Hieronim Radziejowski
Hieronim Radziejowski | |
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Hieronim Radziejowski | |
Coat of arms | ![]() |
Born | 1612 |
Died | August 8, 1667 Adrianople, Turkey |
Family | Radziejowski |
Spouse(s) | Eufrozyna Eulalja Tarnowska Elzbieta Sluszka (Kazanowska) |
Father | Stanisław Radziejowski |
Mother | Katarzyna Sobieska |
Occupation | politician and diplomat |
Hieronim Radziejowski (1612—August 8, 1667) was a Polish noble, politician and diplomat, father of Michał Stefan Radziejowski.
He was starost of Sochaczew since 1643 and Deputy Chancellor of the Crown between 1650 and 1652. He also served as Marshal of the Sejm on November 13 - March 27, 1645 in Warsaw.[1]
He came into conflict with king John II Casimir when he found out that his wife, Elżbieta Słuszka was the King's mistress. Radziejowski started to conspire against the King with the Ottoman Empire, and as a result was sentenced to infamy and banishment (exile) in 1652 by the Sejm Tribunal.[1] He left Poland for Sweden, and convinced the Swedish to attack the Commonwealth. In 1655, Radziejowski accompanied the Swedish forces during their invasion of Poland in the course of The Deluge.[1] He played an important role in persuading the pospolite ruszenie to surrender at Ujście.[1] In 1662 he was pardoned by the Sejm.[1] In 1667 he went on a diplomatic mission to the Ottoman Empire[1] and died there.
Early political career
At the beginning of the seventeenth century he arrived at the court of King Władysław IV, where he quickly gained considerable influence, and most notably was appointed the starost of Sochaczew. In 1640, for the first time, he became a senator in the Sejm (parliament) despite the scandal (before the meeting of the parliament he was accused of rape). In 1645 he was appointed the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. Following this, in the name of the king, he was involved in the secret negotiations with the Cossacks that would support Poland in the Turkish expedition, however in 1646, when the secret case came out to the public, the nobles and senators of the Sejm, opposed the campaign. At the same time Radziejowski gained the influence at the court of the queen, appearing on the same parliament to defend her royal interests. In 1648 he participated in the Battle of Piławce. Radziejowski was one of the accused noblemen of contributing to the escape of the Polish army during that battle. He then campaigned for the election of John II Casimir and supported his marriage to the widow of Władysław IV, Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga. In 1648 he was the elector of John II Casimir representing the city of Łomża. In May 1650, he married (his two previous wives died) the newly widowed Elżbieta Służka, an heir to a great fortune after her deceased husband, great magnate Adam Kazanowski. In the same year he was appointed the Deputy Chancellor of the Crown, which was accompanied by another scandal, because during his speech in the parliament, while receiving the royal seal, the Grand Marshal of the Crown Prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski turbulently stated that Radziejowski bought his position and post in the government.
Conflict with King John II Casimir
In 1651, during an expedition against the Cossacks, the king ordered to confiscate all belongings of Radziejowski for safe keeping. Among the most important was a letter to the Queen, in which Radziejowski heavily criticized John Casimir, for the conduct of the expedition and also suggested that the king was having an affair with his wife (who accompanied him in the expedition). After the king found out about the note, Deputy Chancellor Radziejowski was instantly and permanently removed from the Sejm. Radziejowski then, in revenge, spread rumors about the hostility of the king in relation to the nobility. However, before the Battle of Berestechko, Radziejowski reconciled with the monarch. Despite this, a conflict erupted again after the campaign. Working with Radziejowski was another nobleman, Marcin Dębicki, who headed the General Nobility Movement (the regional military council) and also accused the monarch of inept command and that the royal units allowed the Cossacks to retreat and escape during the counter-attack of the Polish army. Radziejowski himself proposed to dissolve the militia (known as pospolite ruszenie) and begin negotiations with the rebel army under the command of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and when the council that he supported did not obey his demands, Radziejowski left the camp which led to a significant part of the nobility leaving the battlefield and not aiding the king.
Divorce and family conflicts
Meanwhile, his wife, who after the disclosure of the contents of the letter left the camp, requested an immediate divorce. She then became a nun in the monastery (Radziejowski later attempted to kidnap his wife from the convent, but was stopped by the royal guards), demanded the help of her brother, Bogusław Słuszka, in the removal of Radziejowski from the property where she once lived and now was occupied by him. However, when Radziejowski refused to leave the estate, Słuszka challenged him to a duel. Again he refused and, in the absence of the host, Słuszka stormed and captured the palace using the military. Radziejowski informed of the attack gathered the nobles and on January 5, 1652 he tried to recapture the palace, but he didn't succeed.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Jacek Jędruch (1998). Constitutions, elections, and legislatures of Poland, 1493–1977: a guide to their history. EJJ Books. p. 148. ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4. Retrieved 13 August 2011.