A Royal Banquet in Cracow: Difference between revisions

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== The Bourgeois Nobleman ==

[[File:Mikołaj Wierzynek młodszy.jpg|thumb|upright|Mikołaj Wierzynek Junior according to an anonymous lithographer (1831)]]

As for Wierzynek, Longinus gives us only his surname. A merchant family of this name, one of Cracow's most affluent and influential, used to live in the city for centuries. Its progenitor, Mikołaj Wierzynek, arrived in Cracow from the Rhineland, or what is now western Germany, at the beginning of the 14th century. And of course his name wasn't really Mikołaj Wierzynek, but Nikolaus Wirsing; it was only years later that his descendants Polonized the German surname to "Wierzynek". He served as a member of the city council of Cracow and later as a mayor of the nearby salt-mining town of Wieliczka. He was even named Pantler of Sandomierz, but it doesn't mean he was actually responsible for the royal pantry whenever the king was in that city; it had already become a purely titular office, but ~~it carried great prestige~~ and ~~was~~ reserved for the nobility. So how did a Rhenish merchant become a Polish nobleman? We don't know for sure, but there were basically three options to achieve this status: ennoblement, naturalization and imposture. Whichever it was, Wirsing was certainly a man of means who enjoyed a high level of the king's trust -- in other words, an ideal candidate for organizing a great banquet designed to wow the emperor and other monarchs, and to glorify Casimir the Great's kingdom, which was just making its debut as a serious player on the international stage.

As for Wierzynek, Longinus gives us only his surname. A merchant family of this name, one of Cracow's most affluent and influential, used to live in the city for centuries. Its progenitor, Mikołaj Wierzynek, arrived in Cracow from the Rhineland, or what is now western Germany, at the beginning of the 14th century. And of course his name wasn't really Mikołaj Wierzynek, but Nikolaus Wirsing; it was only years later that his descendants Polonized the German surname to "Wierzynek". He served as a member of the city council of Cracow and later as a mayor of the nearby salt-mining town of Wieliczka. He was even named Pantler of Sandomierz, but it doesn't mean he was actually responsible for the royal pantry whenever the king was in that city; it had already become a purely titular office, but a prestigious one and reserved for the nobility. So how did a Rhenish merchant become a Polish nobleman? We don't know for sure, but there were basically three options to achieve this status: ennoblement, naturalization and imposture. Whichever it was, Wirsing was certainly a man of means who enjoyed a high level of the king's trust -- in other words, an ideal candidate for organizing a great banquet designed to wow the emperor and other monarchs, and to glorify Casimir the Great's kingdom, which was just making its debut as a serious player on the international stage.

There's only one but: Pantler Nikolaus Wirsing died in 1360, that is, 3--4 years before the banquet. So if it wasn't him who threw the most famous party of medieval Poland, then it must have been one of his family members. His family grew quickly after he had settled in Cracow, but historians have been able to identify one particular Wirsing who could have been responsible for the banquet; it was the pantler's son, Nikolaus Wirsing Junior, who, like his father, served as a Cracow councillor and, unlike his father, isn't known to have accomplished much else. Hence the conclusion that Junior held the banquet, perhaps in his own house, but he did it in the name of the city, spending money from the city's budget.<ref>S. Kutrzeba, ''op. cit.''</ref>

There's only one but: Pantler Nikolaus Wirsing died in 1360, that is, 3--4 years before the banquet. So if it wasn't him who threw the most famous party of medieval Poland, then it must have been one of his family members. His family grew quickly after he had settled in Cracow, but, out of a number of Wirsings residing in Cracow in 1364, historians have been able to identify one particular Wirsing who could have been responsible for the banquet; it was the pantler's son, Nikolaus Wirsing Junior, who, like his father, served as a Cracow councillor and, unlike his father, isn't known to have accomplished much else. Hence the conclusion that Junior held the banquet, perhaps in his own house, but he did it in the name of the city, spending money from the city's budget.<ref>S. Kutrzeba, ''op. cit.''</ref>

It's commonly accepted that Wirsing's banquet took place during the third of the meetings mentioned above -- the one of September 1364. This one took the top place in the number-of-crowned-heads-in-one-place category, which surely stirred people's imagination. But if sources confuse this summit with the imperial wedding of May 1363, then you can imagine just as well that Wirsing's feast was part of the multi-day wedding festivities. Especially if you remember that Longinus compared the value of Wirsing's gifts for Casimir to that of the bride's dowry. Although, after all, if Wirsing did such a good job as a wedding reception manager, than why couldn't he repeat his own success during the political summit a year and a half later? Perhaps there was more than one "banquet at Wierzynek's"?

