The
following article is a direct translation from the classic
genealogical and heraldic reference "Herbarz Polski" by
Kasper Niesiecki S.J. Lipsk edition 1839-46. Translated by William
F, Hoffman.
In this coat of arms there is a lily of the field
joined with another so that one points straight up and the other
down, both roofed so that they arise from each other, forming,
as it were, a single lily: so that half of this
combined lily is white in a red field, on the left side of the
shield; on the right the other half is black on a white
field. On the helm is half a man in armor and with an old fashioned
helmet on his head, and he holds two standards in his hands; in his
right hand, which is white (for he himself is half black), he
holds a black one, and in his left, which is black, he holds a white
one. On the helmet he has a lily like that on the shield. Paproc.
w Gniazdzie fol. 1213. o herb. fol. 578. Okolski. t. 1
fol. 59. Bielski fol. 507. A rather similar coat of arms is placed in
Petrasancta cap. 60. among foreign emblems, from which it is easy
to see that it did not originate among us here in Poland but was
brought here from elsewhere. Indeed, these arms were acquired in
France on this occasion: between King Philip of France and the
English a war had been raging, one unfavorable to the French not
only because of the loss of many people and cavalry but also because
John the Blind, the Czech king who was reinforcing his relative, the
king of France, perished. That had happened in 1346 [i.e., The
battle of Crecy, near the start of the Hundred Years'
War; what follows must refer to a time nearer the end of the
war, a century later- Trans.] Jan Boner of Wissemberg,
whose estates were on the Landa river and who came from the
Netherlands, was at that time arranging pay for the French forces;
on many occasions he pressed the English, a fortunate Mars, and was
first made rotmistrz [captain of the horse] and later also hetman,
and he managed his forces in such a way that he soon stood the
English on their heads and brought two standards, black and white,
as the spoils of his victory, and threw them at the
King's feet. For this King Philip bestowed those same banners on him
and his descendants, in addition to many significant keepsakes
worthy of a knightly hear, and added to them the lily of France in
the manner described above.
Whether he came to Poland soon or not, I can not
determine. Decius in his history written about Zygmunt I - an author
the more reliable because he lived in those days and was a
patriot of the Boners - listed under the year 1515 others who had
come from W'issenburg to our realm over the last 80 years, especially
those who had settled in Kraków, and he says: Evocatus est item
a Vissemburgensibus in hoc Regnum vir insignis Joannes
Bonerus Landanus, qui primis initiis ex mercatura opibus auctus, et
apud Casimirum, Joannem Albertum, et Alexandrum Poloniae Reges in
pretio habitus est [Also summoned by the Vissemburgians to this Realm
was an eminent man, Jan Boner of Landa, who was originally hired for
trade in provisions and was held in high regard by Poland's kings
Kazimierz, Jan Albert, and Aleksander]. The same thing was
written, following Decyusz (although they called him "Miechowita"), by Bielski and
Paprocki. But the latter, in Paprocki o herb. fol. 699,
listing
several of the more prominent people thriving in the city of Krakow
from 1378, includes Mikolaj Bochnar, who presided over the city in
1383 and again in 1396, when he was also inspector of the
Krakow salt-works. There is also Lukasz Bochnar in 1403. Then
Dryacki, and other writers on the life of Blessed Izajasz Boner,
maintain that that holy man was born in 1380; so long before Jan
Boner, indeed, even before King Kazimierz Jagiellonowicz, the family
of the Boners must have come to us. Perhaps some will say that these
men, Mikolaj, Lukasz, and Blessed Izajasz were not of the house of
Boner but were Bochnars of Starykon arms; but after all, Dryacki
expressly states that he had long since seen on Izajasz's grave this
Boner coat of arms serving as a reminder to his countrymen of his
relations: and for that purpose I, too, will give a summary of his
life.
The Blessed Izajasz Boner, whose father was
Floryan Boner and whose mother was Bronislawa z Brzezia Lanckoronska,
Zadora arms, Hieronim's daughter, was born in Krakow on Grodzka
street in 1380, and was christened Amborzy; when he'd grown up he
was handed over for education, in 1395, to the academy that at that
time was still in Kazimierz near Krakow, founded by the Polish king
Kazimierz the Great. There he soon progressed so that after the
academy was moved from Kazimierz to Krakow, he received the
baccalaureate and master's degrees, as is shown by the register
Artisticae facultatis of 1406, see Dryacki. What is incomprehensible
is that he was supposed to have been declared a doctor of theology
at the Krakow academy in that year, but according to our historians
it was long after that year that the teaching of theology was first
permitted at that academy; on this score Clusius says that that
degree was conferred not at the academy but at the Augustinian
monastery near Krakow, in which all those higher studies were
flourishing at the time. He conversed intimately with those fathers
and frequented their sermons and conversations; once at St.
