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kingdom_n	church_n	king_n	maintain_v	1,839	5	7.8384	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A69788	The history of Poland. vol. 1 in several letters to persons of quality, giving an account of the antient and present state of that kingdom, historical, geographical, physical, political and ecclesiastical ... : with sculptures, and a new map after the best geographers : with several letters relating to physick / by Bern. Connor ... who, in his travels in that country, collected these memoirs from the best authors and his own observations ; publish'd by the care and assistance of Mr. Savage.	Connor, Bernard, 1666?-1698.; Savage, John, 1673-1747.	1698 (1698)	Wing C5888; ESTC R8630	202,052	410

extended their Dominions beyond those of any State in Europe had their other Constitutions been as well grounded or as exactly observed For tho the Poles have been constantly molested by their Neighbours the Suedes Moscovites Tartars Turks Hungarians and Germans and their Kingdom been several times reduc'd to Extremities burnt and plunder'd by frequent Incursions put into Convulsions and Desolations and thousands of their People been carry'd away into Captivity yet by the prudent Conduct and Courage of their Kings through a desire of gaining the Affection of their Subjects by serving their Country zealously to the end their Fame and Merits might raise their Children to the Throne after their deaths the Poles have not only always oppos'd but likewise repuls'd the exorbitant Force of their Enemies They have also by degrees enlarg'd their Country by vast Conquests and render'd it several times the most formidable of any Kingdom in Europe They have likewise never submitted to any Foreign Power no not even to the Romans by force They have also hitherto inviolably maintain'd their Liberties Properties and peculiar manner of Government against all the Attempts both of their Enemies abroad or the Cabals form'd either by themselves or their Kings at home and I believe I may say to their great Commendation that they are the only Nation in the World who have kept the longest Succession of Kings without subjecting themselves either to a Despotic or Hereditary Monarchy their Princes being now as most are thought to have been at first wholly elected by the People Tho My Lord I have said the Poles have never excluded their Kings Children yet must it be understood that their Crown has not always been in the same Family by reason that from time to time the Royal Line has fail'd and therefore they have consequently been oblig'd to elect Princes out of other Families but still I may very well affirm that there has never been any Stranger chosen except in the present Election where the preceding King had any Issue surviving The Princes and Princesses of this Kingdom have in all been fifty two whereof were Women as Venda and Hedwigis both having had the Government for some time and the other forty eight were Men. At first these Princes were only stil'd Duces Dukes or Generals of Poland as if their Office in those times had been no other than to head Armies for 't is to be observ'd that to Boleslaus Chrobry they were not so much as crown'd This Title continu'd from the Year 550 to the Year 1005. when the Emperour Otho III. created Boleslaus I. the Sixteenth Duke of Poland King being the second Christian Prince that had govern'd that Country all before him and Miecislaus I. his Father having been Pagans as were likewise the Poles themselves till the tenth Century when this Miecislaus the fifteenth Duke of Poland turn'd Christian in the Year 964 in Pope John the XIIIth's time by which means his Son Boleslaus came to have the Title of King All the Princes of Poland may be divided into four Classes whereof the first and last are of different Families the second and third of but one in which the Crown passes from the Father to the Daughter The first Class reign'd from the Year 550 to the Year 830 The second from 830 to 1382 The third from 1382 to 1574 and the last from thence down to our Time I shall now proceed to give your Lordship some short Account of the Succession and most Remarkable Actions of the first Class of the Dukes of Poland from the Year 550 to the Year 830. LECHUS Son of Annon first Duke of Poland as I said before founded this Nation He built the first City there naming it Gnesna now the Primate's See as likewise the City of Posnan Capital