Jan Seklucjan

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Title page of the Gospel of St. Matthew published by Seklucjan in 1551, only surviving copy. Seklucjan gospel.gif
Title page of the Gospel of St. Matthew published by Seklucjan in 1551, only surviving copy.

Jan Seklucjan (born either in 1498 [2] or around 1510, [3] died 1578) (also known as Jan from Siekluki, Seclucian, Seclucianus) was a Polish Lutheran theologian, an activist in the Protestant Reformation in Poland and Ducal Prussia (a Polish fief), [4] translator, writer, publisher and printer.

Fief System of economic governance during the Middle Ages in Europe.

A fief was the central element of feudalism. It consisted of heritable property or rights granted by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the personal ceremonies of homage and fealty. The fees were often lands or revenue-producing real property held in feudal land tenure: these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including governmental office, rights of exploitation such as hunting or fishing, monopolies in trade, and tax farms.

Contents

Biography

Little is known about his early life. According to his name he perhaps was born or came from the village of Siekluki in the Duchy of Masovia, near Radom. [5] Originally Seklucjan was a Dominican. [6] After studying at Leipzig he moved in around 1543 to Poznań, where he served as a Lutheran preacher. [3] [7] Threatened by the local bishop with a charge of heresy, in 1544 he found refuge at Königsberg (Królewiec, today Kaliningrad) in Ducal Prussia, at the time a fief of the Kingdom of Poland. There he lived under the protection of Duke Albert of Prussia and began publishing and printing Lutheran literature in the Polish language. He was encouraged in his endeavors by Duke Albert, who wanted to have the Bible and catechism translated into the vernacular language of the many refugees from Poland, who became his subject. Seklucjan was in charge of the parish of the church in Steindamm (part of Königsberg), [8] which served as a local center for Lutheran Poles. In many of his works he cooperated with the Polish Lutheran theologian Andrzej Samuel. [7]

Stare Siekluki Village in Masovian, Poland

Stare Siekluki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Stara Błotnica, within Białobrzegi County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately 9 kilometres (6 mi) south-east of Białobrzegi and 71 km (44 mi) south of Warsaw.

Duchy of Masovia

The Duchy of Masovia was a medieval duchy formed when the Polish Kingdom of the Piasts fragmented in 1138. It was located in the historic Masovian region of northeastern Kingdom of Poland. The duchy was re-incorporated into the Jagiellonian Kingdom of Poland by 1526.

Radom Place in Masovian, Poland

Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located 100 kilometres south of Poland's capital, Warsaw, on the Mleczna River, in the Masovian Voivodeship, having previously been the capital of Radom Voivodeship (1975–1998). Despite being part of the Masovian Voivodeship, the city historically belongs to Lesser Poland. For centuries, Radom was part of the Sandomierz Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland and the later Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was an important center of administration, having served as seat of the Crown Council. The Pact of Vilnius and Radom was signed there in 1401, and the Nihil novi and Łaski's Statute were adopted by the Sejm at Radom's Royal Castle in 1505. In 1976, it was a center of anti Communist street protests. Radom is the fourteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the voivodeship with a population of 214,566 as of 2017, down from 221,287 in 2011.

Works

Seklucjan focused mostly on translations into Polish. In 1544 or 1545 he published a Polish language catechism, entitled Wyznanie wiary chrześcijańskiej (Profession of the Christian Faith), most likely based on Martin Luther's Small Catechism, a second edition of which was printed in 1547. [9] Also in 1547 he published a hymnal, Pieśni duchowne a nabożne ("Holy and divine hymns"), which included 35 religious hymns, including eight written by Luther. [10]

Martin Luther Saxon priest, monk and theologian, seminal figure in Protestant Reformation

Martin Luther, was a German professor of theology, composer, priest, monk, and a seminal figure in the Protestant Reformation.

<i>Luthers Small Catechism</i> catechism by Martin Luther

Luther's Small Catechism is a catechism written by Martin Luther and published in 1529 for the training of children. Luther's Small Catechism reviews the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, the Office of the Keys and Confession and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. It is included in the Book of Concord as an authoritative statement of what Lutherans believe. The Small Catechism is widely used today in Lutheran churches as part of youth education and Confirmation. It was mandatory for confirmands in the Church of Sweden until the 1960s.

In 1544 Albert of Prussia issued an edict requiring that the Bible be read in Polish to the growing number of Polish Protestants in the Duchy. To that effect he sought to procure a Polish language translator. His first choice was the theologian Rapagelanus, chair at the University of Königsberg. However, Rapagelanus died in 1545 before completing the task. Albert's second choice was the theologian Stapelage, who soon became embroiled in controversy and ended up converting back to Catholicism. It was at this point that Albert commissioned Seklucjan. [3] As a result, in 1551 Seklucjan began publishing translations of the New Testament into Polish. First, in that year, he published the Gospel of Matthew, then the other Evangelists, and in 1553 the complete New Testament. In these translations, Seklucjan collaborated with and relied on Stanisław Murzynowski, and it is likely that most of the translation work was done by Murzynowski, with Seklucjan merely taking the credit. [2] [3]

University of Königsberg former university of Königsberg in Eastern Prussia (1544-1945)

The University of Königsberg was the university of Königsberg in East Prussia. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant academy by Duke Albert of Prussia, and was commonly known as the Albertina.

