Obraz tatarszczyzny w „Kronice Sarmacyjej europskiej” Aleksandra Gwagnina i w „Dziejach tureckich” Marcina Paszkowskiego

Abstract

The article presents the image of the Tatars preserved in the 8th book of "The Chronicle of Sarmatian Europe" of Gwagnin translated by Marcin Paszkowski. In particular, it refers to sources which the historian and the translator used when they compiled the story (e.g. Marcin Bielski’s "The Chronicle"), the structure of message, and issues connected with culture, including customs, religion, manner of fighting and lifestyle. Among the chronicler’s interests there were also a division of Tatar hordes into particular groups–nations, as well as the presentation of selected significant historical facts. It was against this background that Paszkowski’s "The Turkish Histories" presented the Tatars. The image was sketched from the prisoner’s point of view – Jakub Kimikowski’s. The description of Paszkowski refers to the tripartite structure of Gwagnin’s story, derived from Bielski, and including customs, division of hordes and a military technique. Similarly to Gwagin, whose story Paszkowski slightly shortened, in "The Turkish Histories" a referenced authority in Tatar issues was Ovidius – the author of (among others) the letter to Maximus form "Epistulae ex Ponto and Tristia". The Tatars, in Paszkowski’s work, are perceived as dealing with pillage invaders who devastated eastern lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.