of Posnania 'T is uncertain how many govern'd before his Race came to be extinct and there is great Contest among the Polish Historians about his Successor but some affirm that he order'd by his last Will like Alexander the Great that they should elect the most worthy Person among them VISIMIRUS his Nephew was thereupon chosen who is reported to have extended his Dominions even to the very Borders of Denmark and to have built a very great Ship which was an exceeding Terror to the Danes He is also said to have given that Nation a great Overthrow by Sea and to have pursued his Victory into the very Bowels of that Kingdom where he subdued many Provinces and built several Cities whereof one was Wismar which retains his Name to this day In one Battel this Visimirus is said to have taken the Danish King Prisoner and to have carried him into Poland whence afterwards being releas'd and conspiring together with the Swedes and Holsatians he made an Incursion into Poland with a numerous Army but was soon met and vanquish'd again by Wisimir who thereupon push'd on his Victory so far as to reduce the greatest part of Denmark which he then united to Poland In opposition to this Story Monsicur Pauli Minister here from Denmark has assured me that the Poles never made any Conquest in that Country which may give some Exception to the truth of this King's Reign tho it may very well be suppos'd that several Kings reign'd during the space of 150 Years there being so much time between the beginning of Lechus his Reign and the Election of Cracus However to gratify the Curiosity of the Publick I hope I have not done amiss to insert it since I withal quote my Author After many glorious Actions having greatly augmented his Dominions this Wisimir died without Issue Vapovius says that Lechus his Posterity reign'd all that space of time between him and Cracus being 150 Years yet having consulted all their Historians I can find no manner of Account given of their Reig●● nor of the Government of Poland in all that space of time Lechus his Issue being extinct 't is certain the People elected twelve Woievods in the Polish Language Captains of War to govern 'em who divided that Country into twelve parts for the Poles sticking close to their Liberty would then by no means put the Government into one Man's hands But soon after these Palatins disagreeing among themselves the People chose one CRACUS for their Head a very Rich and Popular Person reported to have been of the Race of the Gracchi at Rome who were banish'd into this Country by King Ancus Who this Cracus was all Historians do not agree The Polish Writers say he was one of the twelve Woievods but the Bohemians affirm he was a Prince of their Country He gain'd extremely upon the good Will of his Subjects for he soon appeas'd the impending Storms of a Civil War built a City on the River Vistula calling it after his own Name Cracow and transfer'd his Residence from Gnesna thither which is the reason that this City has ever since

means was rated much lower than the House of Austria could have expected For altho it was urg'd to Sigismund that as Charles the Vth dealt formerly by the King of France on the like occasion so he ought to have a Sum of Money paid down sutable to the great Quality of his Prisoner yet Sigismund answer'd That it was to no purpose to propose Charles the Vth as an Example in this Case since that Prince had been guilty of an Action unbecoming his Grandeur When for his part he did not look upon it sufficient Advantage to have got the better of his Enemy unless he likewise had the Glory to give him his Liberty and not to make him buy it By this Mediation Maximilian was to quit for ever his Title to the Kingdom of Poland to restore some Places which had been surrender'd to him and to remain in a perpetual Amity with Poland to all which the Emperour his Brother was made Guarantee But altho these Conditions were so very reasonable yet Maximilian would not ratify them till 1589. Wherefore his Wilfulness detain'd him in Prison till that time when he escape 〈◊〉 to his Parole of Honour Nevertheless he was afterwards brought to sign them by the Power his Brother had over him Sigismund III. was first marry'd to Ann Daughter of Charles Arch-Duke of Austria and after her Death to Constantia her Sister by both which he had three Sons Vladislaus by the former and Casimir and Ferdinand by the latter the two first succeeding him in the Kingdom When the