New Testament Second division of the Christian biblical canon

The New Testament is the second part of the Christian biblical canon, the first part being the Old Testament, based on the Hebrew Bible. The New Testament discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christianity. Christians regard both the Old and New Testaments together as sacred scripture. The New Testament has frequently accompanied the spread of Christianity around the world. It reflects and serves as a source for Christian theology and morality. Extended readings and phrases directly from the New Testament are incorporated into the various Christian liturgies. The New Testament has influenced religious, philosophical, and political movements in Christendom and left an indelible mark on literature, art, and music.

Gospel of Matthew Books of the New Testament

The Gospel According to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament and one of the three synoptic gospels. It tells how the promised Messiah, Jesus, rejected by Israel, finally sends the disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world. Most scholars believe it was composed between AD 80 and 90, with a range of possibility between AD 70 to 110. The anonymous author was probably a male Jew, standing on the margin between traditional and non-traditional Jewish values, and familiar with technical legal aspects of scripture being debated in his time. Writing in a polished Semitic "synagogue Greek", he drew on three main sources: the Gospel of Mark, the hypothetical collection of sayings known as the Q source, and material unique to his own community, called the M source or "Special Matthew".

Additionally, the translation of the New Testament into Polish was delayed by a dispute between Seklucjan and another Polish translator, Jan Sandecki-Malecki. While the origins of the dispute concerned the usefulness of the Czech language as an aid in translating the New Catechism (with Sandecki-Malecki extolling the usefulness of Czech and Seklucjan insisting on purely "Polish words"), it quickly evolved to include doctrinal matters. Ultimately, thanks to support from Andreas Osiander, Seklucjan was given the exclusive right to the translation for four years, although he was forbidden from including his own commentary (aside from a preface). [2] [3]

Andreas Osiander German theologian

Andreas Osiander was a German Lutheran theologian and Protestant reformer.

Seklucjan also wrote original works, including Rozprawa krótka a prosta o niktórych ceremonijach i ustawach kościelnych (A short and simple treatise on some ceremonies and practices of the church"), a poetic dialog between a "student" (the author) who had just come back from travels abroad, and his elders who had stayed home. [10] [11] He also translated the works of the vernacular Polish poet and the founder of Polish literary language and literature, Mikołaj Rej. [12]

Mikołaj Rej Polish poet and prose writer, politician and musician of the Renaissance

Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice was a Polish poet and prose writer of the emerging Renaissance in Poland as it succeeded the Middle Ages, as well as a politician and musician. He was the first Polish author to write exclusively in the Polish language, and is considered, to be one of the founders of Polish literary language and literature.

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References

  1. ↑ "Early Imprints". Uniwersytet Warszawski. Retrieved August 8, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Wodecki, Bernard (1998). "Polish Translations of the Bible". In Krašovec, Jože. Interpretation Der Bibel. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 1223.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Frick, David (1989). Polish Sacred Philology in the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation: Chapters in the History of the Controversies (1551–1632). University of California Press. p. 13. ISBN   0-520-09740-8.
  4. ↑ Lukowski, Jerzy (2010). Disorderly Liberty: The Political Culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Eighteenth Century. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 7. ISBN   1-4411-4812-4.
  5. ↑ Lueker, Erwin L.; Poellot, Luther; Jackson, Paul, eds. (2000). "Seklucjan, Jan". Christian Cyclopedia. Concordia Publishing. Retrieved August 5, 2012.
  6. ↑ Cameron, Euan (2012). The European Reformation. Oxford University Press. p. 280. ISBN   978-0-19-954785-2.
  7. 1 2 Elton, G. R., ed. (1990). The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 2, The Reformation, 1520–1559. Cambridge University Press. p. 213. ISBN   0-521-34536-7.
  8. ↑ Bock, Vanessa (2004). "Die Anfänge des polnischen Buchdrucks in Königsberg. Mit einem Verzeichnis der polnischen Drucke von Hans Weinreich und Alexander Augezdecki". In Walter, Axel. Königsberger Buch- und Bibliotheksgeschichte. Cologne: Böhlau. p. 132.
  9. ↑ Maciejewski, Jarosław (2002). Dawni pisarze Polscy: od początków piśmiennictwa do Młodej Polski. Mia - R, Volumes 1-4. Fundacja akademia humanistyczna. p. 29. ISBN   83-02-07524-8.
  10. 1 2 Polskie Towarzystwo Historyczne (1907). Revue historique polonaise. PWN. p. 244.
  11. ↑ Ziomek, Jerzy (1999). Literatura Odrodzenia. PAN. p. 265.
  12. ↑ Lipinski, Robert (2004). "Individualism and the Sense of Solidarity". In Lienenmann-Perrin, Christine; Vroom, H.M.; Weinrich, Michael. Contextuality in Reformed Europe: The Mission of the Church in the Transformation of European Culture. Rodopi. p. 243.
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