Pomeranian and Polish Aspects of the Activity and Work of Johannes de Kitzscher (ca. 1460/65–1521)

The subject of the author’s considerations are the Pomeranian and Polish aspects of the biography and activity of the Saxon humanist, doctor of laws, and orator Johannes von Kitscher (ca. 1460/65–1521). When Johannes von Kitscher was the rector of the university in Bologna (1497), the Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw X, who was traveling through Italy, acquired his services and engaged him to work on his court as a political councillor and diplomat. Performing this function, as well as that of a provost of a collegiate church in Kołobrzeg, he wrote the Tragicomedy, published in 1501 in Leipzig – once renowned dramatic piece based upon the Duke Bogislaw’s journey to the Holy Land, and in particular the naval battle fought with the Turks on August 30, 1497, off the Peloponnesian coast; a mediocre, childish work, as it was dedicated to the Duke’s seven‑year‑old son, Georg. He also delivered a eulogy during the funeral of the Duke’s wife, Anna Jagiellon (1503). As an advocate of a strong‑arm regime, he compromised himself as the Duke’s councillor during his conflict with the city of Straslund and left Pomerania in 1504. Years later, now in the service of the Hohenzollerns, he delivered a speech before the Polish sejm (1512), enclosed to the paper.

The subject of the author’s considerations are the Pomeranian and Polish aspects of the biography and activity of the Saxon humanist, doctor of laws, and orator Johannes von Kitscher (ca. 1460/65–1521). When Johannes von Kitscher was the rector of the university in Bologna (1497), the Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw X, who was traveling through Italy, acquired his services and engaged him to work on his court as a political councillor and diplomat. Performing this function, as well as that of a provost of a collegiate church in Kołobrzeg, he wrote the Tragicomedy, published in 1501 in Leipzig – once renowned dramatic piece based upon the Duke Bogislaw’s journey to the Holy Land, and in particular the naval battle fought with the Turks on August 30, 1497, off the Peloponnesian coast; a mediocre, childish work, as it was dedicated to the Duke’s seven‑year‑old son, Georg. He also delivered a eulogy during the funeral of the Duke’s wife, Anna Jagiellon (1503). As an advocate of a strong‑arm regime, he compromised himself as the Duke’s councillor during his conflict with the city of Straslund and left Pomerania in 1504. Years later, now in the service of the Hohenzollerns, he delivered a speech before the Polish sejm (1512), enclosed to the paper.