Incontri nel testo. Fidus comes di Andrzej Schoen e i suoi contesti

Abstract

Meetings in the text: Andrzej Schoen’s Fidus comes and its contexts The main purpose of this paper is to show how a literary work (in this case Fidus comes, published in 1601 in Kraków) mirrors non only the author’s humanist culture and worldviews, but also his intellectual and social relationships. In addition, it deals with the idea of a text as a form of making oneself present, demonstrating that Andreas Schoneus (1552‒1616), a humanist and poet from Silesia being not able to travel with his former pupil (a Polish magnate, Jan Magnus Tęczyński, 1579‒1637) to the Netherlands, makes his own book the addressee’s companion. The analysed poem displays the importance of their former journey to Italy, and Padua’s milieu is involved in its history. The book served also as a kind of “portfolio”, commending the author to the Belgian humanist Justus Lipsius. The article is divided into four parts. The first presents short biographic profiles of the Fidus comes’ author and its addressee. The second describes the work, its genesis, metamorphoses and context. The third analyses the portrayal of Tęczyński in the poem in the context of his further career. The last one explains the interplay of ideas and contexts and the main function of Schoneus’ work.