Łukasz Górnicki (1527 in

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

– 22 July 1603 in Lipniki by Tykocin), was a Polish Renaissance, poet, humanist, political commentator as well as secretary and chancellor of king Sigismund Augustus of Poland. His family used Ogończyk coat of arms. He wrote a number of works both poetic and political. Górnicki is most famous for his ''Dworzanin Polski'' (The Polish Courtier), an adaptation of Baldassare Castiglione's Book of the Courtier (''Il cortegiano'').

Life

Youth and education

Łukasz Górnicki was born in

. He was the son of Marcin Góra and Anna Gąsiorkówna, poor townspeople from Bochnia. Górnicki began his education there. His early life was heavily influenced by his uncle Stanisław Gąsiorek, called Anserinu, a cleric at and director of the royal chapel on

Wawel The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

, as well as author of Polish patriotic verses and composer. Stanisław took an interest in his nephew and brought him to

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

in 1538, seeing to the young man's studies and court career, and eventually declared Górnicki his heir. The exact contours of Górnicki's education are uncertain, though it can be said that he never entered the Kraków Academy.

At the court of Sigismund August

Górnicki worked at court of king Sigismund August from his youth until his death. In this time he had ample opportunity to encounter the courtly life surrounding the king. In 1548 he went on bishop Filip Padniewski's diplomatic mission to

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. From 1552 he worked in the royal chancery under the direction of the chancellor Jan Przerembski. In 1552 Górnicki travelled with Przerembski in the king's service

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

Kaliningrad Kaliningrad,. known as Königsberg; ; . until 1946, is the largest city and administrative centre of Kaliningrad Oblast, an Enclave and exclave, exclave of Russia between Lithuania and Poland ( west of the bulk of Russia), located on the Prego ...

, and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. In this period he took low orders, and received a few benefices as a result. Having gained some financial stability from these benefices and from his uncle's will, Górnicki set off for Italy for two years in 1557. Resident in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, he studied law at the university there. He returned to Poland in February 1559.

''Dworzanin Polski''

From 1559 to mid-1565, Górnicki worked on a translation and adaptation of Baldassare Castiglione's Book of the Courtier (''Il cortegiano''). This was published in Kraków as ''Dworzanin polski'' () in 1566 and was dedicated to King Sigismund August. Górnicki followed Castiglione's model, but changed it to match the Polish situation. He moved the discussion at the base of the text from the court of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro in

Urbino Urbino ( , ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Marche, southwest of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially und ...

in 1507 to the residence of Bishop

Samuel Maciejowski Samuel Maciejowski (15 January 1499 – 26 October 1550) was a 16th-century Roman Catholic Bishop of Chełm, Płock and Kraków, in Poland. Early life He was born 15 January 1499 and ordained a priest in 1530. He began his career in 1518 as a no ...

in Prądnik Biały near

in 1549. In that conversation the participants discuss the ideal courtier, a nonchalant man of good family, who brings together good manners and breeding with honor and education. The discussants in Górnicki's version were: Wojciech Kryski, Stanisław Maciejowski, Andrzej Kostka, Aleksander Myszkowski, Jan Dreśniak, Stanisław Wapowski, Stanisław Bojanowski and Stanisław Lupa Podlodowski (father-in-law of

Jan Kochanowski Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who wrote in Latin and Polish and established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language. He has been called the greatest Polish poet before ...

). For this work Górnicki received a noble title from King Sigismund, as well as the Ogończyk coat of arms in 1561.

Later life

Between 1574 and 1579 Górnicki married Barbara Broniewska, his junior by almost 30 years, daughter of Stanisław Broniowski, Master of the Horse in

Przemyśl Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...

. Łukasz Górnicki died in Lipniki pod Tykocinem on 22 July 1603. He was buried in Tykocin in the Bernardine church on the island of Narew.

Works

''Rozmowa O Elekcyey, o Wolności, o Prawie y obyczaiach Polskich Podczas Electiey Krola Iego Mci Zygmunta III czyniona [...
/nowiki>''">..">''Rozmowa O Elekcyey, o Wolności, o Prawie y obyczaiach Polskich Podczas Electiey Krola Iego Mci Zygmunta III czyniona [...
/nowiki>'' Kraków, 1616.
''Unterredung von der Wahl, Freyheit, Gesetzen und Sitten der Pohlen [...
/nowiki>'']. Wrocław; Leipzig, 1753.
''Lucas Gornicki, Starosten von Tykocin und Wasilkow, Unterredung von der Wahl, Freyheit, Gesetzen und Sitten der Pohlen, zur Zeit der Wahl Sigismund des Dritten verfertiget und ohnlängst nach verbesserter alten pohlnischen Schreibart aufs neue herausgegeben durch J.Z.R.K. Nunmehro [...
/nowiki> ins Deutsche übersetzet und mit [...] dem Leben des Auctoris versehen von Christian Gottlieb Friesen'']. Wrocław, 1762.
''Clarissimi Viri Lucae Gornickij […
/nowiki> Actio Adversus Demetrium Et Pro Demetrio, Latine Versa […">��">''Clarissimi Viri Lucae Gornickij […
/nowiki> Actio Adversus Demetrium Et Pro Demetrio, Latine Versa […/nowiki> = Sławnego Męża Łukasza Gornickiego […] Sprawa Przeciw Dymitrowi Y Za Dymitrem'']. Wilno, 1788.
''Rozmowa o Elekcyi, o Wolności, o Prawie, y obyczaiach Polskich. Podczas Elekcyi Króla Jego Mći Zygmunta III czyniona. Pisana przez Łukasza Gornickiego [...
/nowiki>. Teraz nowo wydana y w stylu Staro-Polskim nieco poprawiona przez J. Z. R. K.'']. Warsaw, 1750-1795.
''Nowy Karakter Polski Z Drukarnie Lazarzowey: Y Orthographia Polska: Iana Kochanowskiego, [...
/nowiki> Lukasza Gornickie[go">..">''Nowy Karakter Polski Z Drukarnie Lazarzowey: Y Orthographia Polska: Iana Kochanowskiego, [...
/nowiki> Lukasza Gornickie[go/nowiki>, [...] Iana Ianuszowskiego''], Kraków 1594. (Co-authored with

and Jan Januszowski.)

Bibliography

* Bodniak, Stanisław. ''Karta z bibljotekarskich i starościńskich zajęć Górnickiego.'' Kraków, 1928. * Czarnik, Bronisław. ''Żywot Łukasza Górnickiego.'' Lwów, 1883. * Kozielewski, Ignacy. ''Łukasz Górnicki: studium historyczno-literackie.'' Lwów, 1929. * Lichański, Jakub Zdzisław. ''Łukasz Górnicki.'' Wrocław, 1982. * Lichański, Jakub Zdzisław. ''Łukasz Górnicki: sarmacki Castiglione.'' Warsaw, 1998. * Lowenfeld, Rafał. ''Łukasz Górnicki, jego życie i dzieła: przyczynek do dziejów humanizmu w Polsce.'' Warsaw, 1884. * Noworolskiej, B., and W. Steca. ''Łukasz Górnicki i jego czasy.'' Białystok, 1993. * Salwa, P., ed. ''Łukasz Górnicki i jego włoskie inspiracje.'' Warsaw, 2005. * Pollak, Roman. "Górnicki Łukasz (1527-1603)." In '' Polski Słownik Biograficzny'', vol. 8, part. 3. Wrocław, 1960.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gornicki, Lukasz 1527 births 1603 deaths People from Oświęcim 16th-century Polish nobility Polish political writers Polish translators Polish male poets People from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth