John Foxe's "Rerum in ecclesia gestarum [...] commentarii in Sixteenth Century Polish Translation

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the Polish translation of John Foxe’s famous Rerum in Ecclesia gestarum on Christian martyrs, authored by a Calvinist writer, printer and composer Cyprian Bazylik. His monumental Historyja o srogim prześladowaniu Kościoła Bożego (1567) was compiled from the works of John Foxe, Jean Crespin and Heinrich Pantaleon, supplemented with Jan van Utenhove’s account of the thrilling odyssey of the members of the London’s Foreign Church led by Jan Łaski. The author aimed at creation of a complete account of the persecuted Church throughout Europe, starting from John Wycliff to 1563. Historyja is the most significant witness of the impact of Foxe’s theological thought and ideas on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.