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Saint Piva of Warka

116 bytes added, 21:17, 25 November 2021
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The town of Warka (pronounced ''<small>VAR</small>-kah''), about 50 km south of Warsaw, is best known for its brewery and the beer that is made there. The modern brewery, opened in 1975, currently belongs to Grupa Żywiec, which is majority-owned by Heineken International. It brews a run-of-the-mill pale lager branded as Warka Jasne Pełne, as well as its stronger, maltier version called Warka Strong.
There were times, however, when the beer brewed in Warka was considered the best in the region of Masovia and even all across Poland. Warka's beer-brewing traditions date back to the Middle Ages; even the town's very name comes from Polish beer terminology and refers to the amount of wort brewed from a single batch of malt. The oldest known mention of the Warka brewery comes from 1478, the year when Duke Boleslav V of Masovia granted the town a monopoly for supplying beer to his own court and to the Warsaw town hall. Warsovians must have really liked the brew, as even two hundred years later Jakub Teodor Trembecki wrote in his poem (about how much alcohol is better than tobacco) that Warsaw lived on Warka beer. And at the beginning of the 19th century, Samuel Bogumił Linde, who compiled the first Polish-language dictionary, could provide only one example of how to use the adjective "''wareckie'' " ("of Warka") in a sentence: "''dobre piwo wareckie''", "good Warka beer".<ref>{{Cyt
| nazwisko = Linde
| imię = Samuel Bogumił
{{cytat
| There is a legend about Warka beer and Papal Nuncio Ippolito Aldobrandini, who would later become Pope Clement VIII. During his stay in Poland he grew very fond the Warka beer. He claimed it "was “was excellent, piquant, reminiscent in color colour and flavor flavour of wine." Back in Rome, he fell gravely ill. On his sickbed, he whispered, ".. “… sancta Piva di Polonia... Polonia… sancta Biera di Warka..." Warka…” The clergymen present at his side, assuming he was talking about some obscure saint, proceeded to pray: "Sancta “Sancta Piva, ora pro nobis" nobis” ("Saint “Saint Piva, pray for us"us”). When the sick pope heard it, he burst into laughter. As a result, the ulcer he was suffering from ruptured and Aldobrandini began to recover.
| źródło =
{{Cyt
| adres rozdziału = https://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Warka_(piwo)&oldid=54336320
}}, own translation
| oryg = Z piwem Warka związana jest legenda dotycząca nuncjusza papieskiego Hipolita Aldobrandiniego, późniejszego papieża Klemensa VIII. Przebywając w&nbsp;Polsce bardzo zasmakował w&nbsp;wareckim piwie. Twierdził, iż „było wyborne, szczypiące, z&nbsp;koloru i&nbsp;smaku do wina podobne”. Po powrocie do Rzymu poważnie zachorował. Gdy na łożu boleści wyszeptał „...sancta „…sancta piva di Polonia... Polonia… sancta biera di Warka...”Warka…”, obecni przy nim duchowni, sądząc, że chodzi o&nbsp;jakąś nieznaną świętą, zaczęli się modlić: „Santa Piva ora pro nobis” („Święta Pivo, módl się za nami”). Chory, słysząc to, wybuchnął śmiechem. W&nbsp;rezultacie wrzód, z&nbsp;powodu którego cierpiał, pękł i&nbsp;Aldobrandini zaczął zdrowieć.
}}
Now, Piva may not mean much to you; unless, that is, you've ever had a beer in a Slavic country, in which case you know that "''piva''", "''pivo'' " or "''piwo'' " is the word for "beer " in every Slavic language. It comes from the verb "to drink", which shows that, for Slavs, beer is, by definition, the thing that you drink. Also notice the "saint's" alternative name, Biera, which bears resemblance to ''Bier'', the German word for "beer".
Now back to the story. As is typical for Polish Wikipedia, the legend is quoted uncritically and without any citation of a reliable source. Oh, but it's just a legend, so who cares if there are any historical sources to back it up? The legend, in the same or slightly modified wording, has spread across the Internet. You can find it, for example, on the official [https://warka.pl/pad/p,63,santa-biera-di-warka website of the town of Warka] (where at least a source is cited – as Wikipedia). The anecdote predates the Internet, though, and can be found in printed sources as well. Tadeusz Żakiej, a musicologist who used to write about food under a double ''nom de plume'' as Maria Lemnis and Henryk Vitry, included the following version in his tale of Old Polish cuisine:
[[File:1280282369 clement-viii.jpg|thumb|200px|Ippolito Aldobrandini (1536–1605), from 1592 known as Pope Clement VIII]]
{{cytat
| It was also said that Pope Clement VIII, who was in Poland in 1588 as a legate of the Holy See, became a great aficionado of the exquisite beer made in Warka. When, as a pope, he fell gravely ill in Rome, he asked, delirious from fever, for Warka beer, calling out, "Piva “Piva di Varca"Varca”. The cardinals gathered around the pope's pope’s bed, believing the sick man was invoking some saint for help, immediately began to pray, "Sancta “Sancta Piva di Varca, ora pro nobis."
