the top ("heaven for the nobility"), and the impoverished, usually enserfed peasantry are at the bottom ("hell for peasants"). The other two commonly named classes are the townspeople (or burghers) and the Jews. By the 16th century, the position of townspeople in the Commonwealth had been in decline (hence, "purgatory for townspeople"). The situation of the Commonwealth's Jews, while similar to that of the townspeople, was fairly secure and prosperous, particularly compared to the situation of Jews in most other European countries. Due to its criticism of the nobility, the proverb was most popular among townspeople; much less so among the nobility, whose writers, if they referred to it, used it mainly in the context of Polish Jewry. The proverb has been described as still (as of 2004) very popular in Poland, and as often influencing people's views about the situation of the social classes, particularly the Jews, in the Commonwealth. In various versions of the proverb, phrases appear in varying order and sometimes do not appear at all; there are also some minor changes in wording. Križanić, for example, writes "paradisus Hebraeorum" ("paradise for Hebrews") rather than "paradise for Jews". A five-part proverb variant appears in a treatise, Palatinum Reginae Liberatis (c. 1670), by the Polish Jesuit , who omits mention of the townspeople, instead adding "purgatory for royalty" and "limbo for clergy". Another five-part 1861 German variant ("Polen ist der Bauern Hölle, der Juden Paradies, der Burger Fegefeuer, der Edelleute Himmel, und der Fremden Goldgrube" – "Poland is hell for peasants, paradise for Jews, purgatory for townspeople, heaven for the nobility, and goldmine for foreigners") includes the 1606 pasquinade's "goldmine for foreigners", which did not make it into the final modern proverb that lists the nobility, townspeople, peasants, and Jews. Samuel Adalberg's 1887 paremiology records a four-part version ("Polska niebem dla szlachty, czyśćcem dla mieszczan, piekłem dla chłopów, a rajem dla Żydów" – "Poland is heaven for the nobility, purgatory for townspeople, hell for peasants, and paradise for Jews") that is closest to the 1606 original, which latter differs only in the order of the phrases and in not including "heaven for the nobility". Paradisus Judaeorum The origin of the phrase "paradisus Judaeorum" ("paradise of the Jews") has been described as antisemitic, and the 1606 pasquinade's author as having viewed Poland as being run by overprivileged Jews. In the centuries since, the phrase has lost its negative connotations