[edit] Religious

He was convinced to reform of catholic church and abolition of the celibacy. In his "De lege coelibatus...oratio" Orzechowski wrote:

Nature dressed woman in all of excitements for our senses. Ordered us to love her and to desire her. She possess more attraction, more beauty, than we all can have happy calmness which we use to defend ourselves, to not let dream`s to carry us away. Man`s nature doesn`t change when he`s becomeing preist.

[edit] Political

Orzechowski was a writer who did not eschew conflicts, who was gifted with an exceptional sense of readers’ needs and of the current political situation, and the author of dialogues that constitute, in their ideological layer, a kind of inverse of Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski`s concepts. In 1563 he printed "Conversation or Dialog on the Execution of the Law of the Polish Crown", followed one year later by "Quincunx, or a Design for the Polish Crown Arranged in a Pyramid". These two dialogs, plus an unfinished treatise meant to compliment them, "The Polity of the Polish Kingdom Portrayed in the Image of Aristotelian Politics", championed the arguments of the Catholic camp and of the author himself, who came out violently against the execution movement program, while at the same time propounding Orzechowski’s own almost theocratic agenda for reforming the Republic.

The Quinqunx of his second work’s title is a geometric figure denoted by the five corner points of a pyramid, representing the idea state. The four points of king, priest, altar, and faith form the foundation of the pyramid, while the fifth, the summit raised above them, is the Catholic Church.

The Kingdom of Poland is the sole state in Sarmatia; subject, at God’s grace via the priest, to its own king; vouch-safed by the altar of the Cross; enlightened by Christian faith from God; and contained and enclosed within the sole, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

In this Kingdom, there is a place for free Poles, among whom, thanks to their nobility...

...the highest is equal to the lowest in Poland and everyone enjoys freedom equal to his king, without owing the king, his superior lord, anything more than this: ensured support for the succession, two pennies from the feud, and then mass levy.

By advocating a model of a religious state, a model upon which the myth of noble Poland as a nation chosen by God would later be built, Orzechowski at the same time drafted a plan for the noble liberties that would become the norm beginning in the 17th century. In so doing, he was not sparing in presenting catastrophic visions of the demise of the heresy-ridden Republic. His prophetic tone was coupled with his conviction of his own role as a writer and oracle.

Liberty, which is the highest of all goods, is the property of your clan and your family. It is so vast and so great that in comparison, the liberty of other nations would be unbearable servitude for us. Admiring the sweetness of this liberty many provinces joined you and submitted to your rule, not but due to your military strength, but due to the greatness of your liberty.
The value of the Polish Kingdom, which cannot be compared with anything, is the liberty. It is this liberty that drew us to this society. We are born and educated in this liberty, and now join to this society as free men.


[edit] Bibliography

("Conversation or Dialog on the Execution of the Law of the Polish Crown and Quincunx, or a Design for the Polish Crown Arranged in a Pyramid")

[edit] See also

[edit] Referrences