== Tourist-Gastronomic Establishment ==

<!--

Przyjęło się, że Wirsing zorganizował ucztę opisaną przez Długosza przy okazji trzeciego z wymienionych wyżej zjazdów – tego z września 1364 r. To na tym zjeździe najwięcej było koronowanych głów i zapewne najsilniej działał on na wyobraźnię. Ale jeśli w źródłach przekazy o owym szczycie mieszają się z tymi o cesarskim ślubie z maja 1363 r., to równie dobrze można sobie wyobrazić, że uczta u Wirsinga była częścią wielodniowych uroczystości weselnych. Tym bardziej że Długosz porównuje przecież wartość prezentów dla króla Kazimierza do wysokości posagu panny młodej. Choć ostatecznie, jeśli Wirsing raz się sprawdził jako organizator bankietu, to dlaczego nie miałby powtórzyć udanej uczty weselnej przy okazji zjazdu politycznego półtora roku później? Może Wierzynkowych biesiad było więcej niż jedna?

~~== Przedsiębiorstwo Turystyczno-Gastronomiczne ==~~

W drugiej połowie XIX w. zaczęły otwierać się w Krakowie pierwsze restauracje. Niektóre z nich, często po licznych wzlotach i upadkach, lecz nadal pod tymi samymi nazwami i adresami, działają do dzisiaj. Hawełka, Wentzl, restauracje w hotelach Pod Różą, Pollera, Grand...

