Krzysztof Mikołaj Radziwiłł

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Krzysztof Mikołaj Radziwiłł (painting by Marcello Bacciarelli , 1781)

Krzysztof Mikołaj Radziwiłł (called Piorun , the Thunderer, Lithuanian Kristupas Radvila Perkūnas; * 1547 in Vilnius , † November 20, 1603 in Łosośna ) was a Lithuanian aristocrat, high-ranking official and military commander in Poland-Lithuania .

He was prince of Biržai and Dubingiai and prince of the HRR . As a civil servant in the civil service, he held the offices of a voivod of Vilna and a grand hetman of Lithuania . He should not be confused with Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł (1549–1616), called the orphan .

family

He was the son of Mikołaj Radziwiłł Rudy (1512–1584) and the Katarzyna of Tomice Iwinska. He himself was married four times to Katarzyna Sobek, Katarzyna Ostrogska, Katarzyna Tęczyńska and Elżbieta Ostrogska. From his marriage to Katarzyna Ostrogska Janusz Radziwiłł (1579-1620) and from the marriage to Katarzyna Tęczyńska went Krzysztof Radziwiłł (1585-1640).

Life

From 1569 he was Podczaszy ( cupbearer ) of Lithuania. From 1572 he was field hetman of Lithuania. He was Castellan of Troki and from 1579 Vice Chancellor of Lithuania. From 1584 he was voivode of Vilna and from 1589 Grand Hetman of Lithuania.

Radziwiłł was an officer and later commander in the war against Russia and Sweden in the Livonian War . He distinguished himself in the sieges of Poloczk and Wielkie-Luki in 1579 and 1580 and in the battle of Sokol. He also fought on the Volga in 1581 and was involved in the expulsion of the Swedes from Lithuania in 1583.

After the invasion of the Swedes in 1600/1601, he had to watch the enemy advance without a sufficient army. After assembling an army of 15,000 men, he won the 1601 Battle of Kokenhusen against the Swedes and brought relief to the besieged Polish garrison. However, he had to lift the siege of Ronneburg because King Karl IX. lay in front of the mouth of the Daugava with a navy to besiege Riga . Radziwill was able to successfully withdraw towards Riga. There he took a permanent position and forced the Swedes to lift the siege of Riga. Then Radziwiłł could his troops with those of the Polish King Sigismund III. Wasa unite. He stayed with the royal army for a while until intrigues caused him to withdraw into his possessions.

Like his father, brother and nephew, he was the patron of the Calvinists in Poland-Lithuania. To protect the Reformed Church against Catholicism, which was regaining influence, he also made contact with the Orthodox Church. He maintained a predominantly Italian band with 100 members.

literature

  • Bernhard von Poten : Concise dictionary of the entire military science. Volume 8, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1880, p. 82

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Genealogical references
  2. ↑ Ulrich Schoenborn: "... I see the footsteps of God's Providence." On the work of the Hessian theologian Conrad Mel (1666–1722) in Mitau, Memel and Königsberg. Münster, 2006 p. 38
  3. ^ Damian J Schwider: Mikołaj Zielński a Polish composer at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. Munich, 2006 p. 56
personal data
SURNAME Radziwiłł, Krzysztof Mikołaj
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Piorun the Thunderer (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-Lithuanian officer and civil servant
DATE OF BIRTH 1547
PLACE OF BIRTH Vilna
DATE OF DEATH November 20, 1603
Place of death Łosośna