The Voynich Ninja

There is a narrative about the history of Kojetin here: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Translated by Google, here's what it tells us about those years:

Quote:On November 28, 1610, Vaclav Hanzlerus Plzensky arrived at the Kojetín fargue, but after four years he left Plumlovský dom, and Albert Vroblicius came to Kojetín. At that time, there were also Czech brothers beside the Catholics, even though the Kojetín Highland and Bishop supported and recognized only Catholicism. Kojetín also mentioned the Jesuits from the Olomouc dormitory to support anti-reform measures here. It seems that they were not very successful in Kojetín, because the non-Catholics did not move, and the Kojetin school rector himself was suspicious of heresy.

 At the beginning of the 17th century there was a state of affairs in Kojetín
... in the city ... 49, in the street Židovské ... 55, in the streets of Kroměříž ... 66, in the street Žebračka ... 16, in the streets of Vyškov ... 27, in the street Šperloch ... 16, in To
31 in Mlýnská street ... 44, in the streets of Žabokr ... 16 - in Kojetín, settled 320.
The approximate population was about 1900. So we can say that for one generation (since 1566) the population in the city has increased by about 100. And that's a good success for its time.
    And what does the city owe for its flourishing? It is above all the development of crafts and trade.
This successful economic and hence numerical development of the city was stopped by the Thirty Years' War.
    The 17th century is a period in the midst of which a thirty-year-old war that struck our entire country and, of course, Kojetín. The war leaves the country with damages that are long-lasting. Successful economic development has been wiped out for years.
Yes, the estate, nor the city, the suffering of the war has not been saved. Often, when the troops of both sides of war have passed, not over them, that is, in their vicinity.
        So in 1620, the farmers of the Tovacov and Kojetín domination in about 2000 collided with 500 Polish soldiers who came to help Ferdinand II.
The Thirty Years' War affected both the entire Kojetín estate and the city itself. The successful economic development of the city has been halted by the Thirty Years' War for many years.

This confirms what we have seen by another reference, - that Wroblicius was established in Kojetin in 1614. This also may explain why in that other reference the date when Wroblicius left Kojetin is open, and the next priest is mentioned only under year 1625. Likely, with Kojetin being the center of anti-Catholic forces (which Wroblicius did not manage to prevent!), there was no parish at all, and Wroblicius, most probably, had to escape out of there - although in which year it's not clear.

My next direction was to try to trace Wroblicius after he disappears from Kojetin - as I speculate, due to the Bohemian Revolt. Remembering that he is attested as of Silesian origin in the university registers, it is reasonable to assume that he (a Catholic) temporarily escaped to his native regions. Through the internet search, no appropriate mentions of Albert Wroblicius are found for this period. However, while in Poland, he quite probably was not called by his latinized name of "Wroblicius", but by his native, presumably slavonic name. I imagine it could have been something like "Wrobl-" - ending with some typical Slavonic suffix, like Wroblicek, Wroblik or the like. In the meantime, I was only able to find a reference (in the Polish book about the history of the church of the Holy Trinity and St. Anne in Prostyn mentioned in another thread) to one Albert Wroblewski, who is mentioned under the year 1621 (see p. 378) among "koscielni" (which I think means sacristans), while, as the book suggests, in the original historic records (registers of the baptized) he is called "campanator" and "claviter" (which I don't know the meaning of).

However, the problems with this are, firstly, that Prostyn is not Silesia at all, it's in Masovia, still north east to Warsaw, and, secondly, that it is, I think, unlikely that a priest with a bachelor's degree would serve as a sacristan, even in straits. So most likely Albert Wroblewski is another person.

The question of whether his "native" name was Slavonic, is, of course, open. The first name of "Albert" likewise hints something Germanic, like "Wrobbel" or something.

Interestingly, "Bibliografia Polska" Part II, Volume I (available at Google Books), lists (p. 259) a book by one Albert Wroblewski printed in Krakow in 1646 and entiled "Laurus Palladis Jacobo Regnekker".

In 1646, our Wroblicius would have been in his sixties, but all is possible. The title of the book looks as if it's about another man's work of art - probably, about a book "Laurus Palladis" (laurels of Pallas?) by Jacob Regnekker.

No information is found about the person Jacob Regnekker. However, a quick google search reveals that this is a typo in "Bibliografia", and the correct spelling is "Reynekker".

I have found the book, it is a short compilation of Latin verses with a preface, and it looks like it's been dedicated to one Jacob Reynekker while written by one "Albertus Wroblewski", bachelor (!), but not of theology, but of "arts and philosophy".

The Polish online service is very slow, and its 3.30am in Moscow, so I'll better return to this tomorrow.

So, as promised above, a post about the "Laurels of Pallas".

The book is available in digitized form from the Warsaw University: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

The format is DJVU, but it should load seamlessly if your browser supports HTML5.

Unfortunately, there is no option to download the file (which is strange for content being in the public domain), and online representation is extra-slow (which is very annoying!), suggesting that the Warsaw University is in desperate need of expanding their IT budget.

It's not easy to get a sense of what's gong on here, given the bombastic style of the title page, and also the fact that the catalog record is not without apparent mistakes. Like, it asserts that Wojciech (???) Wróblewski is the "creator" of the book, and that Krzysztof Schedel is a "contributor".

In fact, there is no Wojciech Wróblewski here, and Albert Wróblewski is "creator" only of the preface (dedication). Schedel was a publisher in Krakow, and it's likely that it was him who published this very book as well, especially given that the book is dedicated to him. In the dedication he is attested as "Senatori Ciuitatis Cracoviensis", which hints that he was a member of the Senate of Krakow.

