SKARGA, PIOTR. – Preacher, b. at Grojec (Masovia) in Feb. 1536, d. at Cracow on 27 Sept. 1612. He was one of the noblest figures in the religious and political history of Poland.
Already a priest, he entered the Society of Jesus in 1569, devoting himself to the defence of Catholicism, of which he was, with Cardinal Hosius, one of its most vigorous champions. Provincial of Poland (1579), rector of the new college at Polotsk (1580), and first rector of the Academy of Vilna (1583), in 1588 he was summoned by Sigismund III as court preacher at Cracow, where he remained until his death.
His principal works, all in Polish, are: *Jedność Kościoła Bożego pod jednym pasterzem* [The Unity of the Church of God under One Shepherd] (Vilna 1577), which greatly aided the Union of the Ruthenians (1596); *Żywoty świętych* [Lives of the Saints] (2 vols., ibid. 1579; 25th ed. Lviv 1883–84), one of the most widely read books; *Kazania na niedziele i święta* [Sermons for Sundays and Feasts] (Cracow 1595); *Kazania o siedmiu Sakramentach* [Sermons on the Seven Sacraments] (ibid. 1600); *Kazania przygodne* [Sermons for Various Occasions] (ibid. 1610). Of particular note are his writings on Polish politics: *Kazania sejmowe* [Sermons to the Diet] (Warsaw 1562); *Proces przeciw konfederacji* [Proceedings Against the Confederation] (ibid. 1595), in which he exposes the evils of the fatherland and sternly urges the magnates to abandon their errors, foreseeing the disasters that in fact occurred more than a century after his death. The warmth of his speech, the vivid imagery, and the poetic sense that permeates his writings make him a great prose stylist of Polish literature. His figure is still remembered and discussed in our own day.