Jan Chryzostom Pasek

Jan Chryzostom Pasek
Jan Chryzostom Pasek in the 1660 Battle of Lachowicze, by Juliusz Kossak
Coat of arms	Doliwa
Family	Pasek
Born	about 1636 Węgrzynowice
Died	August 1, 1701(1701-08-01) Niedzieliska

Jan Chryzostom Pasek (c. 1636–1701) was a Polish nobleman and writer during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He is best remembered for his memoirs (Pamiętniki), which are a valuable historical source about Baroque sarmatian culture and events in the Commonwealth.

Born in Węgrzynowice (now in Tomaszów Mazowiecki County) in 1636, into a petty noble family, Pasek attended a Jesuit school. He later enlisted in the army at age 19 and for 11 years he was a soldier in the Polish military, where he fought in the campaigns under Hetman Stefan Czarniecki against Sweden. In the Danish campaign, he took part in peace negotiations with Moscow (where he was member of the diplomatic mission). He also fought against Lubomirski rebels and the Turks. In 1667 he married and retired to his estate in Lesser Poland. Lawsuits that arose from his various excesses and conflicts with neighbours eventually resulted in him being exiled, however, the sentence was never enforced.

Towards the end of his life Pasek wrote an autobiographical diary, Pamietniki, a copy of which was found in 18th century and printed in 1821, making him posthumously famous. In his memoirs, he depicts in vivid language the everyday life of a Polish noble (Szlachcic), both during wartime and peace, with valuable batallistic scenes. He mentions the tales of the 17th-century Swedish and Muscovite wars, the catastrophic last years of the reign of King John II Casimir (1648–68), the incompetent rule of King Michael Korybut (1669–73), and concludes his narrative with the splendid reign of King John III Sobieski (1674–96). Since a number of opening pages of the first part is missing, it is now impossible to establish when Pasek begins his story. Furthermore, as he wrote the diary many years after these conflicts, he frequently mistook some historic events and incorporated incorrect dates.