''The Lives of the Saints from the Old and New Testaments'' ( pl, Żywoty świętych starego i nowego zakonu) is a

hagiography A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...

by Polish

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Piotr Skarga (written in 1577, first published in 1579). It became one of the most popular Polish books ever and a classic of

Polish literature Polish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages used in Poland over the centuries have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Latin, ...

. It is one of two most famous works by Skarga, the other being ''

Sejm Sermons ''Sejm Sermons'' or ''the Eight sermons before the Sejm'', ( pl, Kazania sejmowe) is a political treatise by Polish Jesuit Piotr Skarga, published in 1597. It is one of two most famous works by Skarga, the other being '' Żywoty świętych'' (''Th ...

''.

Origin

The book was published in two volumes with over a thousand pages total. Skarga, inspired by some other historiographical works (ex. it is estimated he based at least four-fifths of his work on the translation of Laurentius Surius '' De probatis Sanctorum historiis''), wrote this book in 1577, in order to combat the popularity of

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

writings and advance the cause of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

. In particular, Skarga recommended that this book should be read instead of the

Holy Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, reading of which at that time the Catholic Church did not encourage (unlike the Protestants).

Enduring popularity and significance

This book, being a work of hagiography, focuses on the lives of Catholic Saints. In addition to its moral values, attractive to the Catholic church for its inspirational value "in edifying the faithful and refuting heretics", it was also attractive to the readers due to its depiction of exotic times and locales, royal and intentional politics, as well as graphic and detailed description of tortures and suffering. The book proved to be enormously successful. The first edition was exhausted by 1583, and soon a second one was published; nine were published up to Skarga's death (1612), and altogether twelve editions were published until 1644. The interest in the book waned afterward, with no new editions until the 18th century due to market saturation, changing tastes and more competition. The book, nonetheless, remained highly popular. In addition to being a required reading in Polish Jesuit colleges and some lesser schools, it became praised by writers and scholars of the Polish language of the

Enlightenment in Poland The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (Gol ...

era, who commended it for its contribution to the development of the

Polish language Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In a ...

. Polish foremost poet, Adam Mickiewicz, praised it as "the most poetic Polish work ever". With the growing literacy the book popularity spread among poorer and less educated people; it was one of the first books read by many people, "an entryway into reading", and was likely one of the most popular, if not the most popular, Polish language books ever (read by the highest percentage of the Polish-reading populace up to the 20th century). Its popularity makes it a factor in preserving a Polish language literacy on the lands of

partitioned Poland Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

. Czesław Miłosz calls the book "a specimen of the purest sixteenth-century Polish anguage.

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor at ...

writes that the book "competed with Kochanowski's '' Polish Psalter'' published in the same year for the accolade of the best-known and best-loved Polish works of the succeeding centuries". It has also been called "a classic of Polish literature". Irving M. Zeitlin writes that this book "for centuries served as bedside reading for the Polish people." It is one of two most famous works by Skarga, the other being '' Kazania sejmowe'' (''Sejm Sermons'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lives Of The Saints, The 1577 books Christian hagiography Religious books 1577 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth History of Catholicism in Poland Polish-language works

Origin

Enduring popularity and significance

See also

References