Kajetan Sołtyk

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Bishop Sołtyk of Kiev, around 1757, portrait with the Order of the White Eagle
Herb Sołtyk - the coat of arms used by Bishop Kajetan Sołtyk
Bishop Sołtyk of Cracow, around 1770,
portrait by Marcello Bacciarelli
Rococo - Epitaph Bishop Sołtyks in Sławków after renovation in 2010

Kajetan Ignacy Sołtyk , Herb Sołtyk (born November 12, 1715 in Chwałowice , † July 30, 1788 in Kielce ), was a Polish priest and Duke of Siewierz . After being coadjutor of the Bishop of Kiev for seven years , he became Bishop of Kiev himself in 1756 and Bishop of Krakow three years later (1759). During the last years of the Polish-Lithuanian aristocratic republic , he became one of the most influential politicians at the Warsaw royal court.

The motto wiara i wolność ("Faith and Freedom") or the call to prayer for the protection of the (Catholic) faith and (national) freedom from his manifesto had a great impact throughout the Union of Poland-Lithuania and became the motto of the 1768 Confederation of Bar . It is considered the last mass movement of the Polish aristocracy and the first Polish national uprising. All subsequent Polish uprisings up to the 1970s were motivated by Bishop Sołtyk's motto "Faith and Freedom" and thus offshoots of the Bar Confederation.

Life

Kajetan Sołtyk came from the large, Russian Saltykow family and was the son of the castellan of Lublin (and court marshal of the Primate Poloniae ) Józef Sołtyk . His brothers were Tomasz Sołtyk (voivode of Łęczyca) and Maciej Sołtyk (castellan of Warsaw). He was trained by the Jesuits and received the sacrament of consecration in 1732 . From 1735 to 1738 he studied Catholic theology in Rome at La Sapienza University .

After the death of his father, Sołtyk was unable to return to Poland until he met his transfer request to the cathedral chapter of Krakow Bishop Jan Lipski in 1740 . From 1740 his political activities increased. In 1749 he became coadjutor of the Bishop of Kiev. In this capacity he was involved in a ritual murder legend trial against Jews in 1753 , which resulted in the execution of thirteen accused Jews. Sołtyk was known for his unethical attitudes: from nepotism to forging documents to bribing the small Polish nobility in the Sejmiks (local parliaments). During the reign of August III. of Poland-Lithuania , known as the height of political corruption and anarchy in the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania , he became one of the most influential politicians at the royal court and worked closely with the Prime Minister of Poland-Lithuania, Heinrich von Brühl , who came from Saxony .

In 1756 he became bishop of Kiev , a year later he became a knight of the Order of the White Eagle .

Finally, in 1759, the Roman Catholic Church appointed him Bishop of Krakow .

After the death of August III. of Poland-Lithuania In 1764 Sołtyk opposed the election of Stanisław II August Poniatowski as heir to the throne, but soon withdrew from politics because of his poor health.

Sołtyk only entered the political stage again when Empress Catherine II of Russia tried to prevent a functioning and reformable system in Poland-Lithuania, had some pro-Russian nobles mobilized for this purpose and allied them with orthodox and Protestant dissidents who had been since the Counter-Reformation suffered from discrimination. These had united in March 1767 to form the Confederation of Sluzk (Orthodox) and Toruń (Protestants). In response to this, the Catholics organized themselves into the Radom Confederation in June 1767 . In all three confederations, the Russian ambassador and Sejm MP Nikolai Repnin acted in the background as the mastermind . At the end of the conflict there was a new Polish-Russian treaty, which was forcibly approved by the Repnin Sejm on February 24, 1768 . This so-called "Eternal Treaty" contained, among other things, the political equality of Orthodox and Protestant Christians in the Sejm with the Catholics . Bishop Kajetan Sołtyk strongly opposed the end of the golden freedom in the country. He demanded the abdication of Stanisław II August (Poniatowski), who approved foreign rule for the fundamental modernization of his republic in the interests of Russia and was therefore frowned upon as an externally determined curator and traitor (as is generally the case with the Polish nobility) . During the Repnin Sejm he objected to Repnin's dictation. He was deported to Kaluga with three other Polish senators ( Józef Andrzej Załuski , Wacław Rzewuski and Seweryn Rzewuski ) and imprisoned there. This arrest and the military enforcement of the so-called "Eternal Treaty" of February 24, 1768 led directly to the establishment of the Confederation of Bar .

Sołtyk was a sharp opponent of the legal equality of non-Catholics with Catholics and had written a manifesto with the motto wiara i wolność ("Faith and Freedom") in 1767 during his imprisonment , in which he prayed for the protection of the (Catholic) faith and calls for (national) freedom. Its motto was heard on February 29, 1768 as the motto of the Confederation of Bar.

In 1779 Bishop Sołtyk became a Knight of the Order of St. Stanisław .

