Abstract
On November 11, 1673, the Polish and Lithuanian armies defeated a large corps of the Ottoman army at Khotyn. On January 14, 1674, the heroic poem The Power of the Right Hand of the Lord was published in Vilnius to immortalize this victory in Latin. Apart from the poem, the book contains a dedication to the commanders of the Grand Duchy’s army signed by a Vilnius Academy student Jacob Bennet (d. 1730) and the panoramic image of the Battle of Khotyn created by the artist Laurenty Krzczonowicz (circa 1650–1704). The author of the poem is probably somebody else than indicated on the title page. It is suggested that the real author might be Andrzej Hrynkiewicz; (1647 VIII 25 – 1707 VI 20), a poetics instructor at the Vilnius Jesuit Academy. Having joined the Society of Jesus on August 14, 1664 in Vilnius, he studied and later taught various disciplines at Jesuit educational institutions of Vilnius, Warsaw, Polotsk and Nesvizh. From 1686 until his death, he lived in the Warsaw professed house, where he occupied various positions. He was a talented preacher. His lectures and sermons are extant in manuscript, but only the poem The Power of the Lord’s Right Hand was published in his lifetime. It extolls the military campaign of 1672–1673 culminating in the Battle of Khotyn. Besides the combat, the poem honours the most prominent military commanders and officers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: the Grand Hetman of Poland Jan Sobieski, the Field Hetman Dymitr Jerzy Wiśniowiecki, the Grand Hetman of Lithuania Michał Kazimierz Pac, the Field Hetman Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł, and others. This article offers a translation of the heroic poem into Lithuanian with comprehensive textological and historical commentaries. Keywords: Vilnius University; Heroic poem; Virtus dexterae Domini (The Power of the Lord‘s Right Hand); Jacob Bennet; Andrzej Hrynkiewicz; Laurenty Krzczonowicz; Michał Kazimierz Pac; Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł; Jan Sobieski; Hussein Pasha; Battle of Khotyn, 1673
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