“Запіскі янычара або турэцкая хроніка” Канстанціна Міхайловіча: гісторыя помніка і характарыстыка мусульманскага свету

Abstract

Memoirs of the Janissary, or the Turkish Chronicle of Konstantin Mikhailovich, a Serb of Ostrovica – are one of the most interesting European monuments of the beginning of the 16th century, which are very complex in terms of genesis of the text, authorship and features of genre. Their manuscript was found in the Berdyczew monastery by A. Gałęzowski only in 1823. In terms of the history of the appearance of the monument, the article was primarily focused on the original language. It is stated that the work was most probably written in already a well-formed at that time old Belarussian language, which also performed a state-building function in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Konstantin Mikhailovich spent almost thirty years of his life in the east of Poland, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where most of the versions of the monuments come from. Information about the fact that the Turkish Chronicle was written primarily in “Russian letters” is given by the oldest and fullest Polish version, distinguished and printed by Jan Łoś in Cracow in 1912. Mikołaj Malinowski has mentioned that the Cyrical version of the work was seen at the Sapieha Library in Dereczyn by a teacher of the junior high school in Vilnius Jan Zakrzewski. Memoirs of the Janissary are also one of the first studies in which the religious characteristics of Islam, the history of Turkey, its statehood and prevailing customs are widely discussed. Konstantin Mikhailovich was associated with the Muslim world for more than twenty years – since when he was taken prisoner, as an adolescent, along with his two brothers. The article emphasizes that he, as a Christian, had to act against his own convictions, imitating faithfulness to the strange and hostile world, devising plans for the liberation of himself and his fellow countrymen. Konstantin Mikhailovich clearly uses in the enemy camp the tactics of “fox and lion” (Machiavelli) characteristic of Konrad Wallenrod by Adam Mickiewicz. The exalted way of speaking in the Memoirs of the Janissary sets the patriotic dominant as the result of the author’s deep concern for his nation, the aspiration of an outstanding person to conscientiously accomplish their human potential. At the same time Konstantin Mikhailovich tries to be just and in his own way objective in the presentation of the details of the Muslim world. He is surprised, for example, that in the Turkish army a quite ordinary man, yesterday’s slave, through his merits can soar to perform high functions in the state and receive significant privileges. In the first seven chapters of his work, Konstantin Mikhailovich shows the religious problems which seem essential for him in order to understand the Muslim world. In the following parts he presents the genealogy of Turkish rulers, he talks about the history of the court of the reigning Turkish sultan, using various sources of information for this purpose. Furthermore, Konstantin Mikhailovich shows special accuracy when he talks about the Turkish army and organizing Turkish military expeditions.