{"id":17252,"date":"2020-07-26T22:45:28","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T03:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jassa.org\/?p=17252"},"modified":"2021-03-26T16:02:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T21:02:05","slug":"polish-gods-part-vi-nos-enim-poloni-tres-deos-habuimus-scilicet-lada-nya-iassa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/?p=17252","title":{"rendered":"Polish Gods Part VI – Nos, enim Poloni, tres deos habemus, scilicet Lada, Nya, Iassa"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is an interesting fact that there are so many mentions of Polish Deities throughout the 15th century. I discussed some of these potential mentions here<\/a><\/span> but there are many more. They appear in many sermons and this makes sense as the 1300s and 1400s were when the “Baptism” of Poland was really taking place as the church organization expanded (after years of wars and the resulting poor penetration) into the countryside. Homegrown priests began to actively preach in many villages that had previously heard little of the Gospel. \u00a0A the beginning of the 15th century\u00a0Lucas of Great Kozmin was one of thfe first preachers to take notice of the beliefs of the people in his sermons. Towards the end of the 1400s when D\u0142ugosz wrote his chronicle he was basing his description of the Polish Pantheon on edicts from various synods and the knowledge collected and sermons written by a umber of priests some of whom were his contemporaries and friends.<\/p>\n

There were many such preachers who dared to mention the Names of pagan Deities. To the shame of Polish medievalists and anthropologists and religious studies student, the writings of these churchmen remain mostly unexplored.<\/p>\n

Outside of Lucas and D\u0142ugosz, few have been even noticed. In fact, the only article focused on the issue that discusses some of these other sermons, even if briefly, is Krzysztof Bracha<\/strong>‘s “Tria ydola Polonorum<\/em> for the Green Holidays in Church Critique of the Late Middle Ages” (Tria ydola Polonorum\u00a0na Zielone \u015awi\u0105tki w krytyce kaznodziejskiej p\u00f3\u017anego \u015bredniowiecza<\/em>) in “Pagan Holies – Christian Holies. The Continuation of Cultic Sites in Early Medieval Central Europe” (Sacrum poga\u0144skie \u2013 sacrum chrze\u015bcija\u0144skie. Kontynuacja miejsc kultu we wczesno\u015bredniowiecznej Europie \u015arodkowej<\/em>) from 2010, edited by Krzysztof Bracha and Czes\u0142aw Hadamik (this is a collection of talks presented in 2007 at a conference at Holy Cross Abbey on Holy Cross Mountain aka Bald Mountain).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In that article Bracha puts together a narrative about three principal Polish Gods using the sources we already discussed but also a few lesser known ones. One of those had been identified earlier by Agnieszka Jab\u0142onka<\/strong>\u00a0and two by El\u017cbieta Belcarzowa<\/strong>. However, other than noticing them these authors did not explore them further (Jab\u0142onka was focused on the sermon and Belcarzowa was just collecting Polish glosses in Latin language sermons; neither was focused on the topic of late medieval paganism).<\/p>\n

I thought we should include each of them here. Bracha also noticed the fact that Belcarzowa found two other examples in two separate sermons by Jan of D\u0105br\u00f3wka (Jan z D\u0105br\u00f3wki<\/em>). Those mentions are included here as well.<\/p>\n

Regarding the “tres” this too is uncertain. D\u0142ugosz gives more Names. Even the below manuscripts, assuming the Names refer all to different Deities, mention Yleli\/Leli, in addition to Jasza\/Jesza, \u0141ado\/\u0141ada, Nya.<\/p>\n

Note too the mention of “Blada” below.\u00a0We may be dealing with some “pale” Deity as per this writer (or perhaps with a reference to Bleda the Hun) or it could just be an error. It is interesting \u00a0though that all the above Deities may have a lunar connection (covering different phases of the perhaps). Another curious thing is that, in Latin,\u00a0blada<\/em>\u00a0refers to “corn,” “cereal,” “grains” (zbo\u017ce<\/em>). <\/em><\/p>\n

A separate topic for discussion is the fact that some of these Names may be Hungarian or at least Pannonian. Thus, Yassa<\/em> appears similar to the name of the Sarmatian Jaziges. It is also the case that the Jasz people settled in Hungary in the 13th century and may have influenced Polish paganism somehow. On the other hand, the name Jesza is similar to Jesse the name of the “first Christian” (from the Hungarian Chronicle of the 12th century). Now, that is really a reference to G\u00e9za I but the Hungarian connection persists with imre Pozsonyi\u00a0 being referred to as\u00a0Jesza Poszony (a manager of Poland national team and later of FC Barcelona). Interestingly too, we have an intriguing potential correspondence between Ylely<\/em> and the Hungarian\u00a0l\u00e9lek<\/em> meaning “soul” (from the\u00a0Proto-Finno-Ugric<\/span>\u00a0*lewle<\/i>\u00a0meaning “breath” or “soul” (also\u00a0l\u00e9legzet<\/em> or lehelet<\/em> meaning respiration\/breath) – an interesting potential overlap with the Polish \u017bywie<\/em> or “life” and, potentially, a cognate of Dzidzileyla<\/em>, Dzidzilejla<\/em>,\u00a0Dzidzilela<\/em> or Didis Lela<\/em> – the Polish Venus). \u00a0L\u00e9l\u00a0or Lehel was a Hungarian chieftain whose (alleged) horn is now located in \u00a0“Lehel’s Horn” on display at\u00a0J\u00e1szber\u00e9ny. \u00a0Of course, lelek<\/em> is also the Polish name for the European nighjar – a bird who curiously was thought to suck on goat’s milk (suggesting that Lel<\/em> & Polel<\/em> were the children of (?)\u00a0Dzidzilela<\/em>)…<\/p>\n

