Sarmatism
Sarmatism (or Sarmatianism; Polish: Sarmatyzm; Lithuanian: Sarmatizmas) was an ethno-cultural ideology within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[1] It was the dominant Baroque culture and ideology of the nobility (szlachta) that existed in times of the Renaissance to the 18th centuries.[1] Together with the concept of "Golden Liberty", it formed a central aspect of the Commonwealth social elites’ culture and society. At its core was the unifying belief that the people of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth descended from the ancient Iranian Sarmatians, the legendary invaders of contemporary Polish lands in antiquity.[2][3]
For the pseudohistorical theory, see Sarmatism (pseudohistory).
The term and culture were reflected primarily in 17th-century Polish literature, as in Jan Chryzostom Pasek's memoirs[4] and the poems of Wacław Potocki. The Polish gentry wore a long coat, called kontusz, knee-high boots, and carried a small szabla (sabre) called karabela. Moustaches were also popular, as well as decorative feathers in men's headgear. Poland's "Sarmatians" strove to achieve martial skill on horseback, believed in equality among themselves, and in invincibility in the face of the enemy.[5] Sarmatism lauded past victories of the Polish military, and required Polish noblemen to cultivate the tradition.
Sarmatia (Polish: Sarmacja) was a semi-legendary, poetic name for Poland that was fashionable into the 18th century, and which designated qualities associated with the literate citizenry of the vast Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sarmatism greatly affected the culture, lifestyle and ideology of the Polish nobility. It was unique for its cultural mix of Oriental, Western and native traditions. Criticized during the Polish Enlightenment, Sarmatism was rehabilitated by the generations that embraced Polish Romanticism. Having survived the literary realism of Poland's "Positivist" period, Sarmatism made a comeback with The Trilogy of Henryk Sienkiewicz, Poland's first Nobel laureate in literature.
Fashion[edit]
Some Polish nobles felt that their supposed Sarmatian ancestors were a Turkic people and accordingly viewed their Turkish and Tatar enemies as peers, albeit ones who were unredeemed because they were not Christians. During the Baroque era in Poland, the art and furnishings of the Persians and the Chinese, as well as the Ottomans, were admired and displayed in separate chambers or rooms.[21]
Sarmatism popularised Ottoman-styled clothing and attire for men, such as the żupan, kontusz, sukmana, pas kontuszowy, delia, and szabla. Thereby, it served to integrate the multiethnic nobility by creating an almost nationalist sense of unity and pride in the szlachta's political Golden Freedoms. It also differentiated the Polish szlachta from nobility in Western Europe.
In accordance with their views on their supposed Turkic origins,[22] Sarmatists' costume stood out from that worn by the noblemen of other European countries, and had its roots in the Orient. It was long, dignified, rich and colourful. One of its most characteristic elements was the kontusz, which was worn with the decorative kontusz belt. Underneath, the żupan was worn, and over the żupan the delia. Clothes for the mightiest families were crimson and scarlet. The szarawary were typical lower-body clothing, and the calpac, decorated with heron's feathers, was worn on the head. French fashions, however, also contributed to the Sarmatian look in Polish attire.[23]
The żupan was derived from the Turkish long garment dżubbah, the outer garment Kontusz from the Turkish kontosz, the Kołpak, a hat with a brooch, came from the Turkish kalpak and the high leather boots Baczmagi was derived from the Turkish Baczmak. The oriental-patterned Kontusz sash, which originally had to be imported from the Ottomans and Persia, became the most distinctive element of 17th century Polish clothing. Noblemen always wore a curved sabre, which was based on Ottoman-style sabres, while military commanders carried a baton or mace with a turquoise-encrusted gold or silver head (bulawa or buzdygan, based on the Turkish bozdogan), which was considered lucky in the Islamic world.[24]
Art was treated by Sarmatists as propagandistic in function: its role was to immortalise a good name for the family, extolling the virtues of ancestors and their great deeds. Consequently, personal or family portraits were in great demand. Their characteristic features were realism, variety of colour and rich symbolism (epitaphs, coats of arms, military accessories). People were usually depicted against a subdued, dark background, in a three-quarter view.
Sarmatist culture was portrayed especially by:
Latin was very popular and often mixed with the Polish language in macaronic writings and in speech. Knowing at least some Latin was an obligation for any szlachcic.
In the 19th century the Sarmatist culture of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was portrayed and popularised by Henryk Sienkiewicz in his trilogy (Ogniem i Mieczem, Potop, Pan Wolodyjowski). In the 20th century, Sienkiewicz's trilogy was filmed, and Sarmatist culture became the subject of many modern books (by Jacek Komuda and others), songs (like that of Jacek Kaczmarski) and even role-playing games like Dzikie Pola.