After his release from prison in 1781, the political opponents took his erratic, capricious and unpredictable behavior as an opportunity to officially declare him crazy by the Permanent Council and the head of state of Poland-Lithuania . A special commission was appointed to investigate the matter and aroused heated controversy as it was politically motivated and influenced. The Sejm of 1782 dealt almost exclusively with the Sołtyk affair. One of the first issues in dispute was the relevance of the Neminem captivabimus law, in which there are no provisions on mentally ill people, but which states that no member of the Szlachta may be arrested or punished without a proper legal process and judgment. Supplementary bills were tabled, but again brought down by the strong opposition. Finally, Sołtyk failed to win his tenure as bishop representatives who administer his diocese in absentia. As a result, his political influence waned considerably during the last years of his life.

Impact and Legacy

During the final years of the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania , Bishop Kajetan Sołtyk of Cracow was one of the most influential politicians at the Warsaw royal court and was very popular with the Polish aristocracy throughout the Union. Together with the petty nobles, he was against the end of the golden freedom in the country and therefore a sharp opponent of the legal equality of non-Catholics with Catholics. In political imprisonment, he wrote a manifesto calling for prayer for the protection of the (Catholic) faith and (national) freedom. Bishop Sołtyk's motto “Faith and Freedom” reached the Polish petty nobles all over the Union.

On February 29, 1768 founded Father Marek Jandołowicz along with his Bishop Krasinski , Józef Pułaski and Wielkopolska Generalstarost Mniszech on the fortress of Bar , the Bar Confederation towards the end of the Golden freedom in the country. It was directed primarily against its own head of state , who approved foreign rule for the fundamental modernization of their republic in the interests of Russia and was therefore frowned upon by the petty nobles as an externally determined curator and traitor. When it was founded, the motto of the Confederation was Bishop Sołtyk's words wiara i wolność (“Faith and Freedom”). The Confederation of Bar was historically the most important confederation of Polish noblemen in defense of their golden freedom in the country. It is considered the last mass movement of the Polish aristocracy and the first Polish national uprising. Adam Mickiewicz's expression of opinion in 1833 O ludziach rozsądnych i ludziach szalonych ("About reasonable and crazy people") determined the Confederation of Bar for the first time as the First Polish National Uprising and thus marked the beginning of the "Myth of Bar". All subsequent Polish uprisings up to the 1970s were motivated by Bishop Sołtyk's motto "Faith and Freedom" and thus offshoots of the Bar Confederation.

Works

  • Manifesto with the motto wiara i wolność (“Faith and Freedom”) or the call to prayer for the protection of the (Catholic) faith and (national) freedom

Awards

Reception in art

literature

  • Piotr Biliński: Żywoty sławnych Biskupów Krakowskich. Kajetan Sołtyk herbu własnego. In: Tygodnik Salwatorski. No. 29/291, July 16, 2000 (pl).
  • Maciej Dęboróg-Bylczyński, Sławków: Gród biskupów krakowskich. In: Wiadomości Monarchistyczne. 2007, No. 1, pp. 31-32 (pl).

Web links

Commons : Kajetan Sołtyk  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jacek Jedruch: Constitutions, Elections, and Legislatures of Poland, 1493-1977. A Guide to Their History. EJJ Books, New York 1998, ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4 , p. 160.
  2. ^ A b Alicja Deck-Partyka: Poland, a Unique Country & Its People. AuthorHouse, Bloomington 2006, ISBN 978-1-4678-0448-6 , p. 35.
  3. ↑ Zygmunta Luba Radzimiński: Ród Sałtykowych-Sołtyków i list Michajła Hlebowicza Sałtykowa do Lwa Sapiehy z r. 1611. In: Rocznik Polskiego Towarzystwa Heraldycznego. 5, 1920, pp. 77-81.
  4. ↑ Marta Męclewska: Kawalerowie i statuty Orderu Orła Białego 1705-2008. Zamek Królewski, Warsaw 2008, ISBN 83-7022-178-5 , p. 189.
  5. ↑ Stanisław Łoza: Order Orła Białego. Warsaw 1939, p. 89.
  6. ^ Adam Michnik: Letters from prison and other essays (translation: Maya Latynski). University of California Press, September 23, 1987, ISBN 978-0-520-06175-0 , p. 185, accessed December 21, 2016.
  7. ^ Zbigniew Dunin-Wilczyński: Order Św. Stanisława. Cinderella Books, Warsaw 2006, ISBN 83-7339-036-7 , p. 186.
  8. ↑ Stanisław Łoza: Kawalerowie Orderu Świętego Stanisława 1765-1813. Warsaw 1925, p. 94.
  9. ↑ Jacek Jedruch: Constitutions, Elections, and Legislatures of Poland, 1493-1977. A Guide to Their History. EJJ Books, New York 1998, ISBN 978-0-7818-0637-4 , pp. 164-165, accessed December 21, 2016.
  10. ↑ Martin Sander: Olga Tokarczuk: "The Jacob Books". Panorama of a world in crisis. In: Deutschlandfunk . October 11, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Sołtyk, Kajetan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sołtyk, Kajetan Ignacy (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish priest and bishop
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1715
PLACE OF BIRTH Chwałowice
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1788
Place of death Kielce