King his Father was dead he went into Swedeland and was there likewise crown'd King of that Country in the Year 1592 on condition that every fifth Year he should come and reign over Sweden in Person but being engag'd in a long War against the Muscovites Turks and Tartars he could not be spar'd in fifteen Years and therefore sent a Senate of Jesuits to govern them and suppress the Lutherah Doctrine which was then mightily spread in that Country Here it must be observ'd that this King's Mother Catherine strictly adher'd to the Roman Church by the permission of her Husband John III. King of Sweden who also lean'd a little that way Whereupon when Sigismund's Tutor Arnold Grothusius would have seduced him from that Perswasion his Father John being in a great Passion and drawing his Sword upon the Tutor cry'd I will have my Son educated in hopes of both Kingdoms meaning his own and that of Poland These Jesuits the King order'd to be receiv'd with the same Honour as if he himself had come in Person at which the Swedes being grievously nettled sunk them in the Harbour of Stockholm in the Ship that brought 'em from Dantzic and immediately thereupon proclaim'd Charles Duke of Sudermannia Sigismund's Uncle their King who had embrac'd Lutheranism some time before and which the Swedes have profess'd ever since This occasion'd bloody Wars between these two Nations but Sigismund being likewise engag'd with other Countries was forc'd to accept of a dishonourable Truce In the beginning of this War King Charles IX took a great many places from the Poles in Livonia most of which were afterwards retaken by the Polish General and Chancellor Zamoski Besides this the King of Sweden was vanquish'd in a great Battel fought near Kirckholm and Riga where he narrowly escap'd himself but some intestine Divisions arising between the King and Nobility of Poland he got time to recover Breath The occasion of the Wars between the Poles and Muscovites was this A certain Person coming into Poland pretended to be Demetrius Son to John Basilowitz Great Duke of Muscovy and that he was to have been murder'd by order of Boris Gudenow afterwards Grand Duke who hop'd thereby to secure the Succession after the Death of Theodore eldest Son of the said Duke but that another had been kill'd in his stead Hereupon he found so great Encouragement from George Mniszeck Palatin of Sendomir that he married his Daughter to him and by the Assistance of some other Polish Lords gather'd together a great Army and march'd with Demetrius into Muscovy when Boris Gudenow then Grand Duke happening to die suddenly he was receiv'd by the Muscovites and proclaim'd Czar in Moscow Hereupon he sent into Poland for his Bride but while the Nuptials were celebrating in Moscow the People suspecting him to be an Impostor gather'd together rais'd a Tumult and attack'd the Castle where they cut to pieces Demetrius with most of the Poles that came along with him and his Bride and took her Prisoner Then Basilius Suski descended from the Grand Dukes by the Mother's side having got together about ●●0000 Men was proclaim'd Czar immediately after which a Rumor being spread abroad that Demetrius had escaped tho Suski had taken care to expose his Body to view which was so mangled that none could know him and a Person pretending to be him the Poles acknowledg'd him as such whereupon they together with the Cosacks assisted this Person to recover his pretended Right and several times beat Suski and oblig'd him to set at liberty the Captive Bride She also acknowledg'd this Demetrius for her Husband but whether he was really so or not could never yet be determin'd Sigismund laid hold of this opportunity to try at least whether he could recover Smolensko and Severia whereupon he besieged the former in the Year 1609 but could not make himself Master of it till the Year 1611 when he took it by storm In the mean time the Poles who had hitherto sided with Demetrius were recall'd by Sigismund who thought it not convenient that so considerable a part of his Forces should be under the Command of another By the removal of this Army Suski had leisure to recover himself whereupon with the Assistance sent him out of Sweden he march'd directly against the Poles who then were besieging Smolensko but was shamefully defeated by them near Clusin By this Overthrow the Affairs of the Muscovites were again in a very dangerous Condition wherefore to avoid the danger they resolv'd to