Daniel Sinapius-Horčička (August 3, 1640 – January 27, 1688) was a Slovak baroque writer, poet, dramatist, composer of hymns and evangelical Protestant preacher who lived during the mid 17th century in what is modern Slovakia.

Life

Daniel Sinapius-Horčička was born on August 3, 1640, in the village of Sučany, in the present day

Martin District Martin District (''okres Martin'') is a district in the Žilina Region of central Slovakia. Its main cultural, economic and administrative seat is the city of Martin. Martin District is one of the most important cultural centers in Slovakia. The ci ...

of the

Žilina Region The Žilina Region (; ; ) is one of the eight Regions of Slovakia, Slovak administrative regions and consists of 11 districts (okresy) and 315 municipalities, from which 18 have a town status. The region was established in 1923, however, in its p ...

of northern

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, though at the time the village was part of

Upper Hungary Upper Hungary (, "Upland"), is the area that was historically the northern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, now mostly present-day Slovakia. The region has also been called ''Felső-Magyarország'' ( literally: "Upper Hungary"; ). During the ...

in the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

. He was born into a family of preachers and after studies in Levoča and Wittenberg, Germany he worked as a preacher and rector of, successively,

Jelšava Jelšava ( or ''Jelschau''; ; ) is a town and municipality in Revúca District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia. Etymology The name is derived from Slovak language, Slovak ''jelša'' (Alnus glutinosa, alder). ''Jelšava'' means "a place ...

, Kameňanoch,

Liptovská Teplička Liptovská Teplička () is a large village and municipality in Poprad District in the Prešov Region of northern Slovakia. Geography The municipality lies at an elevation of 919 metres (3,015 ft) and covers an area of 98.69 km2 (38.10&n ...

and finally Radvaň. In 1673, during the persecution of Protestants, Sinapius-Horčička was exiled from Hungarian lands. He travelled with his family first to Silesia and then to Nového Bojanova, both of which fell outside of Hungarian jurisdiction but still within the realm of the Habsburgs. After returning from exile in 1683, he worked briefly in Radvan before moving on to Levoča. While in Levoča, Sinapius-Horčička served as a rector, evangelical priest, school inspector, and editor and proofreader of books published in Slovak. Sinapius-Horčička died on January 27, 1688, in

Levoča Levoča (; ; ) is the principal town of Levoča District in the Prešov Region of eastern Slovakia, with a population of 14,256. The town has a historic center with a well-preserved town wall, a Gothic architecture, Gothic church with the talle ...

aged 47.

Work

Daniel Sinapius-Horčička was involved in the writing of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

poems and school dramas. However, a large part of his work was devoted to religious

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

prose, proverbs and select Slovak spiritual poetry. Despite devoting much effort to his Latin works, his Slovak ones have maintained and sustained his reputation more into the modern era. His prose is considered to reflect that national consciousness- lauding the Slovak language and criticizing the lack of patriotism among his fellow Slovaks. He touches on the antiquity of the Slovak nation and on Slovak youth. What is very noteworthy in addition to these proto-nationalistic verses, Sinapius-Horčička wrote exclusively in Slovak when many of his Slovak contemporaries were using the more common Slavic literary language of

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

List of Works

''(Titles in Slovak)'' * 1660 – ''Plesanie neba a zeme (Plausus poli et soli)'' * 1676 – ''Zahradka dušičky pobožné (Hortulus animae piae)'', prayer books * 1678 – ''Nový trh latinsko-slovenský (Neo-forum Latino-Slavonicum)'', 534 proverbs and sayings from the Bible along with others from the ancient and humanistic periods. * 1679 – ''Osud verný vo svete duše (Sors fidelis in mundo animae)'' * 1681 – ''Nestálosť vidiečanovej forúny (Fortunae inconstantia in rustico)'' * 1681 – ''Trojnásobný bič božieho hnevu (Flagellum irae divinae triplex)'' * 1682 – ''Pocta Bojanovu (Coelum Bojanoviense)'' * 1683 – ''Perlička dítek božích'', a Slovak

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

* 1684 – ''Cithara sanctorum'', contributed to the new edition, which appeared in many German translations. For example: ** ''Těžká búrka již povstává'' ** ''Smrt jest nestydatá obluda'' ** ''O milá nevinnosť, jak si potupená'' * 1685 – ''Orbis pictus'' * 1686 – ''Hainov dom – zarmútený Nain (Domus Hain – moesta Nain)'' * 1703 – ''Jádro všech modliteb v nemnohých slovích obsažené…'', A posthumously published prayer book Cithara sanctorum 1828

cz:Daniel Sinapius-Horčička {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinapius-Horcicka, Daniel 1640 births Slovak poets 17th-century Lutheran clergy Slovak Christian clergy 1688 deaths Baroque writers