Katarzyna's Church he listened to a preacher preach earnestly and
condemn the world and its vanity, and he took his words to heart and
took the habit of the order of Hermits of St. Augustine at the hands
of the pious Jan, Swietokrzyski abbot, and chose the name of that
monastery's prior, Izajasz, for his new life. He immediately began
to train himself in the various virtues and soon became the image of
excellence and an example to others. He liked nothing more than to think and talk about the blessed
eternity and heavenly praise, and that he found this very much to
his taste while still here on earth is attested by what his fellow
monks heard, when during prayer they saw Izajasz elevated above the
earth and enraptured, accompanied by some extraordinary melody
(evidently angelic ) of astonishing
joy and harmony, singing particularly the hymn "Ave Regina Caelorum.
Mater Regis Angelorum" ("Hail, Queen of Heaven, Mother of
King of Angels'" ), and the holy man sang along with it: for he
had a special regard for the Blessed Mother, so that most often he
was in prayer before her image; which, copied at his expense, God
later made famous with many graces,
so that many a time during his
services there running late into the night, when sleep overcame him
he would throw himself to the ground, and it was more a matter of
sleep's deceiving him than of his actually going to sleep, because
soon he would return once more to his delights with God. His
humility was singular: because of it, when his elders reprimanded
him for some small and rather innocent defect, he would fall to
their feet, kiss them, and beg forgiveness. For this reason while he
was still in the Novitiate he considered himself so base that he
judged himself unworthy of the order's habit and worthless to the
order; and later, when he was already well on in years and highly
regarded by all, he gratefully accepted the lowest services and
duties with his extraordinary contentment, lovingly serving his
fellow monks in their illnesses, visiting the hospital and huts of
the poor, comforting the needy, confirming them in better hope in
God, and encouraging them to have patience; and since he found he
did not have enough time for prayer and reading books, he would give
only four hours for sleep, from eight to twelve. He afflicted his
body not only with lack of sleep, but also drew blood from cuts with
harsh discipline, pressed his body with iron bars, tormented himself
with a hair-shirt, and weakened himself with fasts, eating
practically nothing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, sharing
his portion with the nerdy at the monastery's fort. In heavy frosts
he walked to church with bare feet; that he might keep the
mortification of his body secret before human eyes, he did wear
shoes, but with the bottoms cut out. Dressed this way, he visited
the graves of St. Stanislaw the Bishop and Blessed Salomea and other
Polish patron saints on foot, and his feet, whether cut by stones,
by frost, or by other sharp objects, would he splattered with blood.
He repaid his enemies' hatred for him with love, falling before them
and begging forgiveness for his offenses. He withstood all
unpleasantness with an unconquered heart: the tongues of those
attacking his teaching and holy actions, the stinging mockeries of his deeds, the criticisms of the
envious, the calumnies of the malicious, none of this could shake
him from his pious undertakings connected with God. Having
ceaselessly exercised himself in these virtues, he was stricken by a
fatal disease, during which the Most Blessed Virgin appeared to him
with the baby Jesus in her arms, surrounded by St. Stanislaw the
Bishop and Jacek and Kazimierz (thus all those who wrote of his life
say, although it wasn't until twenty years later that St. Kazimierz
passed over to heavenly praise, that is, in 1483, whereas this
happened in 1471 - or 1461, according to Dryacki - when St.
Kazimierz had barely been born), Jadwiga, Salomea, and Kinga, and
she summoned him to heaven, saying ( I include here the words from
Rev. Nadasy) Serve mi dilecte paratus jam esto, possidere regnum
Dei, ab initio mundi a Deo omnibus Sanctis praeparatum [My dear
servant, be now ready to possess the kingdom of God
prepared by God from the beginning of the world for all Saints]; and
rejoicing at this, Blessed Izajasz ended his life joyfully and in
sanctity in 1471, at the age of 90, on 8 February; whatever others
may have written, I am following the inscription that was copied from
his gravestone, in short, Obiit Venerabilis Pater Isajas Sacrae
Theologiae Professor anno 1471 [The Venerable Father Izajasz,
professor of holy Theology, died in the year 1471 ]. An image was
placed on his grave, and it holds in its hands the sentence: Tempus
breve, judicium difficile [Time is short, judgment difficult].
