Seklucjan, Jan (EN)

Seklucjan, Seclucianus, Sekluczian, Jan, *ca. 1510 Siekluki (?), †first half of 1578 Königsberg, Polish Reformation activist, preacher and Lutheran pastor, translator and publisher. The place of birth is deduced from the surname he adopted, and there were several towns with that name. In 1536, Seklucjan enrolled at the University of Leipzig and on 18 September, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts. Since December 1538, he stayed in Poznań, where, enjoying the patronage of the powerful Górka family, he became increasingly bold in his activities on behalf of the Reformation. As a result, he was accused of heresy and in 1543 fled from the bishop’s court to Duchy of Prussia. In 1544, Prince Albrecht appointed him as a Polish preacher in three municipal communities of Königsberg. In the same year, he began his publishing activity by releasing Wyznanie wiary, the first confessional document of Polish Lutherans, which he prepared himself. From then on, he published and sold both his own works (successive versions of the catechism, collections of prayers, homiletic works, translations, including those of Erasmus of Rotterdam) and the works of other authors (e.g., M. Rej, or the first Polish translation of the New Testament by S. Murzynowski). After 1559, he focused on pastoral work in the Polish parish entrusted to him in 1550 at St. Nicholas Church in Knipawa (a district of Königsberg) and sought to support his family. Seklucjan looked after students coming to the University of Königsberg from the territories of the Polish Crown, and after 1555, he also obtained the right to enter the country safely, which he took advantage of several times; as a result, his influence on Lutheran circles extended beyond the borders of Prussia.

Seklucjan compiled and published three editions of a songbook with different content, the first of which is the oldest known Polish hymnal. The collection Pyesńi Duchowne, a nabożne, nowo zebrane y wydane przes J. Seklucjana, Königsberg, J. Weynreych, 1547, contains 35 song texts and 25 melodies. The second edition, under the same title (different spelling), was published in 1550 by the same printing house; Seklucjan added three new texts (two with melodies) and musical notation to the text published in 1547 without melodies. The third edition, entitled Pieśni Chrześciańskie, dawnieisse, y Nowe…, Königsberg, J. Daubman, 1559, can be considered a new hymnal, as it was enriched with 66 texts and 43 melodies. Seklucjan most likely included the entire contents of Jan Zaremba’s hymnbook from 1558, which has survived only in fragments, as a separate part. The texts in the collection are translations from Czech, German, and Latin, together with the corresponding melodies, as well as original Polish texts. Already in the second edition, but especially in the third, the initials or full names of A. Trzecieski, S. Zacjus (Żak), M. Rej, J. Lubelczyk, J. Zaremba, J. Silvius, Seklucjan himself, B. Wojewódka, and E. Hes, and among composers, only one melody is attributed to Wacław of Szamotuły, although several other melodies have been identified as those of Wacław and C. Bazylik.

Literature: I. Warmiński Andrzej Samuel i Jan Seklucjan, Poznań 1906; R. Mazurkiewicz O melodiach kancjonałów Jana Seklucjana, Krakow 1967; T. Wojak Jan Seklucjan. Życie i dzieło, “Rocznik Teologiczny” XXVI, 1984; W. Wydra Nie znane seklucjaniana, “Studia Polonistyczne” XVIII/XIX, 1990/91; J. Jasiński Historia Królewca. Szkice z XIII–XX stulecia, Olsztyn 1994; P. Poźniak Repertuar polskiej muzyki wokalnej w epoce Renesansu. Studium kontekstualno-analityczne, Krakow 1999; Introduction to Pieśni z kancjonałów Jana Seklucjana (1547, 1550, 1559) oraz z różnych druków ok. 1554–ok. 1607, eds. A Kocot and P. Poźniak, Krakow 2012; P. Poźniak Miejsca wspólne repertuaru pieśniowego w polskich kancjonałach ewangelickich XVI w., in: Luteranizm w kulturze Pierwszej Rzeczypospolitej, ed. K. Meller, Warsaw 2017; J. Kubieniec Uwagi o melodii, formie i dziejach staropolskiej pieśni „O przenasławniejsza Panno”, “Muzyka” LXVII, 2022.