What did Ignacy Krasicki have in common with David Beckham?

"And you, Count, would you not like to rest in the shade of my plums, apricots, peaches, cedars from Lebanon and the Caucasus, roses from Golconda and tulips from Madagascar?" – wrote Ignacy Krasicki to a friend. Known mainly for his moralising fables inspired by Aesop or as the venerable Bishop of Warmia, Krasicki sits somewhere on the Olympus of Enlightenment heroes. Meanwhile, apart from his literary talent, this clerical patriot, the 'prince of Polish poets', was a great lover of gardens.

In 1765, he arrived at the castle in Lidzbark Warmiński. At first, he missed Warsaw, Kraków and Lviv. He found life in the provinces tedious. With time, however, Bishop Ignacy began to recognise the soothing qualities of gardening. At a time when naturalistic English gardens had taken hold of aesthetics, Krasicki decided to shape the surroundings of his residence in such a way that not only would he not have to leave, but he would also want to return to it.

The Archbishop of Warmia not only took care of the flowers and trees, but also had a greenhouse over 27 metres long, which allowed him to treat his guests to wild strawberries in winter. He writes in letters to his brother and sister-in-law that he has 'only' forty varieties of roses.

Meanwhile, a historical storm was raging all around – Prussia was preparing for a clash with Austria and Russia, the turbulent Four-Year Sejm was in session, and the intellectual elite were engaged in discussions about reforms and work on the Constitution of 3 May. Ignacy Krasicki did not remain indifferent to these events. But he remained calm – the garden brought him solace. "Paying no heed to the wars, I bustle about the garden as busily as I can."

This soothing power of the garden was also discovered by Krasicki's colleague in the trade – the gardener – David Beckham. The famous footballer's fortune is estimated at 450 million dollars. He owns the football club Inter Miami CF. But fame never comes for free. The price of his popularity was the relentless hounding of "Posh and Becks". Following a controversial red card at the 1998 World Cup, the Beckham family received threats. Finally, the rumours about the Beckhams' private life weighed heavily on the family.

Today, 50-year-old David still enjoys riding his motorbike along the motorway to 'clear his head', but quite unexpectedly, even for him, solace is found in… the garden. On the Beckhams' estate in the fashionable Cotswolds, there is a greenhouse, a henhouse, a vegetable garden and beehives. David also has roses, including a bush gifted to him by another gardening enthusiast – King Charles.

The nearly 90 million people who follow Beckham on social media can admire his carrots, radishes, chives and cabbage. "My mates from the East End will probably notice the change. I used to be into motorbikes and camping, and now it's honey and flowers," writes Becks on Instagram.

The case of the 'poet prince' and the captain of the English football team can be explained scientifically. Mycobacterium vaccae is a bacterium that enters the human body through the skin of the hands when we work in the garden and touch the soil, and it stimulates the release of serotonin – the hormone responsible for our sense of well-being. Studies indicate that people who garden have a 6.6% higher sense of well-being and a 4.2% lower stress level than those who have nothing to do with gardening.

Beks and Iggy knew this all along. They were always trendsetters of their time.