Sarmatism (or Sarmatianism; ) was an ethno-cultural identity within the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was the dominant Baroque culture and ideology of the nobility () that existed in the time from the Renaissance to the early 18th century.Kresin, O. Ukrainian Sarmatism. Ukrainian History Together with the concept of "Golden Liberty", it formed a central aspect of the Commonwealth social elites’ culture and society. At its core was the unifying belief that the nobles of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth descended from the ancient Iranic Sarmatians, the legendary invaders of contemporary Polish and Roman lands in antiquity.Tadeusz Sulimirski, The Sarmatians (New York: Praeger Publishers 1970) at 167.P. M. Barford, The Early Slavs (Ithaca: Cornell University 2001) at 28.
The term and culture were reflected primarily in 17th-century Polish literature, as in Jan Chryzostom Pasek's memoirsPamiętniki Jana Chryzostoma Paska [1690s] (Poznan 1836), translated by C. S. Leach as Memoirs of the Polish Baroque. The Writings of Jan Chryzostom Pasek (University of California 1976). and the poems of Wacław Potocki. The Polish gentry wore a long coat, called kontusz, knee-high boots, and carried a (sabre), usually a . Moustaches were also popular, as well as decorative feathers in men's headgear. Poland's "Sarmatians" strove to achieve martial skill on horseback, believed in equality among themselves, and in invincibility in the face of the enemy.Simon Schama, Landscape and Memory Vintage, New York, 1995:38. Sarmatism lauded past victories of the Polish military, and required Polish noblemen to cultivate the tradition.
Sarmatia () was a semi-legendary, poetic name for Poland that was fashionable into the 18th century, and which designated qualities associated with the literate citizenry of the vast Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Sarmatism greatly affected the culture, lifestyle and ideology of the Polish nobility. It was unique for its cultural mix of Oriental, Western and native traditions. Criticized during the Polish Enlightenment, Sarmatism was rehabilitated by the generations that embraced Polish Romanticism. Having survived the literary realism of Poland's "Positivist" period, Sarmatism made a comeback with The Trilogy of Henryk Sienkiewicz, Poland's first Nobel laureate in literature.
Concept origin and its general idea
The term Sarmatism was first used by Jan Długosz in his 15th century work on the history of Poland.Andrzej Wasko, "Sarmatism or the Enlightenment: The Dilemma of Polish Culture", Sarmatian Review XVII.2. Długosz was also responsible for linking the Sarmatians to the prehistory of Poland and this idea was continued by other chroniclers and historians such as Stanisław Orzechowski, Marcin Bielski, Marcin Kromer, and Maciej Miechowita. Miechowita's Tractatus de Duabus Sarmatiis became influential abroad, where for some time it was one of the most widely used reference works on the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The idea appeared due to the humanists' romantic admiration of Antiquity and an attempt to return an outdated onomastics.
According to the Geography by Ptolemy, Sarmatia was considered to be territory of Poland, Lithuania, and Tartary and consisted of Asian and European parts divided by the Don River. As a geographical term, Sarmatia was always indistinct, but very stable. The presumed ancestors of the szlachta, the Sarmatians, were a confederacy of predominantly Iranian tribes living north of the Black Sea. In the 5th century BC Herodotus wrote that these tribes were descendants of the Scythians and Amazons. The Sarmatians were infiltrated by the Goths and others in the 2nd century AD, and may have had some strong and direct links to Poland.T. Sulimirski, The Sarmatians (New York: Praeger 1970) at 166–167, 194, 196 (Sarmatian-Polish links). See below. The legend of Polish descent from Sarmatians stuck and grew until most of those within the Commonwealth, and many abroad, believed that many Polish nobles were descendants of the Sarmatians (Sauromates). Another tradition came to surmise that the Sarmatians themselves were descended from Japheth, son of Noah.Colin Kidd, British Identities before Nationalism; Ethnicity and Nationhood in the Atlantic World, 1600–1800, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 29
Some holding to Sarmatism tended to believe that their ancestors had conquered and enserfed the local Slavs and, like the Bulgars in Bulgaria or Franks who conquered Gaul (France), eventually adopted the local language. Such nobility might believe that they belonged (at least figuratively) to a different people than the Slavs whom they ruled. "Roman maps, fashioned during the Renaissance, had the name of Sarmatia written over most of the territory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and thus 'justified' interest in 'Sarmatian roots'."Iwo Cyprian Pogonowski, Poland. An Illustrated History (New York: Hippocrene 2003) at 73.
