Abstract
Dariusz Chemperek
A Polish Poem of the 17th Century About the Beauty of Smolensk
The poem by Jan Kunowski (ab. 1590 – after 1654) Smoleńska zacność Roku Pańskiego 1628 [The Beauty of Smolensk in 1628], recently discovered and published here for the fi rst time, belongs to the genre of laus urbis. The encomion of Smolensk is the fi rst description of the town in Polish language. Kunowski who was a knight (he participated in wars between the Commonwealth and Sweden, mainly in many campaigns against Muscovy) describes Smolensk as a beautiful and powerful stronghold, using some humanistic topoi. His description is written from a Polish point of view as he does not pay attention to orthodox churches or Russian townspeople and interprets history using Sarmatian ideology.
