O Piotrze Artomiuszu, pastorze kościoła NMP w Toruniu i jego twórczości

Abstract

The biographical entry for Piotr Artomiusz, penned by Maria Sipayllowna, published in the “Polish Biographical Dictionary” in 1935, has been so far the most complete and synthetic description of life and works of this outstanding preacher and the author of a hymn-book of unique value. M. Sipayllowna in her biographical entry and subsequent works unwaveringly claimed that Artomiusz was a follower of Lutheranism. In the meantime new works have appeared adding new supplementary facts to his biography. As it turned out, Artomiusz leaned rather to Calvinism. Although he was a “Polish priest” in the Lutheran Church in Warsaw, Wegrow and Torun, yet he was a Calvinist priest in Krylow. This was possible because Polish Protestants (Lutherans, Calvinists and Czech Brothers) had been in a confessional union since 1570 on the basis of the Sandomierz accord. Artomiusz admitted that he was ordained a priest in the Evangelical-Reformed Church, which testifies to the fact that he was a Calvinist. He did not emphasize his religious preferences and in Torun he celebrated church services according to the Lutheran liturgy. It would be of great interest to examine whether Artomiusz`s Calvinist views influenced both his theological (sermons) and musical (hymn-book, Torun 1587) output. In this paper the author draws attention to a monograph by Wojciech Slawinski concerned with the synod of people of other faiths held in Torun in 1595, in which Artomiusz took an active part. The sermon he preached during the synod, as well as the opinions he expressed during the debate, show that he was a fervent supporter of observing the rules accepted by Polish Protestants in Sandomierz in 1570.