Centuries later, modern scholarship discovered evidence showing that the Alans, a late Sarmatian people speaking an Iranian idiom, did invade Slavic tribes in Eastern Europe before the sixth century, and that these "Sarmatians evidently formed the area's ruling class, which was gradually Slavicized."T. Sulimirski, The Sarmatians (1970) at 26, 196. Sulimirski (at 196n11, 212) footnotes to G. Vernadsky and others. Their direct political connection to Poland, however, would remain somewhat uncertain.Cf., George Vernadsky, Ancient Russia (New Haven: Yale University 1943) at 78–90, 129–137. "[T]he Alans struck deeper roots in Russia, and entered into closer cooperation with the natives—especially with the Slavs—than any other migratory tribe. It was, as we know, by the Alanic clans that the Slavic tribes of the Antes were organized." Vernadsky (1943) at 135. In his 1970 publication The Sarmatians (in the series "Ancient Peoples and Places") Tadeusz Sulimirski (1898–1983), an Anglo-Polish historian, archaeologist, and researcher on the ancient Sarmatians, discusses the abundant evidence of the ancient Sarmatian presence in Eastern Europe, e.g., the finds of various grave goods such as pottery, weapons, and jewelry. Possible ethnological and social influences on the Polish szlachta would include tamga-inspired heraldry, social organization, military practices, and burial customs.T. Sulimirski, The Sarmatians (1970) at 151–155 (Tamghas); at 166–167 (pottery, spear heads, other grave goods; tamgha-inspired heraldry), at 194–196 (jewelry, tribal authority).
Sarmatism was used to integrate the Lithuanian and Ruthenian nobles into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and also elevated Ukrainian Cossacks as part of this identity despite their non-noble status. Historian Karin Friedrich points out, from the writings of Commonwealth scholars Christoph Hartknoch and Thomas Clagius, that the German-speaking Protestant burghers of Royal Prussia also identified themselves with the ideology of Sarmatism, in particular, with its values of liberty, which they contrasted with Swedish or Imperial (German) identities which they associated with tyranny. Hartknoch claimed that "one European Sarmatia, as one common mother, nurtured the Poles and Lithuanians and Prussians," while Clagius wrote of many nations "diverse in customs, but all by origin from [Sarmatia]."Elizabeth A. Drummond Review of the book by Karin Friedrich, The Other Prussia, December, 2003
Poles tracing their descent to the Sarmatians was part of wider tendency evident all over Europe, of various peoples tracing their descent to an ancient people who had lived in their country in Roman times: the Dutch taking up the Batavians as their forebears, the Frenchthe Gauls, the Portuguesethe Lusitanians, the Scotsthe Caledonians, the Swissthe Helvetii, the Romaniansthe Dacians, the Bulgariansthe Thracians, the Albaniansthe Illyrians, the Slovenesthe Veneti, the Hungariansthe Huns, etc.
Culture
Sarmatian belief and customs became an important part of szlachta culture, penetrating all aspects of life. Sarmatism emphasized equality among all szlachta, and celebrated their life style and traditions, including horseback riding, provincial village life, and relative peace.In the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, in which the Sejm resisted and vetoed most royal proposals for war; for some examples and discussion, see 2000. Especially Pp. 9–11, 114, 181, 323. See also democratic peace theory.
Sarmatists strongly valued social and family ties, and considered honour and gallantry towards women as important.
At the same time women were expected to spend the majority of their time at home, often living in separate quarters. Sarmatian women were barred from leaving their home unescorted. In the east of the Commonwealth, this extended to further social segregation of the sexes akin to the purdah.
Szlachta were expected to show familiarity with all other szlachta. This camaraderie did not extend to other nations, social classes and cultures which the Sarmatians viewed as inferior to their own. Poland's wars with other countries and the election of foreign monarchs to the Polish throne who prioritised their personal goals over those of the state, only strengthened those sentiments.
Conversation was one of their favourite occupations. Hospitality towards guests – relatives, friends, even strangers, especially from abroad, was also one of the Sarmatist values. Sarmatist culture also valued the hosting of sumptuous feasts with large amounts of alcohol. Male quarrels and fighting during such events was quite common. At their parties the polonaise, mazurka, and oberek were the most popular dances. A heightened self-esteem culture of honour was considered to be of prime importance, in which noblemen were expected to show eagerness to fight against anyone who infringed on his "rights" and show personal courage by bearing scars — sometimes hiring barbers to create scars. Marriage was described as 'deep friendship'. Men often travelled a lot (to the Sejms, Sejmiki, indulgences, law courts, or common movements). Women stayed at home and took care of the property, livestock and children. Girls and boys were brought up separately, either in the company of women or men. Suing, even for relatively irrelevant matters, was common, but in cases a compromise was reached. Sarmatism also expected nobility to show contempt for entrepreneurship, which was instead associated with Jewish people, and all labour activity. Among the Sarmatians, Latin was widely spoken, although at a superficial level. Starting from the 17th century, schools modeled after those of the Jesuits became common. Xenophobic attitudes led to the fall of educational standards among the gentry, as foreign ideas were seen as subversive.