depose Suski who by his Misfortunes became odious to them and to offer their Crown to Vladislaus Sigismund's Son This Suski was afterwards surrender'd to the Poles and dy'd at Warsaw in Prison Whereupon Vladislaus marching towards that Country with a powerful Army in the Year 1610 and they hearing of it thinking he came rather to conquer than accept their Crown unanimously revolted against him especially when they heard that Demetrius had been murder'd by the Tartars who were his Guards Hereupon Prince Vladislaus his Expedition was made to no purpose he being forc'd to make a Truce with the Muscovites for fourteen Years whereby it was agreed that in the mean time the Poles should keep in their possession the several Dukedoms of Severia Zernikow and Novogrod which they had taken during the late Troubles in Muscovy In the mean time George Farenbach surrender'd several Places in

out How can our Gods dissemble with these wicked Christians so far as to suffer 'em to profane their Divinities with unhallowed hands when if we had but offer'd to injure them in the least we always immediately underwent their Revenge But at length when they perceiv'd no Judgment to follow the suppos'd Sacrilege of the Poles they unanimously acknowlegd'd their false Worship and consented to be baptiz'd whereof about thirty thousand were brought to the Font in one day From henceforward the Lithuanians have for the major part continued Christians tho there are yet some Idolaters among them of different Beliefs towards the Frontiers of Moscovy and Samogitia in the great Woods who still worship Serpents c. as they used to do There are also in this Great Dutchy about thirty thousand Tartars with liberty of the Turkish Religion who have enjoy'd this Privilege for some hundreds of Years on condition that they shall send every Year twelve hundred Men to the Wars against the Turks and Tartars These Mahometans call their Churches Meczets Page 342. Upon this occasion I was assur'd by the King himself several Senators and other Great Men of that Kingdom and moreover it is the common and undisputed Report that Children are oftentimes nourish'd and brought up by Bears in these Parts They say likewise that if a hungry He-Bear finds a Child that has been carelesly left any where he will immediately tear it to pieces but on the contrary had it been a She-Bear then giving Suck she would undoubtedly have carried it safe to her Den and nourish'd it among her Cubs which after some time might probably have been rescued from her and been taken by Hunters as it happen'd in another Case of this nature in the Year 1669 which has been positively asserted to me in a Letter from his Excellency Monsieur de Cleverskerk now Embassador here to his Majesty King William from the States of Hollond which Letter I thought not amiss to insert A Monsieur Connor Monsieur JE veux satisfaire en partie à votre desir vous rendre conte d'un Enfant que J'ay veu à Varsovie en l'an 1669. Me rencontrant en cette Ville de Pologne pour étre present au tems de l'Election d'un Roy qui se devoit faire à la place du Roy Jean Casimir qui s'étoit démis de la Couronne Je m'informay à cette occasion de ce qu'il y avoit à voir en ce lieu J'ay appris entre autres choses qu'il se trouvoit au Fauxbourg de la Ville qui va vers le Palais que le Roy Casimir y avoit fait batir chez des Religieuses un Enfant Male qui avoit été nourri des Ours ayant été pris quêques tems auparauant à la chasse de ces Animaux J'allay à ce lieu pour Satisfaire ma Curiosité trouvay a la Porte le dit Enfant jouant dans les Sables sous l'Auvent qui étoit devant la Maison Il étoit selon ma meilleure Memoire de l'age de douze à treize ans Quand Je l'approchay il vint sauter comme par surprise à mon habit prit par la main avec beaucoup de precipitation un des boutons d'Argent que Je portois à mon Justaucorps approcha le Nez pour le Sentir Puis Jl se jetta tout d'un coup à un coin par terre faisant quêque bruit comme une espece d' Hurlement J'entray dans la Maison ou une Fille m' informa plus particulierement de lá Prise de cet Enfant Mais comme Je n'ay point avec moy le Livre ou J'ay écrit les Observations que J'ay fait dans mes Voyages Je ne sçaurois vous en faire le dêtail Cette Fille appella fit entrer le dit Enfant luy montra un grand Morçeau de pain ce que luy voyant il se jetta sur un Plancher qui étoit fait contre la muraille dans cette Chambre Il y marcha comme à quatre pattes Il se leva avec