The Legend of Master Twardowski

Myths, Legends, and Stories from Different Cultures around the world.
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Master Twardowski Legend.

There's a local legend here - it's not really similar to Faust - it's quite different - about a powerful sorcerer and necromancer, Jan Michał Twardowski.

The best way to describe it for me is to write up the storyline of the movie from 1995 that was made based on the legend.

Btw. sorry for English mistakes, it's not really my primary language so... hope you get what I was trying to tell. :P So sorry again about that.

So the story starts with the father of Jan Michał Twardowski, Mikołaj Twardowski. He is riding a road with his servants and suddenly the bandits attacks from the ambush. They're trying to rob and kill him after he said he don't have any gold so in desperation he's saying "Help me, anyone. Even if Devil Himself". Suddenly, The Demon arrives on a horse, and he's scaring the bandits away. After this, he insist for reward after he helped Twardowski Senior. So He said what does he wants in exchange, the demon said idk. whatever he will see first after he will return home. He wasn't there like 8 months, so he don't suspect any interesting to see at his home after his 8 month absence. So he agreed, the demon is taking out earlier prepared conract and Twardowski is signing it. Then Twardowski is asking him what is his name, so he can know the name of his savior so demons answers "I am Pursan, Adjutant/Aid of the Prince. And the call me The Soul Hunter" and the demon is driving away. Later the driver is talking with Twardowski Senior, why all those bandits looks so similar to their savior? Later on their way they enocuntered the papal legate who is taking the women accused of being possed by devil...
After Twardowski finally managed home, the lady is showing him he has a son, and in that moment, Twardowski Senior knew he was deceived and he signed a contact for his son....

Later His, son, Jan was baptized, growed up, go to university, got proper education. One time when he was on the inn on some party, the same demon jumped for the chalice he was drinking with and said him "Long time no see, Mr. Twardowski", so Twardowski answered him he don't remind himself they ever met so the demon told him he knows him since he was born and now his father is about to die... So Twardowski quickly left the inn and drove home and met his father on his deathbed. His father told him he made a mistake in the past and gave him the scroll where everything was written and that he must go to the woods and meet the hermit, Albertus, after that he died.

So Twardowski went to the woods and met the hermit. The hermit told him he can retrieve the father's contact but he must go to Hell for it. He gave him special magic ball that will lead him to Hell but before it he must confess and not to sin on his way there cause he will be tempted. So he used that ball and it lead him to a group of damned people that were heading to Hell led by group of demons. He reached the gates of Hell. They didn't want to let him in so he used Holy Water so the gate opened automatically. So He met there another Demon and he was demanding the pact cause his father was tricked. They tried to tell him this particular pact is lost and trying to give him money for exchange but Twardowski insisted and threated by using Holy Water on them, so they lead him to archive and he finally found his father's contract and he destroyed it. Later they ambushed him but he was free to go as "Free Man"...

Since that time, they have planned to never stop watching him cause they wanted to retrieve him in their power and they made him to completely forget his visit in Hell and made it as just a dream. They have planned to make his life bad and don't have any clients so he could feel bad for his life and wanted to be the best and do whatever it takes to get what he wants. One time he was going home near forest area and suddenly the bandits started to chase him and trying to kill him. Suddenly, a horse coach appreared. The that demon who was in charge when he was in Hell before was inside masked as a nobleman. He was telling him compliments and when they reached home, he told him there is a way to make him be famous and successful and he should look in a book. Twardowski asked him "what book?", so demon answered "The Nature of Demons" and drove away.

When Twardowski reached his come, it was a total burden inside and he found a big book with demon's hand on a cover, still smoking... Later we can see Twardowski riding on a horse to wildreness and called Devil to pact with so the same Demon appreared as he was inside the horse coach. So he asked for great knowledge about everything, to have a great magical powers, to have knowledge about past, present and future and to become the wiser of the wisest. So Demon told Him his name is Balan and if He is selling his soul that expensive, they will take him alive from Earth. So Twardowski demanded he can choose a place they'll take him from, so he said "Rome". Demon was furious and tried to convience him to other places but Twardowski insided for "Rome" and it's Hell problem how they force him to go there. Demon finally agreed. Before signing the contract, Twardowski gave 3 trials to Demon - 1. He suppost gather all the silver of Poland and lump it all in abandoned mine in Olkusz. 2. The same night to build the lake in Knyszyn. 3. To invert the big rock in Ojców in a way it will be standing upside down. So The Demon did what Twardowski asked so they signed the contract.

