DŁUGOSZ, JAN

Priest, educator, and influential Polish historian (known also as Iohannes Longinus); b. Brzeznica, Poland, 1415; d. Cracow, Poland, May 19, 1480. After early schooling at Nowy Korczyn and higher studies at the University of Cracow, he was ordained in 1440. He was appointed secretary to Cardinal Zbigniew Olesnicki, Bishop of Cracow, and he later became a canon of the cathedral. He was one of the Polish delegates to the Council of basel. As special envoy of Polish Church authorities to Pope eugene iv, with whom he reconciled the University of Cracow, he returned with the cardinal's hat for Olesnicki. Shortly before his death Długosz was named archbishop of Lvov, but he was never consecrated. Well educated and in close contact with various humanists, he could not bring himself to accept the ideology of the new movement. His works, especially the outstanding Annales seu chronicae inclyti regni Poloniae, libri XII, a 12-volume history of Poland written in classical Latin between 1455 and 1480, removed much prejudice toward that nation among the learned of Europe and inspired the Poles with patriotism and respect for their heritage. Długosz also emphasized the importance and advantages of the traditional role of the Catholic Church in Poland. Through his many charities he founded a home for university students and built monasteries and churches, beneath the most beautiful of which, Na Skalce (upon rock) in Cracow, he lies buried.

Bibliography: Works. Ioannis Dlugosii senioris canonici Cracoviensis opera, ed. a. przezdziecki, 14 v. (Cracow 1863–87). Literature. e. perjeckij, L'Histoire polonaise de Jan Dlugosz et les Annales Lusses (Prague 1932). t. sinko, "De Dlugosii praefatione Historiae Polonorum," Studja z dziejów kultury Polskiej, ed. h. baracz and j. hulewicz (Warsaw 1949) 105–145. k. lepszy, ed., Dzieje Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w Latach 1364–1764, v.1 (Cracow 1964). a. brÜckner, Tysiac lat kultury Polskiej, 2 v. (3d ed. Paris 1955) 1:440–443, 455–456, 484, 500. The Cambridge History of Poland, ed. w. f. reddaway et al. (Cambridge, Eng. 1941–50) 1:163–165, 241, 275. a. strzelecka, "Długosz w Świetle Nowych Badań," Nasza Przesłość 8 (1958) 497–504. b. stasiewski, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:1028. p. urban, Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. a. baudrillart et al. (Paris 1912–) 14:530–531.

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