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Jan Długosz | |
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.jpg) Portrait byWalery Eljasz, 1889 | |
| Born | 1 December 1415 Stara Brzeźnica, Poland |
| Died | 19 May 1480(1480-05-19) (aged 64) Kraków, Poland |
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| Notable work | Latin:Annales seu cronici incliti regni Poloniae |
Jan Długosz (Polish pronunciation:[ˈjanˈdwuɡɔʂ]; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known inLatin asJohannes Longinus, was a Polishpriest,chronicler,diplomat,soldier, and secretary to BishopZbigniew Oleśnicki ofKraków. He is considered Poland's first historian.[1][2]
Jan Długosz is best known for hisAnnals or Chronicles of the Famous Kingdom of Poland [pl;ru] (Annales seu cronici incliti regni Poloniae) in 12 volumes and originally written inLatin, covering events throughout southeastern and western Europe, from 965 to 1480, the year he died.[3][2] Długosz combined features of Medieval chronicles with elements ofhumanistic historiography.[2] For writing the history of the Kingdom of Poland, Długosz also used Ruthenian chronicles including those that did not survive to our times (among which there could have been used the Kyiv collection of chronicles of the 11th century in the Przemysl's edition around 1100 and the Przemysl episcopal collections of 1225–40).[2]
His work was first printed in 1701–1703. It was originally printed at theJan Szeliga printing house inDobromyl financed byJan Szczęsny Herburt.[2] Whenever Jan Długosz bothers to mention himself in the book, he writes of himself in thethird person. He belonged to theWieniawacoat-of-arms.
Długosz was acanon atKraków,[1] where he lived in theDługosz House, and was educated at theUniversity of Krakow. He was sent by KingCasimir IV Jagiellon of Poland on diplomatic missions to thePapal andImperial courts, and was involved in the King's negotiations with theTeutonic Knights during theThirteen Years' War (1454–66) and at the peace negotiations.
When scholarSandivogius of Czechel left Krakow, Długosz as his friend kept him in touch with the university.[4]
In 1434, Długosz's uncle, the first pastor atKłobuck, appointed him to take over his position as canon of St. Martin church there. The town was in theOpole territory ofSilesia, but had recently been conquered byWładysław II Jagiełło. Długosz stayed until 1452 and while there, founded the canonical monastery.
In 1450, Długosz was sent by QueenSophia of Halshany and King Casimir to conduct peace negotiations betweenJohn Hunyadi and theBohemian nobleJan Jiskra of Brandýs, and after six days' of talks convinced them to sign a truce.
In 1455 inKraków, a fire spread which destroyed much of the city and the castle, but which sparedDługosz's House.
In 1461 a Polish delegation which included Długosz met with emissaries ofGeorge of Podebrady inBytom,Silesia. After six days of talks, they concluded an alliance between the two factions. In 1466 Długosz was sent to the legate ofWrocław, in order to attempt to obtain assurance that the legate was not biased in favor of theTeutonic Knights. He was successful, and was in 1467 entrusted with tutoring the king's son.
Długosz declined the offer of theArchbishopric of Prague, but shortly before his death was nominatedArchbishop of Lwów. This nomination was only confirmed byPope Sixtus IV on 2 June 1480,[5] two weeks after his death.
His workBanderia Prutenorum of 1448 is his description of the 1410Battle of Grunwald, which took place between villages ofGrunwald andStębark.
At some point in his life Długosz loosely translatedWigand of Marburg'sChronica nova Prutenica fromMiddle High German intoLatin, however with many mistakes and mixup of names and places.[6]
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| Preceded by | Archbishop of Lwów 1480 | Succeeded by |