Finally, the Hungarian word for God is\u00a0Isten<\/em>, which is, of course, very similar to\u00a0istny<\/em>, istotny, istota<\/em>, the Latvian Usins\u00a0<\/em>and, likewise, Eostre (not to mention the Anatolian Istanu <\/em>though also similar to the Egyptian baboon creature Astennu which was a baboon form of Thoth the Moon Deity) but we, as is often the case here, digress.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a side note, while the members of the Polish Catholic clergy who mentioned these Names, generally did so seemingly in the context of trying to stamp out the vestiges of the Old Faith in villages and towns, I have a gnawing feeling that the sheer number of such references may well indicate a certain patriotic desire to preserve in their homilies, that is in the only way possible, some remembrance of the old ways.<\/strong> Given the large quantity of medieval manuscripts now being made available online, we can hope that amateurs, though perhaps too academic researchers, will feel enabled and be encouraged to more actively pursue the quest to unearth the Suavic past.<\/p>\n

\n

Sermo: De s. Stephano<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Polish codex from mid-15th century
\nsermon author unknown – likely Polish<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

“Nam demones vndique colebantur pro deo et adhuc signum est inter christianos, quia tunc mulieres canunt Alado, yesse, ylely<\/strong> etc., qui erant dyaboli hic, qui colebantur.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“In fact the demons were everywhere worshipped as God and behold it is a [warning?] sign for Christians, because [when this happens] women are singing Alado<\/strong>, yesse<\/strong>, ylely<\/strong> etc., who had been the devils that were worshipped here.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There is also the interesting mention of\u00a0swadzba<\/em> which suggests that this is a combination of swa<\/em> as in “coming together” and dwa<\/em> as in “two.”<\/p>\n

This is from the\u00a0S\u0142ownik staropolski\u00a0<\/em>(that is, the “Old Polish Dictionary” which contains most if not all of the Polish words appearing in manuscripts prior to 1500):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[El\u017cbieta Belcarzowa, “Polish Glosses in Medieval Latin Sermons” (Glosy polskie\u00a0w\u00a0\u0142aci\u0144skich kazaniach \u015bredniowiecznych<\/em>), part 4; above Bracha version slightly different from that]<\/p>\n

About the Author: <\/strong>author unknown, likely Polish.<\/p>\n

\n

Sermo de Sancto Adalberto<\/strong><\/h1>\n

sermon written into the codex about 1460
\nsermon author unknown<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

“Postea sanctus per Moravam convertens venit Cracoviam, post hoc ivit Gneznam et ibi duos fratres duces in fide confirmavit, quia iam fidem habuerant, sed dubiam,\u00a0et ibi omnes erroneos convertit et daemonem, videlicet Niam<\/strong>, eiecit, cui duae partes servierunt, videlicet Cracovia et Slesia. Postea venit Sandomiriam et Mazoviam, et ibi alium demonem eieicit, vidielicet Iiassam <\/strong>[or Yassam<\/strong>]. Postea de Magna Polonia et Slesia et de provinciis circumstantibus eiecit Ladam<\/strong> demonem.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Afterwards, the Saint passed through Moravia in order to convert the land of Cracow, \u00a0 \u00a0and then he went to Gniezno and there confirmed in faith two brothers who were dukes and were of the faith but had fallen into doubt; and there all those that had fallen into error he converted and he cast out the demon, namely\u00a0Nia<\/strong>, whom two lands, namely Cracow land and Silesia served. Thereafter, he went to the Sandomierz land and Mazovia and there he cast out another demon, namely Iiassa<\/strong>. Thereafter, he drove out the demon Lada<\/strong> from Great Poland and Silesia and the surrounding provinces.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Agnieszka Jab\u0142onka, “The Sermon about Saint Adalbert from the Pauline [Order] manuscript from Beszowa” (Kazanie o\u00a0\u015bw. Wojciechu z r\u0119kopisu paulin\u00f3w w Beszowej<\/em>), in “Biuletyn Biblioteki Jagiellonskiej”]<\/p>\n

About the Author: <\/strong>author unknown.<\/p>\n

\n

Sermo: de Sancto Adalberto<\/strong><\/h1>\n

codex from second half of the 15th century
\nsermon by Piotr of Mi\u0142os\u0142aw?
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

