1670 introduced Jan Pawel as a man who grew up with only one dream: to become the most famous and respected man ever to be born in Poland. He was the richest landowner in his village, Adamczycha, until his arch-nemesis came along. Andrzej sought shelter in the village with his three daughters after his wife’s death. Within just a couple of years of his arrival, Andrzej had bought half of Adamczycha and Jan and Zofia’s shared hatred. If I’m being honest, Andrzej and Jan Pawel weren’t much different and basically wanted the same things. Jan Pawel wanted to become the richest person in Poland and marry his daughter, Aniela, to a rich magnate so he would never have to worry about both money and respect.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Jan Always In Disagreement With Andrezj?
If you’d streamed 1670 on Netflix, you’d know that Andrzej owned the bigger half of the Adamczycha village, thanks to his fertile fields and workforce. His fields were producing enough produce to feed his village, while Jan was struggling to accumulate a few rags. However, rather than working on the problem, he often shifted the blame to others. He blamed the low-production problem on God’s wrath and bad luck. At times, he felt that this was due to his lazy workers, who slacked off during work hours. Thus, to counter such problems, he often wrote fake letters in the king’s name to make workers work an extra day. In addition, Jan was always in disagreement with his neighbor, no matter the topic. Jan had his laborers carry a massive clock just so he could make a statement that his time was much more precious than others. When people pressed him for a reason, Jan often changed the topic and instead told them how expensive and rare it was.
The king’s treasury had been drained due to the war, and Andrzej suggested increasing the tax paid by the nobles to help the monarch. Andrzej even quoted Cicero to make his case stronger, but Jan turned his words against him. If Polish people raised their own taxes, their downfall would be immediate, stated Jan Pawel in the assembly. Nineteen nobles were in favor of raising taxes, while Jan was the only one against it. Fortunately, due to Liberum Veto, the motion was denied.
What Did Jan Want From His Children?
Like every other parent, Jan wanted his sons to succeed him in every way and make Poland a great country. However, his elder son, Stanislaw, had no such interest. He would rather get married and play his favorite tunes. This was the only dream he had prioritized, getting him into verbal confrontations with his father often. Jan wanted him to become more responsible, like his younger brother. As for his second son, Jakub, Jan said that he was the pride of his family who, unlike his foolhardy brother, hardly indulged himself in foolish antics like playing with barn animals.
Jakub often instructed Jan on how to deal with his servants or how to force them into their best behavior. Jan greatly appreciated his help in his business matters and often said he would go places. However, Jan, despite being a priest, leaned towards material wealth and often bugged his workers for coins. As for his only daughter, Aniela, Jan wanted to find a rich suitor for her with shiny carriages and massive palaces, but Aniela had no such intentions. Jan also wanted her to behave like a noblewoman, something she’d forgotten, he often stated. Jan didn’t like that she hung around his laborers and helped them in their work. Jan’s nemesis, Andrzej, also wanted to find himself a rich son-in-law, so when Henryk arrived in the village, Jan did everything he could to turn the tides in his favor, even though Henryk was a complete buffoon.
How Did Jan’s Pride And Ego Often Get Him In Trouble?
On the surface, it might give the wrong impression that Jan knew what he was doing, be it instructing his laborers to carry out a specific job or fighting a duel, but the reality couldn’t be any more different. For him, his pride and self-esteem were the most important things. In one of the episodes of 1670, Jan challenged Andrzej’s cousin to a duel when he called his knob smaller than his nemesis. Jan had even thought out what he would say in his speech when he’d won the duel, standing on Jeremi’s corpse. While Jeremi polished his sword skills, Jan visualized his victory in their upcoming battle. Little did Jan know that Jeremi had a dangerous and haunting moniker, “Sudden Death Jeremi,” who was the fourth-best swordsman in the region. When he realized that there was no way he would survive the duel, he tried to talk others out of it. He claimed that the only reason men showed courage was to impress women, and since there were no women watching them, killing each other was futile. And when he couldn’t weasel his way out of it, he had one of his workers fight for him.
The same thing happened when a city merchant named Cieslaw arrived at the family to talk about Jadwiga’s marriage to Stanislaw. Like Jan, Cieslaw also carried a saber, which didn’t sit well with him, as the former believed the sabers weren’t an object of fashion but a cultural representation. Cieslaw even offered him the chance to sell his grains in the Netherlands and yield profit, but Jan refused, stating he didn’t need the help of a city man. When everyone was praising Cieslaw’s musical skills, Jan couldn’t tolerate his family’s attention shifting from himself. He tried to get it back but ended up robbing a woman of her finger and Stanislaw, a potential bride.
Why Did Jan And Andrezj Join Forces?
The last two episodes of 1670 saw Andrzej and Jan accidentally blowing the head off a noble magnate and then fighting tooth and nail to cover it up. Even though they hated it, they had to come to terms and put their differences aside to escape the probing eyes of Father Viper, an investigator sent to investigate Henryk’s disappearance. The duo did their best to divert the suspicions away from them, but their stupidity made it obvious that they knew what befell Henryk. To save their skin, they convinced Bogdan to take the fall, who happily agreed if he was fed guinea fowl before the hanging. However, rather than being arrested, Bogdan became a rich man, as Henryk had a huge bounty on his head for committing murders. Fortunately, Jan did win something in the end. In reality, Andrzej made some wrong business decisions and had most of his wealth seized by the King. This left him with no choice but to sell his half of the village land to his greatest enemy, Jan Pawel.