The title page (page 5) of the book runs something like this:

Quote:Laurus Palladis
Metrorum adornata Corymbis
et
Ingenuo ac Venerabili D[omi]no
Iacobo Reynekker
Dum in Peraugusta Diui Iagellonis Aula se-
cundam in Artibus & Philosophia Lauream
publice & solenniter prensaret.
CONFERENTE,
Excellentissimo ac Doctissimo
M. IACOBOSVSKI
Collega Minore, Praeposito ad aedes
S. Adalberti.

V. ALBERTO WRÓBLEWSKI, Artium & Philosophiae
in Alma Academia Baccalaureo,
DEDICATA:
_____________
Cracoviae
Anno 1646, 16 April

From this I conclude that the author of the book is Jacob Reinekker, with contribution by M. Jacobosvski. So it turns out that "Bibliografia Polska" gives us a totally distorted record of this, which was confusing, but after all it allowed us to track Wroblewski. It is strange that, while the book is authored by Reinekker and his "younger colleague" Jacobosvski, the dedication to the publisher is written by another person, that is Wroblewski. This can be explained with the assumption that the talent of poetry and the talent of praising the publisher are mutually exclusive.

In page 6, where, according to the contemporary tradition, we could expect the coat of arms of the man Schedel (if he was of nobility, which I'm not sure in), we find something strange instead, namely - an ornate frame with the shield missing. Probably, this is the logo of the printing house. The central part of this "logo" is a picture of a person of indeterminate mood, who is notable in that he holds a Voynichese-like star in his hand and wears an Eastern-looking turban loosely resembling that of the Voynich archer. I guess this symbolizes the light of arts and knowledge carried forth by the printing house and its authors.

The "logo" is followed by a praising verse authored by one Franciscus Orszeti, "stud. grammatices". Then the dedication by Wroblewski follows, and then the main content of the book is revealed at last, which is not extensive, being comprised of four odes "metrorum adornata corymbis" (of what's exactly the meter "corymbis", I could not find any reference, but we have an example in this book) spanning over just twelve pages, which meritable brevity would, I'd say, become some other poets, contemporary and otherwise.

As an esteemer of poetry, I took a look at the verses and noted that in one place Reinekker discusses his posthumous glory - which is a bit amusing. His posthumous glory is apparently inferior to that of Horace, although in "Bibliografia Polska" (Part III, vol. XV) two other books (also poetic) of his are mentioned. One of them, co-authored by Jan Reynekier (his brother, as would be immediately clear) in the year 1642, is called "Zalobnice na Oddanie Ostatniej Uslugi Cialu Katarzyny Orszetey przez zalosnych Siestrzenców Jana y Jakuba Reynckierów", which, in short, stands for the lament for Katarzyna Orszeti by her nephews Jan and Jacob. If we recall that the praising verse in the 1646 book is composed by a man of the surname Orszeti who studied grammatics, we may reliably consider him Reinekker's relative. Also, if in 1642 Reinekker buried his aunt, this means that he, most probably, was not an old man in 1646.

What about Wroblewski? I speculate that the letter "V." preceding his name in the title page stands for "venerabilis", which would mean that he was an old person already in 1646. If we suppose that this is the same Albertus Wroblicius, this makes sense, because in mid-1600s he was a student in Prague (suggesting maybe some 20-25 y.o.) That would count to some 65 y.o. in 1646. Second, he is attested as "Artium & Philosophiae
in Alma Academia Baccalaureo" ("Alma Academia" standing for the University of Krakow). In 1611 in Graz, Wroblicius received his degree in theology. But we don't know if he did not receive another bachelor's in Prague (in Velka Bites, 1624, he self-described himself as a bachelor, but without particulars of the discipline), or if "theology" and "arts and philosophy" did not stand as synonyms in Krakow.

All in all, I consider it quite possible that Wroblewski of the University of Krakow and Wroblicius whose book ended up in the library of de Tepenec is one and the same person. Although, no direct proof is available at the moment.

It is quite curious that quite a deal of information can be found about obscure persons who lived hundreds of years ago. Horace would not be astonished, but I'll bet that Reinekker would. Non omnis moriar - and if you slip through the memory of generations, you still have a chance to  survive in catalogues and registers.

With respect to the name "Wojciech",  this is without any doubt the Polish equivalent of Czech "Vojtěch".
(In the 17th century, the Czech name would have been written more similarly to the Polish version).

In any case, the German equivalent of the name Vojtěch is Adalbert, so Wojciech and Albertus are likely to be one and the same person.

(31-05-2018, 05:53 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.With respect to the name "Wojciech",  this is without any doubt the Polish equivalent of Czech "Vojtěch".

In any case, the German equivalent of the name Vojtěch is Adalbert, so Wojciech and Albertus are likely to be one and the same person.

Fascinating! Did not know that. Let's see what results this may yield. There must have been a reason for them to list him as Wojciech, and not Albert, in the record.

I was wondering what's common between the words "Wojciech" and "Adalbert", but it appears that "Wojciech" just was the given name of St. Adalbert.

I just discovered what's the exact publication mentioning Wroblicius in Prague University. It's:


Basically, it's the article by Petr Svobodny in AUC-HUCP, Vol.26, Part 1, 1986.

It seems that articles can be ordered from the journal, but maybe someone in Prague can access it free of charge. It's of interest what is the exact context in which Wroblicius is mentioned and what is the original reference. Pulling the article's contetnts from Google Books is extremely tiresome.

Well, technically I have a friend in Prague, but don't know if he'll bother searching articles for me .

Interestingly, Dr. Svobodny is currently director of the Institute of the History of Charles University and Archive of Charles University.

Actually, the Google Books search is not unambiguos, so here's another candidate for the article in which Wroblicius is mentioned:


I don't know if it's in Svobodny's article or in Beranek's.