 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(November 2018) |
Thursday Dinners (Polish : obiady czwartkowe, less commonly translated as Thursday Lunches) were gatherings of artists, intellectuals, architects, politicians and statesmen held by the last King of Poland, Stanislaus II Augustus during the Enlightenment period in Poland. [1]
Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski was famed as a patron of the arts and learning. [2] It was during his reign that Poland's Age of Enlightenment (already begun in the 1730s–40s), reached its peak. It went into decline with the Third Partition of Poland in 1795. During the Age of Enlightenment, Warsaw was modernised and became a favourite meeting place for notable people in the worlds of art, architecture and literature along with other intellectuals and statesmen. The King invited influential figures of the time to his Thursday Dinners. He founded the School of Chivalry.
The gatherings were usually held in the Royal Castle and in summer at the Palace on the Isle in Warsaw, between 1770 and 1784. During the gatherings, which typically lasted three hours and were akin to French salons, the King and his guests discussed literature, art and politics over a light meal. The number of guests varied over the years, with about thirty regulars, including politicians, writers, bibliophiles, military officers of rank and philosophers. Notable guests included:
The king also held less well-known Wednesday Dinners, Obiady Środowe. While the guests at the Thursday Dinners were usually writers, poets and artists, the Wednesday Dinners brought together educators, scientists and political activists.
The Thursday Dinners spawned the first Polish literary magazine, Zabawy Przyjemne i Pożyteczne - "Diversions Pleasurable and Useful", published from 1770 to 1777.
In the 1990s, Warsaw Mayor Paweł Piskorski reinstated the tradition by holding Tuesday Breakfasts to talk over current issues with leading businessmen and activists.
Ignacy Błażej Franciszek Krasicki, from 1766 Prince-Bishop of Warmia and from 1795 Archbishop of Gniezno, was Poland's leading Enlightenment poet, a critic of the clergy, Poland's La Fontaine, author of the first Polish novel, playwright, journalist, encyclopedist, and translator from French and Greek.
Stanisław II August, known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski, was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.
Franciszek Ksawery Mikołaj Zabłocki, is considered the most distinguished Polish comic dramatist and satirist of the Enlightenment period. He descends from an old aristocratic family of Poland with coat of arms Łada. He translated many French comedies, among others those by Molière, but also wrote his own plays concentrating on Polish issues.
The Order of the White Eagle is the highest order of merit of the Republic of Poland and one of the oldest distinctions in the world still in use. It was officially instituted on 1 November 1705 by Augustus II the Strong, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony, and bestowed on eight of his closest diplomatic and political supporters. It has since been awarded to the most distinguished Poles for their merits and to the highest-ranking representatives of foreign countries.
Count Roman Ignacy Potocki, generally known as Ignacy Potocki, was a Polish nobleman, member of the influential magnate Potocki family, owner of Klementowice and Olesin, a politician, writer, and office holder. He was the Marshal of the Permanent Council in 1778–1782, Grand Clerk of Lithuania from 1773, Court Marshal of Lithuania from 1783, Grand Marshal of Lithuania from 16 April 1791 to 1794.
Stanisław Poniatowski was a Polish military commander, diplomat, and noble. Throughout his career, Poniatowski served in various military offices, and was a general in both the Swedish and Polish–Lithuanian militaries. He also held numerous civil positions, including those of podstoli of Lithuania and Grand Treasurer of the Lithuanian army in 1722, voivode of the Masovian Voivodeship in 1731, regimentarz of the Crown Army in 1728, and castellan of Kraków in 1752. Throughout his lifetime, he served in many starost positions.
The Targowica Confederation was a confederation established by Polish and Lithuanian magnates on 27 April 1792, in Saint Petersburg, with the backing of the Russian Empress Catherine II. The confederation opposed the Constitution of 3 May 1791 and fought in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, which led to the Second and Third Partitions of Poland.
The House of Czartoryski is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian-Ruthenian origin, also known as the Familia. The family, which derived their kin from the Gediminids dynasty, by the mid-17th century had split into two branches, based in the Klevan Castle and the Korets Castle, respectively. They used the Czartoryski coat of arms and were a noble family of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century.
Adam Stanisław Naruszewicz was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, poet, historian, dramatist, translator, publicist, Jesuit and Roman Catholic bishop.
The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system were in deep crisis. The period of Polish Enlightenment began in the 1730s–40s, peaked in the reign of Poland's king, Stanisław August Poniatowski, went into decline with the Third Partition of Poland (1795) – a national tragedy inspiring a short period of sentimental writing – and ended in 1822, replaced by Romanticism.
Neoclassical architecture in Poland was centered on Warsaw under the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, while the modern concept of a single capital city was to some extent inapplicable in the decentralized Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Classicism came to Poland in the 18th century as the result of French infiltrations into the Polish millieu. The best-known architects and artists who worked in Poland were Dominik Merlini, Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer, Szymon Bogumił Zug, Stanisław Zawadzki, Efraim Szreger, Antonio Corazzi, Jakub Kubicki, Hilary Szpilowski, Christian Piotr Aigner, Wawrzyniec Gucewicz, Bonifacy Witkowski and Danish Bertel Thorvaldsen.
The Warsaw Society of Friends of Science was one of the earliest Polish scientific societies, active in Warsaw from 1800 to 1832.
The Royal Library in Warsaw is a large building adjacent to the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland. It was built between 1779 and 1783 according to design of Dominik Merlini and Jan Chrystian Kamsetzer in order to accommodate the royal collection of books belonging to King Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last King of sovereign Poland.
The History of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1764–1795) is concerned with the final decades of existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The period, during which the declining state pursued wide-ranging reforms and was subjected to three partitions by the neighboring powers, coincides with the election and reign of the federation's last king, Stanisław August Poniatowski.
The Friends of the Constitution was the first modern Polish political party, formed in May 1791, shortly after the adoption of the Constitution of 3 May 1791, by the efforts of the Patriotic Party. The purpose of the Friends of the Constitution was to defend the reformed political system and to introduce further reforms.
Karol Boscamp-Lasopolski was a Dutch diplomat in service of Poland and Russia. He was a Chamberlain in the court of Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski. He was lynched by a mob during the Warsaw Uprising of 1794.
Ludwik Marteau, originally Louis-François Marteau was a Polish court painter who served under kings Augustus III and Stanisław August Poniatowski. All of his known works are portraits; both full size and miniatures.