une grande vitesse prit par les deux mains le pain qui luy fut presentè le porta ainsi au nez se Jetta en bas faisant encore un bruit étrange comme auparavant On m'informa qu'il ne parloit point encore des paroles mais qu'on esperoit avec le tems luy en apprendre d'autant qu'il avoit l'ouiè bonne Il avoit quêques marques au visage qu'on pensoit avoir été des Egratigneures de l'Ours Voilà Monsieur tout ce que ma Memoire me peut fournir d'une Particularité qu'il y à si long tems que J'ay veüe Mais Personne ne doit trouver étrange que cela soit arrivé d'autant qu'on a d'autres Exemples dans les Histories Et on m'a informé en ce Pais que les Tartares y font souvent des Invasions par des courses qu'ils font avec unc si grande vitesse qu'ils entrent ●●n peu de tems bien avant dans le Pais qui est ouvert leurs chevaux étant capables de faire un tres-grand cheminsans manger ni boire qu'étant allez jusques où ils ont proposé la ils Etendent leur grande Troupe prennent comme dans les filets toutes les Personnes qu'ils rencontrent en leur retraite les menent en Esclavage qu' d ces occasions les Hommes les Femmes tachants fuir n'ont bien souvent pas de tems de sauver leurs Enfants qu'ainsi celuicy peut avoir été laissé trouvé par quêques Ours qui sont en ces lieux de Lituanie ou de Pologne Je suis marri Monsieur ne vous pouvoir pas informer satisfaire à votre Curiosité avec plus d'exactitude cependant vous recevrez s'il vous plait cette Relation comme un petit témoignage de ma bonne Volonté comme etant Ce 1 Jan. 1698. Monsieur Votre tres-Affectionné Serviteur J. P. Van den Brande de Cleverskerk Thus in English SIR I Shall endeavour partly to satisfy your Request and to give you an Account of a Boy that I saw at Warsaw in the Year 1661 who had been brought up by Bears Coming to this City of Poland with design to be Present at the Election of a King after John Casimir who had Abdicated the Crown I enquir'd what was worth seeing in or about this Place whereupon I was inform'd among other things that there was in the Suburbs of this City which go towards King Casimir's Palace in a Nunnery a certain Male Child who had been brought up among Bears and who had been taken some time before at a Bear-hunting Vpon this Information I went immediately to that place to satisfy my Curiosity where I found the aforesaid Boy

rest near Cracow it is most convenient for him to imprison Dclinquents there Czentochova a Town famous for good Beer which is not only fetch'd from all Parts of Poland but also from the neighbouring Provinces of Germany Without this Place is a very famous Monastery situate upon a Hill where is a Picture of the Virgin Mary said to be painted by Saint Luke and to which Pilgrims from all Parts come to make their Offerings We went upon our Journey from Silesia to Cracow to see this Convent where they shew'd us vast Quantities of Gold and Silver Plate of rich Ornaments for Altars and Habits enrich'd with all sorts of Jewels particularly with Pearls for the great Families in Poland think it a mighty Honour for their Posterity to have given any thing of value to this Place to be a Monument of their Devotion as well as Liberality The Monks told us of a great many Miracles that were wrought here with which they work'd such Effects upon the Minds of those credulous People that they scruple not to impoverish themselves to enrich this Place Not only the Church is very rich but likewise the Monks are Masters of a great Territory round about it and they maintain a Garison of 300 Men upon their own Charges whom I have observ'd to be in a better Condition than any other Soldiers of the Kingdom I can compare this Place to none more properly than Loretto in Italy both for Wealth and Bigotry Slaucovia in the same Dutchy famous for Silver Mines which bring great Profit to this Bishop Near to this City lies Ilcussia a Royal Town abounding also with Silver and Lead Its Citizens are very Luxurious but notwithstanding no less Devout This Town is encompass'd with a Wall and its Houses are for the greatest part of Brick The Bread here is extraordinary and Beef not to be equall'd in Cracow whence it is scarce distant above five Miles On the Eastern side of the City of Cracow lies Velisca or Wieliczka not above two or three Miles from thence a Town abounding with Christal Salt but which is not so transparent as that of Bochnia about five Miles from Cracow where Salt is dug out in great Masses and exceeding clear