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Lemnis
{{Cytat
| It's It’s worth recalling here a humorous anecdote about Papal Nuncio Gaetano, who was a great lover of Warka beer. When, back in Rome, he fell seriously ill with a throat ulcer, he whispered on his sickbed, "biera “biera di Warka"Warka”. The clergymen present at his bed, thinking he was calling an obscure saint, began to pray, "Santa “Santa Biera di Warka, ora pro nobis" nobis” ("saint “saint beer of Warka, pray for us"us”). Upon hearing this, the sick prelate burst into laughter and... and… recovered, as the ulcer he was suffering from finally ruptured.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Wirtualna Warka
| rozdział = Zarys dziejów
}}, own translation
| oryg = Warto tutaj przytoczyć zabawną anegdotę związaną z&nbsp;osobą nuncjusza papieskiego Gaetano, który był wielkim amatorem wareckiego piwa. Gdy po powrocie do Rzymu zachorował poważnie na wrzód w&nbsp;gardle, na łożu boleści wyszeptał: biera di Warka. Obecni przy łożu chorego duchowni sądząc, że chodzi o&nbsp;jakąś nieznaną świętą, zaczęli się modlić: „Santa Biera di Warka ora pro nobis” („święte piwo z&nbsp;Warki, módl się za nami”). Chory słysząc to wybuchnął śmiechem i... i… ozdrowiał, bowiem nękający go wrzód pękł.
}}
{{Cytat
| In 1596 Enrico Gaetano, an envoy of Pope Clement VIII, praised the beer of Warka in his diaries, claiming it was excellent, whitish, piquant, reminiscent in color colour and flavor flavour of wine. About the beer of Warka we once read the following anecdote: Nuncio Saluzzo grew very fond of Warka beer and upon leaving Poland he took with him considerable stock of that beer; but as everything in this world comes to an end, so did the nuncio's nuncio’s barrels eventually run dry. It came to pass that the venerable prelate fell mortally ill, stifled by an enormous ulcer in his throat, and those gathered around him began to recite the litany for the dying. Meanwhile the sick was suffering from great thirst; in the middle of the litany, somewhere between Saints Gervase and Protase, the nuncio recalled his favorite favourite refreshing beer, "Pivo “Pivo di Varca, Pivo di Varca!" and twice sighed deeplytwice. The priest reciting the prayer, thinking the nuncio remembered one more saint, responded piously, "Sancta “Sancta Piva di Varca, ora pro nobis!" Hearing this, the nuncio burst cordially into laughter, the ulcer ruptured and with it ended the sickness. This is how the Polish beer of Warka saved a papal nuncio from death.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Kołaczkowski
And besides, does it matter whether the anecdote tells of this or that prelate? What matters is that its every version praises the fine Polish beer of Warka, doesn't it?
Well, then...then…
{{Cytat
| The epithet "saint" “saint” or "holy" “holy” is used quite often by Italians, whether in anger or in admiration. It comes to them with ease to call an excellent wine vino santo; regarding this topic, it is said that a certain prelate who had been a nuncio in Brussels and who was fond of local beer, being consumed by a violent fever, cried out, santa “santa birra di BruxellesBruxelles”; and that his assistants, believing he had invoked a certain saint, responded earnestly, ora “ora pro nobisnobis”.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Caraccioli
{{Cytat
| This little story is reported by Monsignor Załuski, Bishop of Kiev; as puerile as it is, it proves how excessive Italians are in their expressions.
| źródło=''ibid''.
| oryg = Cette historiette est raportée par M. Zaluski, Evêque de Kiovie&nbsp;; & toute puérile qu’elle est, elle sert à prouver combien les Italiens sont empoulés dans leurs expressions.
{{Cytat
| The beer of Poland is very light and sweet; they call it Piva. That of Barca is the most esteemed. An Italian cardinal, who had been a papal nuncio in this kingdom, fell gravely ill in Rome; in the ardor ardour of fever he remembered that beer, which he had once enjoyed with so much pleasure. And sighing with regret of not being able to sample again such a fine liquor, he called out suddenly with transport, Ah“Ah! Piva di Barca! Upon hearing this, his parents and servants, gathered around his bed, believed that he was invoking a foreign saint in whom he trusted. And so they all fell to their knees and said loudly, with devotion, raising their eyes to heaven, Sancta “Sancta Piva di Barca, ora pro nobis.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| tytuł = Le Glaneur françois
{{cytat
| There are no Jews [in Warka], but there are many rich burghers who brew the best beer you can get in all of Poland (which doesn't doesn’t mean much, though). But, as far as this beer is concerned, I should not forget a story which the Poles tell about a cardinal who was once a nuncio in Poland; he had become so accustomed to the beer of Varka, that while dying, he called out for that beverage, as if it was to restore him back to health. He wanted it so bad, that he kept whispering, bière “bière de Varka, bière de VarkaVarka”. And his assistants, believing it to be some saint from a foreign land, whom the good man was invoking in agony, having just recited the litany of saints, added la “la sainte bière de VarkaVarka”, as a new patron saint known only to the dying cardinal.
| źródło = {{Cyt
| nazwisko = Dalairac