„Czarna legenda” Niccolò Machiavellego w polskiej poezji XVII wieku (na wybranych przykładach)

Abstract

The subject matter of my research is the black legend of Niccolò Machiavelli in Polish baroque poetry. This legend spread in the 17th century Commonwealth on such a large scale that the name of this secretary of the Florentine republicbegan to be used to describe even kings or pretenders to the throne who were political opponents. For this reason, I described in this scientific article the literary works of poets such as Wacław Potocki, Wespazjan Kochowski and Stanisław Orzelski. The second of these authors acted in a similar way in The Stone of Testimony of the Innocence of the Great Senator in the Polish Crown, comparing the actions of the royal court to an infernal council, in which such characters as Machiavelli, Richelieu and Mazarini take part. In my scientific article, I will emphasize that this Polish Baroque poet also showed the secretary of the Florentine republic in his other literary works as a perverse and demonic person. I will also note that Wacław Potocki in his work negatively refers to those people who defame John III Sobieski in lampoons and accuse him of using “Machiavellian arts”. I will not ignore Stanisław Orzelski’s Macaronica carmina Marfordii Mądzikovii poetae approbatihere.

Keywords

• niccolò machiavelli
• bad opinion
• polish poetry
• wespazjan kochowski
• wacław potocki
• stanisław orzelski