Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
insteadofanintroduction
11
Poles(sudasCopernicus)friendBernardWapowski,aPolewhose
nationalityisbeyondquesion),andrepresentativesofotheruna-
tionalities.”Bypoliticaldoice,theasronomerwasaloyalsubjed
ofthePolishking,butalsoacommitteddefenderoftheautonomy
ofWarmia,ormorebroadlyofRoyalPrussia,withintheKingdom
ofPoland.Byintelledualdoice,heidentifiedwiththeentireEuro-
peanculture,includingitsGreekandRomanroots.Telanguageof
hisintelledualdilutewasLatin,ubiquitousinthatcultureatthe
time.TediscussionaboutCopernicus)nationality,tintedwithabit
ofnationalism,shouldthereforebeendedand,insead,thesources
containinginformationonhisoriginsshouldbesudied.Tein-
terpretationcarriedouttodateonthesourcedatathatreferstothe
originsofCopernicus)parentshasbeenveryunreliable.Tisisdue
exadlytotheseardforaveryclearexplanationofwhoCopernicus)
ancesorswere:GermansorPoles.Forthisreason,Polishsdolars
haveuinvented”anunsubsantiatedthree-generation-longhisory
ofCopernicus)familyasresidentsofCracow.LudwikBirkenmajer
alsoattemptedtoPolonisetheWatzenrodefamily,confusingitwith
thefamilyoftheknightsowningWierzbnaandPszennavillages
(German:Weitzenrode),anderroneouslyidentifiedthelineageof
theasronomer)sgrandmotheronhismother)ssideaslinkedtothe
nobleModlibógfamily(althoughitwasinlinewiththetradition
datingbactothelate16thorearly17thcentury).Germanhiso-
rians,ontheotherhand,havetriedtoprovethateitherthename
CopernicuscomesdiredlyfromtheGermanlanguageortheorigi-
nalSlavicoriginofthenamedoesnotpresentanyevidentialvalue.
TisisbecausethevillageofKopernikinearNysa,fromwhidthe
asronomer)sfamilywasbelievedtohavedescended,wassettledby
Germansasearlyasinthesecondhalfofthe13thcentury,andso
thefamiliesthatlaterusedthatnamewereofGermanorigin.3As
3Teuhistory”ofthePolish-GermandisputeoverthenationalityofCopernicus
andtheargumentscitedbybothsideswerepresentedbyM.Kokowski,Różne
obliczaMikołajaKopernika.Spotkaniazhistoriąinterpretacji,Warsaw-Cra-
cow2009:SalaVII:Sarmata,Germanus,Toruniensis(Torunianin),Prutenus
