Stańczyk

Stańczyk ( ; – ) was the most famous Polish court jester. He was employed by three subsequent Polish kings: Alexander, Sigismund the Old and Sigismund Augustus, and was praised by his contemporaries for his wit, patriotism and sober political thought, though some historians noted the possible embellishment in the numerous surviving anecdotes. In later generations Stańczyk became an inspiration for Polish political thinkers and a favorite subject of several artists, most notably the painter Jan Matejko, who made him the central figure of many of his paintings, including the famous "Stańczyk" painting. Stańczyk is often cited as an archetypical example of a wise fool or to illustrate the sad clown paradox.

Stańczyk ( ; – ) was the most famous Polish court jester. He was employed by three subsequent Polish kings: Alexander, Sigismund the Old and Sigismund Augustus, and was praised by his contemporaries for his wit, patriotism and sober political thought, though some historians noted the possible embellishment in the numerous surviving anecdotes. In later generations Stańczyk became an inspiration for Polish political thinkers and a favorite subject of several artists, most notably the painter Jan Matejko, who made him the central figure of many of his paintings, including the famous "Stańczyk" painting. Stańczyk is often cited as an archetypical example of a wise fool or to illustrate the sad clown paradox.

Name, identity and historicity

, a former royal residence]] Almost nothing is known about Stańczyk's life aside from numerous anecdotes written down by contemporary Renaissance writers. As such even his name and exact identity are a matter of dispute. Contemporary sources mention court jesters named Gąska and Stańczyk. Both words are not proper names in their own right but diminutives, of words gęś (goose) and the masculine name Stanisław, respectively. As these two names are contemporary but never appear together, this led Aleksander Brückner and later scholars to believe that Gąska and Stańczyk are merely two nicknames or stage names of the same person. In modern sources Stańczyk is sometimes referred to as Stanisław Gąska, a name that was coined by combining the two nicknames into what resembles a proper Polish name. However, such name have never been recorded during the jester's times. Stańczyk is conjectured to have been born in Proszowice near Kraków. Despite his occupation, he was likely a nobleman. He may be the same person as rotmistrz Stańczyk, a military officer mentioned as active during the reigns of John I Albert and Alexander I Jagiellon. If so, he may have obtained employment at court as resident entertainer after ending his military career, perhaps prematurely due to injuries. Stańczyk is mentioned as still alive in 1556, but Mikołaj Rej refers to him as already deceased in his poetry book published in 1562¹. Historiographies of the 19th century postulated that Stańczyk was a fictional character entirely invented as a literary device by Jan Kochanowski and other intellectuals active at the Polish court. Alternatively, it has been postulated that Stańczyk was just a regular court jester who, without his own knowledge, was given the characteristics of a "wise fool" by contemporary literature for polemical purposes. Nevertheless, it is currently widely accepted that not only Stańczyk was a real person, but that he also had a real-life reputation among his contemporaries. Due to his service spanning decades and covering reigns of three kings, he became somewhat of a permanent fixture of the royal court in Kraków. by Jan Matejko The jester is depicted as the only person at a royal ball troubled by the news that the Muscovites have captured Smolensk, which happened in 1514. ]] Stańczyk acquired a circle of well positioned friends and some sources even go as far as to call him a personal friend to Marcin Kromer, personal secretary to king Sigismund I the Old. He was also acquainted with many other political figures of his age and with many Renaissance humanists including Łukasz Górnicki, Jan Kochanowski, Marcin Kromer, and Mikołaj Rej. As a resident jester he also had unique, personal access to the royal family.

Anecdotes

Various anecdotes about Stańczyk were preserved by numerous contemporary writers and historians. In these anecdotes, Stańczyk is usually praised as a patriot with great intellect and the gift of foresight, yet at the same time skeptical about the country's situation, its people and its future prosperity. He used his position and Jester's privilege to lampoon and prank contemporary political figures, going as far as poking fun at the king's own decisions. The best known anecdote about Stańczyk is that of a hunting incident. In 1527 King Sigismund the Old had a huge bear brought for him from Lithuania. The bear was released in the forest of Niepołomice near Kraków so that the king could hunt it. During the hunt, the animal charged at the king, the queen and their courtiers which caused panic and mayhem. Queen Bona fell from her horse which resulted in her miscarriage. Later, the king mocked Stańczyk for having run away instead of fighting with the bear as his knightly status commanded. The jester is said to have replied that "a greater fool lets out a bear that was already in a cage". This remark is often interpreted as an allusion to the king's conciliatory policies towards Poland's enemies, most notably Prussia which was defeated by Poland but not fully incorporated into the Crown and Russia, a massive victory over which was not followed upon. In another story Stańczyk, who liked to stroll around Kraków in his colorful, checkered jester's robe, was once beaten by street urchins who tore his garments. When the king ridiculed him at the court for this, Stańczyk replied that the king was allowing himself to be stripped even worse because Smolensk had been taken from him in the war and he was doing nothing about it. . Stańczyk also made a bet with the king about what was the most common profession in Poland. To the king's surprise, the jester insisted it was a doctor. To prove his point, Stańczyk tied a scarf around his face, feigning a toothache. Everyone he met advised him on how to treat the toothache, showing to the king that everyone in the country considered themselves a doctor. Stańczyk was famous for his dislike of ecclesiastic officials. He for instance claimed that there was no bigger liars in the kingdom than archbishop of Gniezno Piotr Gamrat and bishop of Kraków Samuel Maciejowski. According to Stańczyk the former claimed to know everything - and yet knew nothing, while the latter claimed to know nothing - and yet knew everything.

References

External links

Stańczyk, WIEM Encyklopedia Andrzej Solarz, Stańczyk, Internetowy Kurier Proszowicki - SERWIS Ziemi Proszowickiej Liliana Sonik, "Stańczyk na dworze królowej Bony wobec straconego Smoleńska", Dziennik Polski, 26 April 2010

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1376142058 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.