From the sermon: Hodie mater ecclesia\u00a0sancta recolect festum sancti Adalberti…et agitur dies eius festus per totum orben,\u00a0multo magis hic in nostra Polonia.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Et ego Deus tuus in persona vnus in essencia praeposuit hic nostris partibus Polonie sanctum martyrum Adalbertum patronum, vt eiceret tria demonia, videlicet Blada<\/strong> vnum, quod colebatur pro Deo in terra Cracoviensi et Yassa<\/strong>, quod colebatur Polonie et Nya<\/strong> tercium, quod colebatur in alijs terris Vngarie, Bohemie.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“And I your God in one person [He?] placed here on our side the presence of the patron of Poland, the martyr Saint Adalbert [Vojt\u011bch\/Wojciech] to drive out three demons, namely one Blada<\/strong>, who was worshipped instead of God in the land of Cracow and Yassa<\/strong>, who was worshipped by the Poles and Nya<\/strong> the third, who was worshipped in other countries Hungary [and] Bohemia.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Notice also the interesting side note.<\/p>\n

Note too the mention of the river Saale as Solawa:<\/p>\n

“Di\/latavitque [Boleslaus] suum principatum a Zolawa \/\/ usque ad Kyow.”<\/p>\n

Finally, here<\/a><\/span> is another Life of Saint Adalbert in Lives of the Saints that features a gloss mentioning Polish Gods.<\/p>\n

[Krzysztof Bracha, “The Sermones Dominicales et Festivales from the so-called Collection of Piotr of Mi\u0142os\u0142aw” (Sermones dominicales et festivales z tzw. kolekcji Piotra z Mi\u0142os\u0142awia<\/em>) in “Preaching in Late Medieval Poland” (Nauczanie kaznodziejskie w Polsce p\u00f3\u017anego \u015bredniowiecza<\/em>), also by Krzysztof Bracha; also El\u017cbieta Belcarzowa, “Polish Glosses in Medieval Latin Sermons” (Glosy polskie\u00a0w\u00a0\u0142aci\u0144skich kazaniach \u015bredniowiecznych<\/em>), part 4]<\/p>\n

About the Author: <\/strong>author unknown; Brueckner suspects Piotr of Mi\u0142os\u0142aw.<\/p>\n

\n

Jan of D\u0105br\u00f3wka<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\n

The following appears in the codex going by the name\u00a0Variae Quaestiones theologicae\u00a0et sermones de tempore et de\u00a0sanctis, scripti manu lohannis D\u0105br\u00f3wka<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“Nos enim Poloni tres deos habuimus, scilicet Lada,<\/strong> Nya<\/strong>, Iassa<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“We, that is the Poles, had three Gods, namely Lada<\/strong>, Nya<\/strong>, Iassa<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>[El\u017cbieta Belcarzowa, “Polish Glosses in Medieval Latin Sermons” (Glosy polskie\u00a0w\u00a0\u0142aci\u0144skich kazaniach \u015bredniowiecznych<\/em>), part 3; see also Krzysztof Bracha, Tria ydola Polonorum<\/em>]<\/p>\n

\n

The following appears in the codex\u00a0with a very similar name of\u00a0Varie questiones theological et\u00a0sermones de tempore et de sanctis… scripti manu mgri lohannis D\u0105br\u00f3wka<\/em>:<\/p>\n

“Quot regna, tot ydola, imo in Polonia fuerunt tria, scilicet lada<\/strong>, niya<\/strong>, yassa<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“Wherever there is a kingdom, there are [also] idols and in Poland there were three, namely lada<\/strong>, niya<\/strong>, yassa<\/strong>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Interestingly, this manuscript also contains a mention of the River Saale in the Suavic form Solawa:<\/p>\n

“…Beliger, quia metas proavi sui Boleslai Pii\u00a0Chabri<\/em> reparavit, quia metas Polonie in Kyow et Solawa fixit.”<\/p>\n

[El\u017cbieta Belcarzowa, “Polish Glosses in Medieval Latin Sermons” (Glosy polskie\u00a0w\u00a0\u0142aci\u0144skich kazaniach \u015bredniowiecznych<\/em>), part 3]<\/p>\n

About the Author: <\/strong>The\u00a0following is mostly attributable to the\u00a0Belcarzowa description of the manuscripts.\u00a0<\/strong>Jan of D\u0105br\u00f3wka aka Jan D\u0105br\u00f3wka seems to have come from the village of D\u0105br\u00f3wka in Kuyavia. He matriculated at Cracow University in 1420 and received his bachelor (magister) degree in 1427. He held the position of the head of the rhetoric department until 1433. He received a title of doctor of decrees in 1440 and about 1449 the title of doctor of theology. He was a nine-time dean (rector) of the university. It’s assumed that he was the person responsible for the introduction of the teaching of history at the university. He wrote a commentary on the Chronicle of Master Vincentius Kad\u0142ubek. He was also a diplomat. His students included Grzegorz of Sanok and, importantly, Jan D\u0142ugosz himself. Jan D\u0105br\u00f3wka died in 1472.<\/p>\n

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It is an interesting fact that there are so many mentions of Polish Deities throughout the 15th century. I discussed some of these potential mentions here but there are many more. They appear in many sermons and this makes sense as the 1300s and 1400s were when the “Baptism” of Poland was really taking place […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-origins","category-poles","category-religion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17252"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18039,"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17252\/revisions\/18039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}