Ałła Brzozowska

The Fourth Speech of Erasm Ciołek (1474–1522), Delivered in Rome Before Pope Leo X: An Edition, Translation into the Polish Language and Commentary

The paper presents the first critical edition of the fourth political speech delivered by the bishop of Płock, Erazm Ciołek (1474–1522), in 1518 in Rome before Pope Leo X and the college of cardinals.

In the 16th-century Europe, speeches delivered by politicians on the international arena had an important function: not only did they serve representative purposes, but they also played a key part the diplomatic missions. Rhetorical success was often accompanied by a political one. In order to increase the impact and prestige of the politician and his tasks, and to spread the ideas of his mission, political speeches were often published. Erazm Ciołek, an ambassador of the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania, during his third legation to the Holy See had an important tasks to accomplish, which included watching the preparations for a general expedition against the Ottoman Empire, regulation of the dragging matter of paying homage by the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, and securing the diplomatic assistance of the Holy See in stabilizing the situation on the eastern borders of the Great Duchy of Lithuania in the ongoing armed conflict with Moscow. In addition, travelling to Rome immediately after the Diet in Augsburg, Ciołek had also been entrusted with tasks by the emperor Maximilian. An audience granted to the legation by the Pope and the college of cardinals, where the ambassador delivered a speech and presented credential letters, was the official beginning of the diplomatic mission. In his oration, Erazm Ciołek included all the most important threads, skillfully guiding the minds of the recipients towards the only logical solution that would be identical with the results desired by the legation. The fourth speech of Erazm Ciołek was first published in 1519 in Rome, a few months after it was delivered, and has not been reprinted since then. The oration by one of the most important politicians during the Renaissance in Poland and Lithuania was preserved only in a few copies and remains almost unknown to contemporary researchers. In this edition, the Latin text was translated into Polish and provided with an introduction and an appropriate philological and historical commentary based on a wide bibliography including manuscripts and early printed books.

* W artykule wykorzystano część materiałów zebranych dzięki środkom otrzymanym z Narodowego Centrum Nauki przyznanym na podstawie decyzji numer DEC-2011/01/N/HS2/03885, a także dzięki stypendium Fundacji Lanckorońskich na potrzeby monografii: A. Brzozowska, Biskup płocki Erazm Ciołek (1474–1522), Kraków 2017.

This paper presents the first critical edition of the first political speech by an important representative of the Polish Renaissance, Erazm Ciołek. He came to the Holy See with a diplomatic mission from the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Alexander Jagiellon, and delivered his oration before Pope Alexander VI in March 1501. As a young diplomat of little experience, he faced a difficult task: under the pretext of paying the tribute of obedience to the Pope, which was the mission’s official purpose, he was supposed to broach the subject of a religious union between the Lithuanian Orthodox Church and the papacy in order to deprive Moscow of the argument to instigate war. Despite his initial reluctance to accept Ciołek, the Pope much appreciated his oratorical talent.
It is likely that the speech was first printed the same year in Rome, because as a print it could have had a greater outreach and thus helped the delegate achieve his political objective. However, even though the oration was highly regarded by the addressee, it has never been thoroughly studied. It has only been mentioned in a few historical studies. No critical edition with a proper commentary that would enable a wider audience to understand the content of Ciołek’s performance has ever appeared. This paper contains an edition of the Latin text of the speech based on its 16th century edition. The critical apparatus also includes all variants of the manuscript. The Polish translation was also provided with appropriate philological and historical comments. What is more, the introduction discusses the structure of the speech, or the orator’s thread of persuasion. Both the introduction and the commentary to the translation are based largely on historical sources.