Paradisus Judaeorum
"The Kingdom of Poland is" is the English rendering of the opening line of an anonymous 1606 Latin pasquil, or pasquinade (satire), that begins "Regnum Polonorum est".
Polish literary historian Stanisław Kot provides the earliest printed attestation of part of the 19th-century Polish-language saying that "Poland was heaven for the nobility, purgatory for townfolk, hell for peasants, paradise for Jews", in an anonymous 1606 Latin[2] text, one of two that are jointly known by the Polish title, Paskwiliusze na królewskim weselu podrzucone ("Pasquils Planted at Royal Wedding"), referring to the wedding of Sigismund III Vasa and Constance of Austria that had taken place on 11 December 1605.
[a] Parts of the text were quoted in Bishop Stanisław Zremba's 1623 "Okulary na rozchody w Koronie..."[2] and were included in a 1636 work by Szymon Starowolski.
[2] Kot writes that other versions, published in Poland in the 17th and 18th centuries, criticized the clergy, Gypsies, Italians, Germans, Armenians, and even Scots: groups were added or removed from the list, depending on the authors' views and allegiances.
[6] A five-part variant appears in Palatinum Reginae Liberatis (c. 1670) by the Polish Jesuit Walenty Pęski [pl], who omits mention of the townspeople, instead adding "purgatory for royalty" and "limbo for clergy".
[9] Three variants of the 1606 pasquil appeared in shorter Latin versions, by the Croat Juraj Križanić (1664),[6] the Italian Giovan Battista Pacichelli (1685),[10] and the Slovak Daniel Krman [sk] (1708-9).
[12][9] Konrad Matyjaszek describes it as "expressing anti-gentry and anti-Jewish sentiments"[13] According to Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, it was political satire, "a pasquinade critical of everything in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—foreigners, immigrants, 'heretics,' peasants, burghers, and servants, and also Jews.
[40] Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Program Director of the Core Exhibition of the POLIN Museum, responds that the intention is to engage the viewer in a complex debate going beyond a binary black-and-white oversimplification.
[41] Regnum Polonorum est paradisus Judaeorum infernus rusticorum purgatorium Plebeiorum Dominatus famulorum confusio personarum luxus foeminarum frequentia nundinarum aurifodinae advenarum Cleri lenta praessura Evangelicorum impostura libertas prodigorum prostitutio morum pincerna potatorum perpetua peregrinatio assidua hospitatio juris inquietatio consiliorum manifestatio aquisitorum injuriatio Legum variatio quam videt omnis natio The Kingdom of Poland is paradise for Jews hell for peasants purgatory for townspeople ascendance of courtiers confusion of roles looseness of women loitering at markets goldmine for foreigners oppression of clergy Protestant impostures freedom for wastrels prostitution of morals cupbearer to drunkards perpetual peregrination constant entertaining law-breaking disclosure of counsels disregard for acquisitions variance of laws as all the people see.
Polonia est Nova Babylonia, Tsiganorum, Germanorum, Armenorum et Scotorum colonia; Paradisus Hebraeorum, infernus rusticorum; aurifodina advenarum, sedes gentium vagabundarum; comitiatorum assidua hospitatio, populi perpetua inquietatio, alienigenarum dominatio.
The illustrious Kingdom of Poland is heaven for the nobility, paradise for Jews, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants... Clarum regnum Polonorum Est coelum nobiliorum, Infernus rusticorum, Paradisus Judaeorum, Aurifodina advenarum, Causa luxus foeminarum.
Multo quidem dives lanis, Semper tamen egens pannis; Et copiam in lino serit, Sed externas diligit; Caro emptis gloriatur, Empta parvo aspernatur.
Clarum regnum Polonorum est coelum nobiliorum, paradisus Judaeorum, purgatorium plebeiorum et infernus rusticorum, causa luxus foeminarum, multis quidem dives lanis, semper tamen egens pannis, et copiam lini serit, sed externam telam quaerit, merces externas diligit, domi paratas negligit, caro emptis gloriatur, empta parvo adspernatur.
The illustrious Kingdom of Poland is heaven for the nobility, paradise for Jews, purgatory for townspeople, and hell for peasants, cause of looseness of women, much productive of wool, always nevertheless in need of clothes, though it produces copious linen, yet it seeks foreign fabric, it loves foreign goods, it neglects domestic products, it prizes what is bought dear, disdaining what is bought cheap.
