Wojciech Dębołęcki (; 1585–1646), also spelled Wojciech Dembołęcki, was a Polish
Franciscan friar, writer and composer.
[Hieronim Feicht ''Studia nad muzyką polskiego renesansu i baroku'' PWN 1980, s. 189 - Feicht dowodzi, że skoro Dębołecki wydał w 1600 roku w Krakowie jako członek zakonu swoje pierwsze dzieło, musiał mieć już wtedy co najmniej 18 lat; zaś w 1641 roku nazwano go starcem, co przesuwa prawdopodobną datę urodzin "co najmniej do r. 1575"] His musical works are among the first to use
basso continuo
Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...
. In his poetry, he praised the
Sarmatism culture. He was the
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
of one of the best military units of his times, irregular unit of
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth light cavalry
Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the mounted riders (and sometimes the warhorses) were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was primarily rai ...
-
Lisowczycy, fighting on battlefields from
Picardy
Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France.
Hi ...
to the banks of the
White Sea. Dębołęcki has chronicled their history in his ''Przewagi elearów polskich'', or ''The victories of Polish cavalry'' (1623).
Dębołęcki was born into a
szlachta
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 the ...
family of Jakub Konojadzki and Barbara née Decjusz. As a teenager, he acquired good education, studying at a Franciscan school in
Kraków, and joining the order in 1603. Probably in 1603 - 1605 he stayed in
Opole
Opole (; german: Oppeln ; szl, Ôpole) ;
* Silesian:
** Silesian PLS alphabet: ''Ôpole''
** Steuer's Silesian alphabet: ''Uopole''
* Silesian German: ''Uppeln''
* Czech: ''Opolí''
* Latin: ''Oppelia'', ''Oppolia'', ''Opulia'' is a city loc ...
, and in 1615, preached in
Kalisz. In 1617, he was sent to
Chełmno, and probably in late 1617, he left Poland, heading to
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
and
Rome. Dębołęcki spent two years in Italy: on his way back, he stopped at
Olomouc, creating the Association of Christian Soldiers.
[
In 1621 - 1622, Dębołęcki served as a chaplain of the Lisowczycy, a legendary light cavalry unit, which at that time was under the service of the ]Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
in the Thirty Years' War. He fought with them in Hungary, and after the dissolution of the force, went to Rome to continue studies and achieve a doctorate in theology (1623-1625). In 1626, Dębołęcki settled in Kamieniec Podolski, where he founded an organization which purchased prisoners from Muslim hands. Some of his works were controversial and were published anonymously under pseudonyms, so their authorship is uncertain. According to some sources, Dębołęcki's reputation was dubious, and to clean his name, once again he went to Rome, staying there in 1630 - 1632. After returning to Poland, he settled in Lwów
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Debolecki, Wojciech
1585 births
1646 deaths
Conventual Friars Minor
Polish male writers
Polish Christian monks
Polish military chaplains