The Reformation and the Development of Polish Literature and Polish Printing

Abstract

Paulina Buchwald Pelcowa and Janusz Pelc, Uniwersytet WarszawskiPaper presented at a colloquium on Early Protestantism in Eastern Europe initially conceived by Anne Pennington for the Medieval Study Group.The authors discuss the role of the Reformation in the history of Polish literature and printing, first commenting on earlier writers. "The Reformation played a very important role in the development of various important sections of literature in the Polish language. The most important thing was the preparation of the translations of the Bible although this task was difficult and was only implemented in stages. Of similar importance, however, were attempts to write the songs which were to serve the people in the service of the new Christian religions. Last but not least were the many polemical works, echoing the discussions of those who were fighting against the defendants of the Catholic church and the Papacy; these were written mainly in the form of dialogues and treatises, deliberations, orations, etc. In Poland, in order to oppose the supporters of the Reformation, the supporters of the Roman Catholic Church also began to write in Polish. However, in this struggle, polemic and exegetic works were not enough. The reply to the Reformed translations of the Bible into Polish was the preparation of Polish Catholic translation." Polata 16: 59