Bartosz Paprocki
Bartosz Paprocki, in Czech known as Bartoloměj Paprocký z Hlohol a Paprocké Vůle, was a Polish and Czech historiographer, translator, poet, heraldist, and a pioneering figure in Polish and Bohemian/Czech genealogy. Often referred to as the "father of Polish and Czech genealogy", Praprocki's works, despite their methodological flaws, remain invaluable. He was active in Poland until 1588, when political circumstances led him to emigrate to Moravia and Bohemia. While his approach to sources was often uncritical, and he sometimes even invented them, his writings are a crucial repository of knowledge from his era. Additionally, Praprocki preserved numerous genealogical-historical sources and legends from the nobility milieu, many of which are now lost.
Life
Paprocki was born in the parish of Paprocka Wola near the town Sierpc in Greater Poland, Kingdom of Poland. He was the son of Jędrzej Paprocki and Elżbieta Jeżewska. Born into a noble family, Paprocki's family were members of the Polish nobility, who bore the Jastrzębiec Polish coat of arms. He studied at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, then stayed with wealthy relatives, among others. He began writing poems and soon after dedicated himself to historiography and heraldry. His works devoted to the nobility of the Polish Crown Gniazdo Cnoty and Herby rycerstwa polskiego deepened and contributed to consolidating the knowledge of the genealogy of Poland's noble families.Paprocki married Jadwiga Kossobudzka, his wife was the daughter of a castellan from Sierpc and the widow of her former husband Wisniowski. Paprocki's wife was a wealthy woman and older than Paprocki. They had no children and his marriage was unfortunate; Paprocki was tyrannized by his wife. Paprocki's unfortunate marital experience, led him to flee his home, where he remained a fierce misogynist until his death.
Summoned to Warsaw, Paprocki worked for Andrzej Taranowski, who was secretary to king Sigismund II Augustus and briefly Polish ambassador to the court of Sultan Selim II in Constantinople. On returning home, Paprocki learned of his wife's death, which occurred in 1572. On his return he also received the dignity of cup-bearer of Dobrzyń Land, having settled there.
Between the years 1570-80 Paprocki aligned with the unfortunate political efforts of the Zborowski family, joined ranks with the Catholic Party and supported the Austrian Habsburg's candidacy of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor for the Polish throne. Paprocki supported the Danzig rebellion, and in 1577 participated in the Siege of Danzig. Following the unsuccessful efforts of Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria for the Polish crown and after the victory of Sigismund III Vasa in 1588 at the Battle of Byczyna, Paprocki was forced to leave Poland and went into political exile in Moravia.
Paprocki spent the following 22 years in Czech lands. He learned the Czech language and wrote alongside new poems about the history and the coat of arms of Bohemia and Moravia. He also translated the poems of Jan Kochanowski. Later he received Bohemian indygenat. He was an admirer of the scientific achievements of his compatriot Sendivogius', whom he dedicated the third part of his book Ogród królewski... published in 1599.
In 1610, at the end of his life, Paprocki returned to Poland. Destitute he lived in Wąchock and Ląd monasteries.
Died suddenly on 27 December 1614 in Lviv, and was buried in a crypt at the Franciscan abbey in that city.
Works
In Polish
Dziesiecioro przykazań meżowo, Kraków, 1575 Koło rycerskie w którem rozmaite zwierzęta swe rozmowy wiodą, Kraków, 1576 Panosza to jest wysławianie panów i paniąt ziem ruskich i podolskich, Kraków, 1575Historia żalosna o pratkosci i okrutnosci Tatarskiej, Kraków, 1575Gniazdo Cnoty, Zkąd Herby Rycerstwa slawnego Krolestwa Polskiego..., Kraków, 1578 Krótki a prawdziwy wypis z jechania do ziemi Wołoskiej Iwana Wojewody, którego Podkową zowią, Kraków, 1578 Hetman, Kraków, 1578 Król, Kraków, 1578 Testament starca jednego, który miał trzech synow, Kraków, 1578', Kraków, 1578 Wesele Bogiń, Kraków, 1581 Herby rycerstwa polskiego na pięcioro ksiąg rozdzielone, Kraków, 1584- '