Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice (4 February 1505 – between 8 September/5 October 1569) was a Polish poet and

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the fo ...

writer of the emerging Renaissance in Poland as it succeeded the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, as well as a politician and musician. He was the first Polish author to write exclusively in 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 ad ...

, and is considered (with Biernat of Lublin and

Jan Kochanowski Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who established poetic patterns that would become integral to the Polish literary language. He is commonly regarded as the greatest Polish poet before Adam Mickiewicz. ...

), to be one of the founders of Polish literary language and literature.Mikołaj Rej collection (with biography and body of works), ''National Digital Library'' (Cyfrowa Biblioteka Narodowa ''Polona''), 2006.

Life

Rej was born into a noble family (bearers of the

Oksza coat of arms Oksza - is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Notable bearers Notable bearers of this coat of arms include: * Jan Kołda * Andrzej Rej (diplomat) *Mikołaj Re ...

) at Żurawno, near Halicz. His father Stanisław, "a pious, honourable, and quiet man", had (with the help of a relative who was Archbishop of Lwów), moved to

Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...

from Nagłowice, near

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

at the invitation of archbishop Jan Wątróbka. His mother, Barbara Herburt, married Rej's father there as his second wife. Although young Rej received little formal education in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

, and, at the age of 13 attended but one year at the Kraków Academy, he managed to educate himself by studying

Latin literature Latin literature includes the essays, histories, poems, plays, and other writings written in the Latin language. The beginning of formal Latin literature dates to 240 BC, when the first stage play in Latin was performed in Rome. Latin literature ...

. In approximately 1524, Rej began his service at the court of voivode Andrzej Tęczyński in Sandomierz. There, he acquired most of his vast knowledge in the field of humanities. He returned to his family's town of Topola and married Zofia Kosnówna (Kościeniówna). In 1531 Rej moved to Kobyle, in the

Chełm Chełm (; uk, Холм, Kholm; german: Cholm; yi, כעלם, Khelm) is a city in southeastern Poland with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some ...

area, which had been bequeathed to his wife, and thereafter, he frequented the court of

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military ...

Mikołaj Sieniawski. In either 1541 or 1548, Rej converted to

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

. He took part in

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin word mean ...

s and founded

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 ...

schools and communities on his lands. Rej took part in

sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

s and thought his writing an important social mission. He was the first Polish writer to receive a substantial reward for his output. By the end of his life, he owned several villages and oversaw many. He received Temerowce from King

Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...

, and Dziewięciele from King

Sigismund II Augustus Sigismund II Augustus ( pl, Zygmunt II August, lt, Žygimantas Augustas; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler ...

as a lifelong possession and two towns, one of them Rejowiec, founded by Rej in 1547. Living during the

Golden Liberty Golden Liberty ( la, Aurea Libertas; pl, Złota Wolność, lt, Auksinė laisvė), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( pl, Rzeczpospolita Szlachecka or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a pol ...

embraced by the

Polish nobility The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in ...

, tolerance characterized his oversight and this philosophy was carried on by his sons. Rej died at Rejowiec in 1569. On the five-hundredth anniversary of his birth, Mikolaj Rej was described as a "father of Polish literature", and it also was noted that his grandson, Andrzej Rej (diplomat), royal secretary and Calvinist, is Mikolaj's most prominent offspring. That grandson may be the subject of the 1637 painting by

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally cons ...

, '' A Polish Nobleman'' (perhaps, painted while he was visiting Amsterdam during a trip as a Polish ambassador on a diplomatic mission to the courts of the Danish, the English, and the Dutch).Radziwill, Boguslaw, ''Autobiography'', Introduction by Tadeusz Wasilewski, Warsaw, 1979.

Works

Wizerunek zywota czlowieka poczciwego Mikolaj Rej 1567

In 1543 Rej debuted as a writer, under the pen name "Ambroży Korczbok Rożek," with his most famous book, ''A Brief Discussion among Three Persons: a Lord, a Commune Chief, and a Priest'' (''Krotka rozprawa między trzemi osobami, panem, woytem a plebanem'').Rej, Mikołaj (1505–1569)
"Krotka rozprawa między trzemi osobami, panem, woytem a plebanem"
''National Digital Library''; retrieved 28 September 2011. Rej's works touch on a large array of matters. He authored

works that described the ideal of the Polish

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

, criticized the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, and showed a genuine solicitude for his country. His

syntax In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituenc ...

is strongly influenced by

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...

style. His

poetic meter In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set o ...

discloses a deliberate effort to impart to the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

metrical model with which he was so familiar, a regularity that it lacked. Rej's works include: * ''Krótka rozprawa między trzema osobami: Panem, Wójtem i Plebanem'' (A Brief Discourse among Three Persons: a Lord, a Commune Chief, and a Priest, 1543), written under the pen name, ''Ambroży Korczbok Rożek'' * ''Żywot Józefa'' (The Life of Joseph, 1545). * ''Żywot Człowieka Poczciwego'' (The Life of the Honest Man) * ''Kupiec'' (The Merchant, 1549) * ''Zwierzyniec'' (The Bestiary, 1562) * ''Zwierciadło'' ( Speculum), incorporating the three-book prose ''Wizerunek własny żywota człowieka poczciwego'' (''The Image of a Good Man's Life'', 1567–68) * ''Rzecz pospolita albo Sejm pospolity'' (The Commonwealth, or the General Sejm)

Quotation

Legacy

In commemoration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Mikołaj Rej, Poland's

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

(parliament) declared 2005 to be ''the Year of Mikołaj Rej''. In 1994–97, Rej's descendant and namesake,

Nicholas Andrew Rey Nicholas Andrew Rey (23 January 1938, Warsaw, Poland – 13 January 2009, Washington, D.C.) was an American diplomat, businessman, and United States Ambassador to Poland (from 1993 to 1997), affiliated with the Democratic Party. Life Rey was born ...

(1938–2009), served as American Ambassador to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Notes

References

Czesław Miłosz Czesław Miłosz (, also , ; 30 June 1911 – 14 August 2004) was a Polish-American poet, prose writer, translator, and diplomat. Regarded as one of the great poets of the 20th century, he won the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature. In its citation, ...

, ''The History of Polish Literature'', University of California Press, 1984; .

External links

A Short Conversation Between Three Persons, a Squire, a Bailiff, and a Parson (selections)
by Michał J. Mikoś
Life of an honest man (selections)
by Michał J. Mikoś
Collected works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rej, Mikolaj 1505 births 1569 deaths 16th-century Polish poets Converts to Calvinism Polish Calvinist and Reformed Christians Polish musicians 16th-century Polish nobility Mikolaj 16th-century Polish politicians Polish male poets