After that, Twardowski got younger and he spotted people cheering him from his windows and everyon wanted to ask him for his advices. He became instantly famous. He was giving people advices. The last person who asked him for advice on that scene was a guy who asked him to help his fiance who was falsely accuded for witchcraft so he agreed to help him...

One night the servant of a king visitted him so he told him he already knew why he is there and he is asking him to help the king to see his dead wife for the last time so Twardowski said that to a servant anda he was very surprised how the hell he knows that? So Twardowski said he will help him if he will give him permission to go to countcase of that falsely accused women, so he agreed. So he came to this courtcase with his sidekick and they demasked a fake judge who was sadist women who liked to falsely accused other people for fun but she escaped through the window and the falsely accused women has been released.

Later we can see Twardowski going to the castle to perform a necromancy riual for the king so he gave him the instructions to never say anything or even move. King agreed so Twardowski summoned the deceased wife of the king but king couldn't resist and touched her so suddenly, she get mad and transformed into a skeleton so the king got scared and apparantly got a hear attacked and died.

He had bad dreams that night and he had to escape the city cause they wanted to catch him and prosecute him for murder of the king. So we can see he was helping the sick and people in need while travelling around and demons were angry. They set up a plan to make him meet some woman so he will marry her and they will go to Rome for honeymoon. So he met some nice, beautiful lady and later the got marry and suddenly when she wanted to convienced him to go to Rome, he reminded himself about his pact so got furious and knew it was a trap and all of those people were demons in disguise so he escaped to his new home. There he was trying to find this book, but the demon he pacted with have appeared and told him he deceived him and he never got younger and advices he was giving to those people led them to their misery or death and woman he met was very old and non-attractive old rag. He said he will never go to Rome so they can never have him. The Demon laughed and said he will be theirs sooner than he think.

So later we can see demons had their council in Hell with main Devil who read his contract and said Twardowski never stated Rome, Italy, but just "Rome". So they found out there is a fight between 2 owners of new inn that in not yet finished and it don't have its name yet. So they decided it will be named "Rome" and they will help to finish the construction, so they sent Pursan who met the owner there and told him he will finish the contruction in just 3 days and if he fails, he can give him 100 whips. He was surprised cause it's work for at least a month so he said if the Devil will help him, so he answered even if, it doesn't bother him. So He got scared and asked what he wants in exchange so he told him to never go here and check him while those 3 days, and that on 3rd days he and his workers will be celebrating all night on his paycheck and he will name the inn like he wants. So owner asked him how he plan to name it, so he told him "Rome". So he agreed. Later we can see legion of demons on horses sent my Pursan to finish the construction and they were building it. Later we can see someone came to Twardowski house begging him to help his sick father but later we finding out it was a demon in disguise who said he is in the inn just outside Kraków. So Twardowski instructed his sidekick to observe him though him though his magic mirror that we can see though all the movie and hermit Albertus contacted him though it earlier in the movie warning him.

So Twardowski came with this demon in disguise and they prepared a trap inside the inn. Once they reached its destination, the demon he pacted with appreated and Twardowski was surprised what he is doing here? So the demon told him "That Inn is called Rome"... so they took him alive from Earth but Twardowski still had a holy relic from hermit Albertus and started to pray Holy Mary and his sidekick seeing it, used that magic mirror to put down the demons from him, so Twardowski has landen on The Moon and legend goes he is there as punishment to this day and his only companion is his sidekick whom he once turned into a spider; from time to time Twardowski lets the spider descend to Earth on a thread and bring him news from the world below.

Pan Twardowski is said to have lived in or near Kraków, the capital of Poland at the time. Different places in Kraków claim to be the exact location of Twardowski's house. The sorcerer might have lived either somewhere in the city center, near the Rynek Główny or Ulica Grodzka, or across the River Vistula in the village of Krzemionki (now part of Kraków).

In the sacristy of a church in Węgrów, hangs a polished metal plate claimed to be the magic mirror which once belonged to Pan Twardowski.[5] According to a legend, it was possible to see future events reflected in the mirror until it was broken in 1812 by Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte of France when he saw in it his future retreat from Russia and collapse of his empire.

https://slupsoli.flog.pl/wpis/6871047/l ... rdowskiego

It is also said that Master Twardowski spent some time in the city of Bydgoszcz, where, in his memory, a figure was recently mounted in a window of a tenement, overseeing the Old Town. At 1:13 p.m. and 9:13 p.m. the window opens and Master Twardowski appears, to the accompaniment of weird music and devilish laughter. He takes a bow, waves his hand, and then disappears. This little show gathers crowds of amused spectators.

So hope you liked that legend and here is that movie so you can watch after reading the legend so you know what it's about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGb2Aws8wN8&t=5674s
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