One of the most distinctive art forms of the Sarmatists were the coffin portraits, a form of portraiture characteristic of Polish Baroque painting, not to be found anywhere else in Europe. The octagonal or hexagonal portraits were fixed to the headpiece of the coffin so that the deceased person, being a Christian with an immortal soul, was always represented as alive and capable of holding a dialogue with mourners during lavish funeral celebrations. Such portraits were props which evoked the illusion of the dead person's presence, and also a ritual medium that provided a link between the living and those departing for eternity. The few surviving portraits, often painted during a person's lifetime, are a dependable source of information about 17th-century Polish nobility. The dead were depicted either in their official clothes or in travelling garb, since death was believed to be a journey into the unknown. The oldest known coffin portrait in Poland is that depicting Stefan Batory, dating from the end of the 16th century.
Many of the szlachta residences were provincial mansions, with a mansard roof.[35] Numerous palaces and churches were built in Sarmatist Poland. There was a trend towards native architectural solutions which were characterised by Gothic forms and unique stucco ornamentation of vaults. Gravestones and epitaphs were erected in churches for those who had rendered considerable services for the motherland. Tens of thousands of manor houses were built across the Commonwealth. At the entrance there was a porch or a loggia. The central place where visitors were received was a large entrance hall. In the manor house there was an intimate part for women, and a more public one for men. Manor houses often had corner annexes. Walls were adorned with portraits of ancestors, mementos and spoils. Few of the manor houses from the Old Polish period have survived, but their tradition was continued in the 19th and 20th century.
Hairstyle and moustache[edit]
The writer and poet Mikołaj Rej (Nicholas Rey) recounts that "some people shave their beards and wear a moustache, some trim their beards in Czech style, others trim in Spanish style. There is also a difference around the moustache, some men are stroking it down, other men are brushing up. The nobility of the Sarmatian era did not have a beard and instead preferred a moustache, which became an indispensable attribute of a knightly face. Those who wore beards were said to be German". Jan Karol Chodkiewicz and Jan Zamoyski shaved their heads around, leaving a high tuft of hair above their forehead. This tuft was reportedly introduced in Poland by Samuel Łaszcz, who was to be the first to wear such a hairstyle. Only elderly senators had to wear a sumptuous beard, which was an expression of their high dignity or wisdom, as was the case in most European countries. The hairstyles and facial hair of the Polish nobility were also explicitly described by Giovanni Francesco Commendone who wrote that "some Poles have their heads shaved, others have clean-cut hair, many have hair, some have long beards, others are shaved apart from moustaches.[36] The Polish Sarmatian custom of shaving their heads except for a small wisp of hair on the scalp was derived from Turkic-Tatar custom.[37][38]
Modern usage[edit]
In contemporary Polish, the word "Sarmatian" (Polish: Sarmata- when used as noun, sarmacki- when used as adjective) is a form of ironic self-identification, and is sometimes used as a synonym for the Polish character.
A scholarly journal on Poland, central and eastern Europe, was launched by Polish-Americans, published at Rice University and called the Sarmatian Review.
Impact[edit]
Lithuanians and Ruthenians living within the Commonwealth also adopted certain aspects of Sarmatism.[39] Some Lithuanian historians of that time claimed that their people were descended from Scythians who had settled in ancient Rome, which had become the home of their pagan high priest.
Evaluation[edit]
Sarmatism, which evolved during the Polish Renaissance and entrenched itself during the Polish baroque, found itself opposed to the ideology of the Polish Enlightenment. By the late 18th century the word 'Sarmatism' had gained negative associations[6] and the concept was frequently criticized and ridiculed in political publications such as Monitor, where it became a synonym for uneducated and unenlightened ideas and a derogatory term for those who opposed the reforms of the 'progressives' such as the king, Stanisław August Poniatowski.[6] The ideology of Sarmatism became a target for ridicule, as seen in Franciszek Zabłocki's play "Sarmatism" (Sarmatyzm, 1785).[6]
To a certain degree the process was reversed during the period of Polish Romanticism, when after the partitions of Poland memory of the old Polish Golden Age rehabilitated old traditions to a certain extent.[6] Particularly in the aftermath of the November Uprising, when the genre of gawęda szlachecka ("a nobleman's tale"), shaped by Henryk Rzewuski, gained popularity, Sarmatism was often portrayed positively in literature.[6] Such treatment of the concept can also be seen in Polish messianism and in works of great Polish poets like Adam Mickiewicz (Pan Tadeusz), Juliusz Słowacki and Zygmunt Krasiński, as well as writers (Henryk Sienkiewicz and his Trylogia), as well as others.[6] This close connection between Polish Romanticism and Polish history became one of the defining qualities of this literary period, differentiating it from other contemporary literature, which did not suffer from a lack of national statehood as was the case with Poland.[6]