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 == The Bourgeois Nobleman ==
 [[File:Mikołaj Wierzynek młodszy.jpg|thumb|upright|Mikołaj Wierzynek Junior according to an anonymous lithographer (1831)]]
-As for Wierzynek, Longinus gives us only his surname. A merchant family of this name, one of Cracow's most affluent and influential, used to live in the city for centuries. Its progenitor, Mikołaj Wierzynek, arrived in Cracow from the Rhineland, or what is now western Germany, at the beginning of the 14th century. And of course his name wasn't really Mikołaj Wierzynek, but Nikolaus Wirsing; it was only years later that his descendants Polonized the German surname to "Wierzynek". He served as a member of the city council of Cracow and later as a mayor of the nearby salt-mining town of Wieliczka. He was even named Pantler of Sandomierz, but it doesn't mean he was actually responsible for the royal pantry whenever the king was in that city; it had already become a purely titular office, but it carried great prestige and was reserved for the nobility. So how did a Rhenish merchant become a Polish nobleman? We don't know for sure, but there were basically three options to achieve this status: ennoblement, naturalization and imposture. Whichever it was, Wirsing was certainly a man of means who enjoyed a high level of the king's trust -- in other words, an ideal candidate for organizing a great banquet designed to wow the emperor and other monarchs, and to glorify Casimir the Great's kingdom, which was just making its debut as a serious player on the international stage.
+As for Wierzynek, Longinus gives us only his surname. A merchant family of this name, one of Cracow's most affluent and influential, used to live in the city for centuries. Its progenitor, Mikołaj Wierzynek, arrived in Cracow from the Rhineland, or what is now western Germany, at the beginning of the 14th century. And of course his name wasn't really Mikołaj Wierzynek, but Nikolaus Wirsing; it was only years later that his descendants Polonized the German surname to "Wierzynek". He served as a member of the city council of Cracow and later as a mayor of the nearby salt-mining town of Wieliczka. He was even named Pantler of Sandomierz, but it doesn't mean he was actually responsible for the royal pantry whenever the king was in that city; it had already become a purely titular office, but a prestigious one and reserved for the nobility. So how did a Rhenish merchant become a Polish nobleman? We don't know for sure, but there were basically three options to achieve this status: ennoblement, naturalization and imposture. Whichever it was, Wirsing was certainly a man of means who enjoyed a high level of the king's trust -- in other words, an ideal candidate for organizing a great banquet designed to wow the emperor and other monarchs, and to glorify Casimir the Great's kingdom, which was just making its debut as a serious player on the international stage.
-There's only one but: Pantler Nikolaus Wirsing died in 1360, that is, 3--4 years before the banquet. So if it wasn't him who threw the most famous party of medieval Poland, then it must have been one of his family members. His family grew quickly after he had settled in Cracow, but historians have been able to identify one particular Wirsing who could have been responsible for the banquet; it was the pantler's son, Nikolaus Wirsing Junior, who, like his father, served as a Cracow councillor and, unlike his father, isn't known to have accomplished much else. Hence the conclusion that Junior held the banquet, perhaps in his own house, but he did it in the name of the city, spending money from the city's budget.<ref>S. Kutrzeba, ''op. cit.''</ref>
+There's only one but: Pantler Nikolaus Wirsing died in 1360, that is, 3--4 years before the banquet. So if it wasn't him who threw the most famous party of medieval Poland, then it must have been one of his family members. His family grew quickly after he had settled in Cracow, but, out of a number of Wirsings residing in Cracow in 1364, historians have been able to identify one particular Wirsing who could have been responsible for the banquet; it was the pantler's son, Nikolaus Wirsing Junior, who, like his father, served as a Cracow councillor and, unlike his father, isn't known to have accomplished much else. Hence the conclusion that Junior held the banquet, perhaps in his own house, but he did it in the name of the city, spending money from the city's budget.<ref>S. Kutrzeba, ''op. cit.''</ref>
+It's commonly accepted that Wirsing's banquet took place during the third of the meetings mentioned above -- the one of September 1364. This one took the top place in the number-of-crowned-heads-in-one-place category, which surely stirred people's imagination. But if sources confuse this summit with the imperial wedding of May 1363, then you can imagine just as well that Wirsing's feast was part of the multi-day wedding festivities. Especially if you remember that Longinus compared the value of Wirsing's gifts for Casimir to that of the bride's dowry. Although, after all, if Wirsing did such a good job as a wedding reception manager, than why couldn't he repeat his own success during the political summit a year and a half later? Perhaps there was more than one "banquet at Wierzynek's"?
+== Tourist-Gastronomic Establishment ==
 <!--
-Przyjęło się, że Wirsing zorganizował ucztę opisaną przez Długosza przy okazji trzeciego z&nbsp;wymienionych wyżej zjazdów – tego z&nbsp;września 1364&nbsp;r. To na tym zjeździe najwięcej było koronowanych głów i&nbsp;zapewne najsilniej działał on na wyobraźnię. Ale jeśli w&nbsp;źródłach przekazy o&nbsp;owym szczycie mieszają się z&nbsp;tymi o&nbsp;cesarskim ślubie z&nbsp;maja 1363&nbsp;r., to równie dobrze można sobie wyobrazić, że uczta u&nbsp;Wirsinga była częścią wielodniowych uroczystości weselnych. Tym bardziej że Długosz porównuje przecież wartość prezentów dla króla Kazimierza do wysokości posagu panny młodej. Choć ostatecznie, jeśli Wirsing raz się sprawdził jako organizator bankietu, to dlaczego nie miałby powtórzyć udanej uczty weselnej przy okazji zjazdu politycznego półtora roku później? Może Wierzynkowych biesiad było więcej niż jedna?
-== Przedsiębiorstwo Turystyczno-Gastronomiczne ==
 W drugiej połowie XIX&nbsp;w. zaczęły otwierać się w&nbsp;Krakowie pierwsze restauracje. Niektóre z&nbsp;nich, często po licznych wzlotach i&nbsp;upadkach, lecz nadal pod tymi samymi nazwami i&nbsp;adresami, działają do dzisiaj. Hawełka, Wentzl, restauracje w&nbsp;hotelach Pod Różą, Pollera, Grand...