Dembolenzky, Wojciech

Born in a gentry family. In his youth he received a good education, knew Latin , studied at the Franciscan school in Krakow . In 1603 he entered the order, from 1605 he lived in a monastery in Opole , in 1611 or 1612 he was ordained.

In 1615, he preached in Kalisz . Member of the Lviv chapter . In 1617 he went to Chelmno , and probably at the end of 1617 left Poland, heading for Venice and Rome , where he received a bachelor 's degree . He spent two years in Italy: on his way back to his homeland, he lived for some time in Olomouc , where he founded the Partnership of Christian Warriors.

In the years 1621-1622. served as chaplain of Lisovchikov , the legendary unit of the light cavalry, which during the Thirty Years War was in the service of the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire . He fought with them in Hungary , and after the split of the foxes, he went to Rome to continue his studies and get a doctorate in theology (1623-1625).

In 1626, he settled in Kamenetz-Podolsk , where he founded an organization that was engaged in the redemption of Christians who were captured by the Turks and Tatars. According to some reports, Dembolenzky’s reputation was doubtful, and in order to clear his name of accusations, he again went to Rome, staying there in 1630-1632. Returning to Poland, he settled in Lviv . He served as a preacher of the Lviv Franciscan monastery. In 1643 he became a provincial of the Russian Voivodeship and received the title of historian and chronicler of the Order.

Contemporaries considered him a genius . His best work is a historical story about the campaign of A. Lisovsky , under the title "Przewagi Elearów polskich, with ich niegdy lisowczykami zwano" (1623).

He gained great fame with another work, “Wywód jednowładnego państwa świata” (1633), in which, in the spirit of the ideas of Sarmatism, he seriously proves that the first people spoke Polish and that all languages ​​of the world came from Polish, that the throne of the world from Lebanon was transferred to Poland As a result, the Poles are the successors of the Scythians and, like the oldest people in the world, inherit political power over the world. In the spirit of Sarmatian ideology, he argued that the Slavic language comes from the Syriac language , which was spoken by Adam , Noah , Shem and Yaphet and therefore older than Greek, Latin and other languages.

• Ad ... Bernardum Macieiovium episcopum cracoviensem ... Cracoviam primum advenientem gratulatio augurelliana, Krakow, 1600,
• Benedictio mensae cum gratiarum actione, Torun, 1616,
• Completorium Romanum, Venice, 1618,
• Kazanie o św. Monice, 1619,
• Przewagi elearów polskich, co ich niegdy lisowczykami zwano, Poznan, 1623,
• Summula statuorum communionis ... pro redemptione captivorum, Warsaw, 1626,
• Wywód jedynowłasnego państwa świata, Warsaw, 1633,
• Obiecadło polskie dla mądrych Polaków,
• Effigies virorum celebrium,
• List o lisowczykach (under the pseudonym: Habspert Nickel),
• Żywot kozaków lisowskich (under the pseudonym: Bartłomiej Zimorowic),
• Deklaracja abo objaśnienie kart kozackich (under the pseudonym: Nikodem Niebylski),
• Wiersze o lisowczykach (anonymous),
• Kopia listu utrapionej Ojczyzny do lisowczyków (under the pseudonym: Maciej Żołęcki),
• Pieśni o cnych kozakach lisowskich (anonymous).

As a composer, one of the first began to use the general bass . Of his musical works, only survived: "Benedicto mensae oraz niekompletne" and "Completorium". His religious musical baroque works are based on the traditions of the Renaissance .

• Dembolentsky, Vojtech // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Wojciech Dębołęcki (Polish)
• [1] (Polish)