Joined with his life's great sanctity was knowledge in no way
inferior: it was evident at the Council of Konstanz, when with ten
other doctors of the same order he thoroughly disproved the erros of
the Hussites; he did the same thing in Prague. It is also evident to
this day in some of his writings: for he wrote four books in
Magistrum Sententiarum, in which both the turn of his humor and an
uncommon skill stand out. But his Commentaria was destroyed
by fire after his death, on Holy Trinity Sunday, 1556, when the
Krakow monastery of the Augustine Fathers burned unexpectedly; so
was his biography, which one of those who knew him and lived with
him had written at length shortly after his death: there are only
those that I have cited here, who later wrote about him to praise
this blessed man, i.e., Martinus Baronius Clericus anno 1610.
Nakielski in Miechovia fol. 265. Fridericus Szembek Soc.J. Philippus Alegambe
Soc. J. Bollandus in Actis SS. tomo 2. and 8.
Febr. Bzovius in Annal.. tomo 18. num. 34. Pruszcz Forteca Duchowna fol. 144.
Augustinus Clusius anno 1610, and finally,
Fulgentius Dryacki Ord. S. August. God made famous the piety
of his life with great wonders, for while he was yet alive he raised
two from the dead, of whom the authors cited mention one: that one
time when Blessed Izajasz was praying before the image of the Blessed Mother, the body of one Stanislaw by
name, a citizen of Kazimierz, was being brought into that church,
accompanied by the great sorrow of his relatives, who bewailed the
loss of the deceased; the holy man cried out to the Blessed Mother, Monstra
te esse Matrem [ Show that you are the Mother], and he took the
corpse's hand and raised him and handed him over, alive. You will
find the other one in the life of Blessed Stanislaw Kazimirczyk. I
read of as many raised by his merit after his death. In addition
some to this day still regain their sight, others their health after
malignant fevers, and yet others different graces at this man's
grave, as is attested by the votive Masses in thanks for these
blessings, to which I refer writers on his life. His body was raised
from the earth with the consent of Pope Urban VIII in 1633 by
commissioners appointed for the task by the bishop of Krakow and
awaits further honors and respects from the apostolic See, and more
than a few have beheld in wonder an extraordinary brightness at his
grave.
Jan Boner came from Helvetia and stayed in Krakow for a time,
then brought his brothers Jakob, Fryderyk, and Jedrzej after him;
having soon acquired hereditary estates in Krakow district,
especially at Ogrodzieniec and elsewhere, from Wlodek, Bochnia
cupbearer, (Dryacki) he gained even more favor with his
services to Zygmunt I and was made by him burgrave and inspector of
the Krakow salt-works. His lord's regard brought much envy upon him,
but Boner's intelligence remained wholly unaffected by this and he
paid off all the royal estates, loaded as they were with large
debts, out of his own pocket. Thus he redeemed bronze [spiz; or
could this mean Spisz?] for 12,000 red zlotys from Jordan z
Zakliczyna; Oswiecim and Ruskie salt-works for 14,000 red zlotys
from Pawel czarny, a citizen of Krakow; and Nieszawa for 10,000 from
Stanislaw Koscielecki. He released the stroz rybitwa, mills
and butchers' stalls and other incomes settled on Krakow's governor
for 12,000; the Olkusz olbora, i.e., the ore tithe, for 5,000
from Seweryn Betman; and he released from various hands. Sieradz for
5,000; Gostynin for 2,300 zlotys; Radom for 3,000; Sochaczow for
7,000; Piotrkow for 1,200; Drohobycz for 5,000; Rabsztyn for 1,500;
Rytter castle for 1,000; the Lublin customs-duty for 1,400; Czluchow
for 4,000; Tuchola for 11,000; Sadecz for 4,000; Inowroclaw for
5,000; and Torun bridge-tolls and customs-duty for 10,000. He paid
all services for the entire royal court, unpaid for many years, for
which he spent some 200,000 zlotys. In addition he redid at great
cost Krakow castle, which was almost in ruins, especially the west
side, and later all the walls. Bielski fol. 507. Pastor. in Floro Polon.
Cromer.
The works of these Boners are remembered to this
day, for they restored the Bochnia and Wieliczka salt mines to good
condition, at no small expense to themselves, and from their name to
this day comes the name szyba Bonerowska. They also undertook
the adornment of a number of churches; thus the altar of St.
Stanislaw na Skalce stands wholly gilded at their expense, as is
evident from the arms placed on it in commemoration. But later, as
the descendants of this house rose to greater and greater honors and
wealth, they abandoned the true faith and were infected by the
Lutheran heresy, in which they died, and so the whole family
declined.
The information given by Blessed Izajasz Boner's biographer, that
the Nowina or Zlotogolenczyk arms were granted to Mikolaj Boner at
the Hrodelski sejm (Dryacki in Vita B. Boner), should not be
ascribed to these Boners in any case, for the reason mentioned
above. |