Miron Costin – Chronicler and Poet

Janina Janas

Abstract

The text is based on the analysis of the historiographic and literary work of Miron Costin, who held positions of primary importance in the military, administrative and political life of the Principality of Moldavia during the central decades of the 17th century. In particular the narrative structures of his chronicles are examined, which are often inspired by the texts of contemporary and earlier Polish historians. Furthermore, the contribution to the affirmation of the Latinity of the Romanian people is clarified, when the question had not yet been put on the agenda. Finally, the echoes of Greek and Latin classicism are identified in the verses of the poem La vita del mondo (The Life of the World), steeped in motifs and modules of the overflowing spirit of the Baroque era.