Stanczyks

Stańczyks 

the common name for the Polish Conservative Party of Galicia, a national right-wing party that existed from the late 1860’s until 1918. The name is derived from a political pamphlet entitled Teka Staúczyka (Stañczyk’s Papers), published in 1869 by J. Szujski, S. Tarnowski, and other party leaders. The pamphlet consisted of letters allegedly written by Stañczyk, a court jester who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The Stariczyks deplored the national liberation movement and played an important role in formulating a compromise with the Austrian Hapsburgs in the late 1860’s that gave the Polish propertied classes a dominant position in Galicia in return for supporting the Hapsburgs.