Next towards Hungary lies Dobcitia a strong Town with a Castle To the North of Cracow lies Proszovice a Timber-built Town seated in a Plain where there is a Palace of the King 's rais'd on the Banks of the River Sozeniava about four Miles from Cracow in which is kept a Provincial Diet. There are several other Cities and Towns belonging to Noblemen as likewise a great Number of Castles Palaces Religious Houses c. of no ordinary Structure in this Palatinate but all which for brevity's sake I have omitted This Palatinate excels all the rest in Mines except that of Sendomir only Silver and Lead are found about Ilcussia Slaucovia Severia and Novogora and Copper and Gold at Novotargus and in the Mountains about Sandecz Mineral Salt like to huge Masses of Stone at Bochna and Wieliczka Marble of all Colours at Selecia belonging to the Bare-footed Friers Nitre at Wislicz Vitriol at Becia Pit-coal at Tencinum Iron-Mine and Glass-houses at Obstinia as likewise at several other Places in this Kingdom But what I shall give your Lordship a more particular Account of will be of Salt and Glass which I have taken from my Observation in the Country That of Salt properly comes in here You go down into the Salt Mines near Cracow by four or five pair of wooden Stairs by which you go from one into the other The Horses also descend the same way The whole Depth of this Mine is thought to be near three hundred Geometrical Paces Below you may meet with a thousand Turnings and Windings and many Alleys and Streets like to a Town all which the Proprietor and hereditary Governour Monsieur Morstin Covalski told me would require above a Week's time to go over In some Places there is a great deal of fresh Water in these Mines which the Miners drink but in most it is salt of which they make Salt by Evaporation but still the best sort is that which is natural without Preparation Sometimes there are such fierce Winds in these Mines that nothing almost can withstand them and generally there is so much Cold that it is hardly to be endur'd Whilst it rains the Salt is commonly insipid They have Engines to crane up the Water that it may not any ways incommode the Miners The Revenue of this Mine amounts to about eight hundred thousand Timfs or Polish Florins annually which makes about 400000 French Livres whereof 50000 go to the King 10000 to the Queen and some thousands more to the Officers of the Crown and the Miners and other Labourers yet over and above all this the Proprietor is oblig'd to make a yearly Present to all the Cities and Towns of Poland and more particularly to their Starostas A Cobler about the Year 1548 first found out this Mine who digging a Well near this Place perceiv'd a Fountain with a thin Wall of Salt in the middle of it which breaking and not knowing what to make of he discover'd to the Owners of the Land who were then the Family of Morstin who digging deeper by reason they did not meet with much Salt near the Surface found it in so great Quantity that they have not been able to exhaust it during the Space of 150 Years The Miners say that the Lumps of Salt weigh a great deal less in the Mine than when taken out which I have not seen confirm'd There are four sorts of Salt in the Mine whereof one is extream hard and rocky like Christal Another less hard and clearer A third brittle and softer as also white and pure All these three sorts are brackish when the fourth only is somewhat fresher In these Mines you shall have on one side a stream of salt Water and on the other one of fresh There are some places in these Mines where you can't work because you dare not carry a Candle for fear of setting the Vapours on fire which are always Nitrous and easily susceptible of Flame In this Palatinate and in some others there is a particular sort of Manna which they gather in the Months of May and June by sweeping it off the Grass with Sives together with the Dew They eat this Manna and make several sorts of Dishes with it for their Tables More of this I shall take occasion to speak of hereafter The Senators of this Palatinate are The Bishop Castellan and Palatin of Cracow The Castellans of Wounitz Oswieczin Sandecz and Biecz The Castellan of Cracow precedes the Palatin for Reasons given before in the Life of Boleslaus III. otherwise call'd Krivoustus This Palatin's Jurisdiction is very large and extends several ways not only over the Citizens and Countrymen but also the Nobility or Gentry of his Palatinate