''Chronica Polonorum'' ( la, Chronicle of the Poles, pl, Kronika polska) is a treatise about Polish history and geography written in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

by a

Polish renaissance The Renaissance in Poland ( pl, Renesans, Odrodzenie; literally: the Rebirth) lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and is widely considered to have been the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty, the Crown ...

scholar

Maciej Miechowita Maciej Miechowita (also known as ''Maciej z Miechowa, Maciej of Miechów, Maciej Karpiga, Matthias de Miechow''; 1457 – 8 September 1523) was a Polish renaissance scholar, professor of Jagiellonian University, historian, chronicler, geogra ...

, a professor of Jagiellonian University, historian, geographer, astrologer, and royal physician of king Sigismund I the Old. ''Chronica Polonorum'' was first published in 1519.

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The Chronicle describes the history of Poland. It is based on the earlier work of

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

(Latin: Johannes Longinus), supplementing its content with the events leading to the accession of Sigismund the Old to the throne. Although the first edition of the Chronicle was published in 1519, it was confiscated by the authorities. As a result of the intervention of the Senate some passages have been removed, others deeply revised, because a number of nobles felt offended by the hostile description of their ancestors. The book was republished in 1521 without the offending passages about

Jagiellons The Jagiellonian dynasty (, pl, dynastia jagiellońska), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty ( pl, dynastia Jagiellonów), the House of Jagiellon ( pl, Dom Jagiellonów), or simply the Jagiellons ( pl, Jagiellonowie), was the name assumed by a cad ...

and the Primate

Jan Łaski Jan Łaski or Johannes à Lasco (1499 – 8 January 1560) was a Polish Calvinist reformer. Owing to his influential work in England (1548–1553) during the English Reformation, he is known to the English-speaking world by the Anglicised form J ...

. The Chronicle by Miechowita became a seminal source of data used in the creation of further chronicles by Bernard Wapowski and

Marcin Kromer Marcin Kromer (Latin: ''Martinus Cromerus''; 11 November 1512 – 23 March 1589) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. H ...

, the author of ''De origine et rebus GESTIS Polonorum''. Miechowita had his ''Chronica Polonorum'' republished by printer Hieronim Wietor of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. A supplementary treaty in three volumes written by Ludwik Decjusz (Louis Decius) was added to it as ''De vetustatibus Polonorum'' liber I, ''De Iagellonum familia'' liber II, and ''De Sigismundi regis temporibus'' liber III.''Chronica Polonorum
Wielkopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa

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{{Authority control Polish chronicles 1519 books 16th-century Latin books

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