{"id":5345,"date":"2016-02-08T06:21:17","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T06:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jassa.org\/?p=5345"},"modified":"2016-02-10T06:24:18","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T06:24:18","slug":"athleta-christi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jassa.org\/?p=5345","title":{"rendered":"Athleta Christi"},"content":{"rendered":"

The tomb of Boleslaw the Great (aka the Brave) was located in the Poznan cathedral. \u00a0This much we know from the Greater Poland Chronicle. \u00a0The cathedral itself was upgraded in the then popular “Gothic” style by Casimir the Great in the 14th century. \u00a0The first (? see below) mention of an\u00a0inscription on the upgraded tomb dates to 1422 and is found in a document dealing with the feud between the Teutonic Knights and the King of Poland (it is a witness statement on behalf of the Polish King by one George Merkil, a notary of\u00a0Poznan). \u00a0According to the subsequent testimony of Jan Dlugosz (in the “Lives of Bishops of Poland” or\u00a0Vitae episcoporum Poloniae<\/em>), it was Casimir who\u00a0included this\u00a0inscription regarding\u00a0the deeds of his predecessor:<\/p>\n

“[Casimirus] sarcophagos Regum humiles et solo sequatos, petrosa mole super imposita erexit, delitescentesque umbras, ne in perpetuam residerent oblivionem, vindicatas illustravit, et Posnaniensi ecclesiae vasa aurea et argentes dono data reliquit.<\/em>”\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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

The first edition\u00a0of the text – it was previously thought (again see below) – came from 1490 when Stanislaw Streczaka a Benedictine monk from Tyniec mentioned it in his copy of the\u00a0Gesta Romanorum\u00a0<\/em>(the manuscript was in Lviv where it was apparently destroyed in a fire in 1848).<\/p>\n

\"poznaniensises\"<\/a>

what is believed to be the actual tomb underneath the Poznan Cathedral<\/p><\/div>\n

In any event the tomb was moved in the second half of the 18th century and in 1790 was destroyed when a portion of the cathedral tower fell off. \u00a0Once the tomb was destroyed (metaphor?) and the Polish state partitioned (over the years 1772-1795), suddenly everyone became interested in what that inscription said.<\/p>\n

A number of authors were discussing it\u00a0(Lubienski,\u00a0Starowolski,\u00a0Hartknoch,\u00a0Zalaszowski,\u00a0Czacki,\u00a0Sarnicki,\u00a0Naruszewicz) before\u00a0Joachim Lelewel really made a study of it. \u00a0Here it is:<\/p>\n

“In this grave there rests
\na chieftain, a noble dove
\nYou were called Chrobry
\nmay you be eternally blessed
\nThough from a pagan father,
\nyet your mother was a believer
\nDrops of holy water caused
\nthat you became God’s servant
\nWhen you hair was cut
\nit was laid in Rome
\nFrom then among conflict
\nyou were Christ’s athlete
\nYou won [many] lands
\nand made many wars
\n<\/em>Distinguished chief
\npraise to you, stout Boleslaw
\nThus the kingdom of Slavs
\nGoths,* and too of Poles
\nThe Emperor did raise higher
\nso thou\u00a0need not be\u00a0a duke
\nAnd [in turn] many gifts you
\nyou gave [him]
\nYou gave to him
\n[for] riches\/wealth you had\u00a0aplenty
\nAnd to give you fame
\ndid Otto give you the crown
\nFor your great deeds
\nmay you find salvation. Amen”<\/p>\n

\"athleta\"<\/a>

Athleta Christi showing the (old) Prussians the (not yet royal) finger<\/p><\/div>\n

(Hic iacet in tumba<\/em>
\n princeps generosa columba
\nChabri tu es dictus<\/em>
\nsis in evum benedictus
\n<\/em>Perfido patre
\ntu es, sed credula matre
\n<\/em>Fonte sacro lotus<\/em>
\n servus Domini puta totus
\n<\/em>Precidens comam<\/em>
\n septeno tempore, Romam
\n<\/em>Tu possedisti<\/em>
\n velut verus adleta Cristi
\n<\/em>Vicisti terras<\/em>
\n faciens bellas quoque guerras
\n<\/em>Inclite dux<\/em>
\n tibi laus, strenue Boleslaus
\n<\/em>Regni Sclavorum<\/em>
\n Gottorum sue Polonorum
\n<\/em>Cesar precellens<\/em>
\n a te ducalia pellens
\n<\/em>Plurima dona sibi<\/em>
\n que placiere tibi
\n<\/em>Hinc detulisti<\/em>
\n quia divicias habuisti
\nOb famamque bonam
\n tibi contulit Otto coronam
\n<\/em><\/em>Propter luctamen<\/em>
\n slt tlbl saLVs Amen)<\/em><\/p>\n

And in Lelewel’s version (with a Polish translation) (note that the lines are differently ordered here):<\/p>\n

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

At the time of Lelewel’s writing the oldest copy was thought to be one from 1490. \u00a0Interestingly, older versions appeared later – most recently one that was discovered by Wojciech Mischke (an art historian) and that has been dated to the beginning of the 15th century. \u00a0How Mischke\u00a0discovered it should be a subject of independent study. \u00a0The language appears in the Codex\u00a0HM 1036, of the Huntington Library in San Marino (California not Italy) but “appears” is a bit of a tongue in cheek joke. \u00a0It\u00a0barely<\/em> appears. \u00a0Or rather, it was erased and overwritten with a poem praising Pius II (who was Pope between 1458-1464). \u00a0We can only assume that someone who tried to read the remains of the writing understood enough of what it said so as to bring in a Polish medievalist like Mischke for a consult (another mystery). You can see it here (folio 206):<\/p>\n

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

What is interesting, however, too was that there is apparently\u00a0another<\/em> writing earlier than the Chrobry inscription that is visible underneath. \u00a0Here is the back of that page (folio 205) where you can see it peeking through an Epigram of Martial:<\/p>\n

\"strangezt\"<\/a>
\n<\/a>\u00a0Other pictures of the manuscript can be found here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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

* So what about these Goths? \u00a0That Goths conquered\u00a0the Veneti is evident from\u00a0Getica<\/em> itself. \u00a0A memory of Goths was preserved all over Eastern Europe (much like Vandals in Central Europe). \u00a0Numerous examples abound:<\/p>\n