Mikołaj Radziwiłł Czarny

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nikolaus Radziwill, Grand Marshal and Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, Voivode of Vilnius

Mikołaj Radziwiłł ( Nikolaus Radziwill ), called Czarny, d. H. the black ( Lithuanian Mikalojus Radvila Juodasis , Polish Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł Czarny ; * February 4, 1515 in Nieśwież , Grand Duchy of Lithuania ; † May 28, 1565 in Vilnius , Grand Duchy of Lithuania) was Chancellor and Land Marshal of Lithuania and thus the most important politician of the Grand Duchy. He was also the main promoter of Calvinism in Lithuania.

Life

Origin and youth

Mikołaj Radziwiłł was a son of the Lithuanian Grand Marshal Jan (Johann) Radziwiłł the Bearded and his wife Anna nee. Kiszka. In his youth he often stayed in Krakow, often at the royal court. There he became the confidante of the heir to the throne Sigismund August .

Political offices

Nikolaus Radziwiłł is promoted to imperial prince, painting from the 17th century

After he was appointed Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1544 , he made Radziwiłł Land Marshal. He supported the Grand Duke as one of the few nobles in his controversial marriage to Barbara Radziwiłł in 1547.

In that year, Nicholas Radziwill became the princes by Emperor Charles V appointed. He accompanied the new Polish King Sigismund August from 1548 on diplomatic missions and on military expeditions against Tatars and Russians. Radziwiłł was the king's closest confidante and was appointed chancellor of Lithuania in 1550 and voivode of Vilnius in 1551 .

Supporter of Protestantism

Brest Bible, 1563

Only since then did Radziwiłł openly admit to the evangelical faith. The services were held on his property according to the Lutheran rite. In 1553 he founded a printing company in Brest , which was of great importance for the dissemination of Protestant ideas in Lithuania. Around this time he turned to Calvinism (Reformed Confession) and corresponded with John Calvin from 1555 . He became the main promoter of Reformed churches in Lithuania.

In 1561 the land marshal and chancellor Radziwiłl succeeded in integrating Livonia into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Mainly through contacts with Giorgio Biandrata , he turned to the anti-Trinitarian movement of Protestantism around this time and made it possible for the Polish Brothers to form their own church on one of his estates. In 1563 he initiated and financed the first Protestant translation of the Bible into Polish from the original languages ​​Hebrew and Greek, the Brest Bible (also known as the Radziwiłł Bible ).

Prince Radziwiłł was a strict opponent of a union between Lithuania and Poland (which, however, was decided in 1569, four years after his death).

progeny

Radziwiłłs sons, including Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł , later returned to Catholicism and supported the counter-reformation policy of King Sigismund III. Wasa .

literature

  • Nicolaus Radzivil . In: Jakob Schrenck von Notzing : Augustissimorum imperatorum, serenissimorum regum atque archiducum, illustrissimorum principum, nec non comitum, baronum, nobilium, aliorumque clarissimorum virorum, qui aut ipsi cum imperio bellorum duces fuerunt… verissimae succinctae description, etes… . Johannes Agricola (Baur), Innsbruck 1601, sheet 108 ( digitized in the Internet Archive)
  • Józef Jasnowski: Mikołaj Czarny Radziwiłł (1515–1565). Kanclerz i marszałek ziemski Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, wojewoda wileński. [Chancellor and Land Marshal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Voivode of Vilnius] . Warszawa 1939. (Reprint: Oświęcim, 2014, ISBN 978-83-7889-118-5 )
  • Janusz A. Szteinke: Radziwiłł, Nikolaus, called "Czarny" (the black) . In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon . Volume VII, 1994, columns 1236f.
  • Arnold Starke: Nikolaus Radziwill's call for the Reformation in his dedication of the Brest Bible to King Sigismund August of Poland . In: Church in the East . Volume 17, 1973, pp. 138-157.
  • Lorenz Hein: Italian Protestants and their influence on the Reformation in Poland during the two decades before the Sandomir Consensus 1570 , Brill, Leiden 1974, ISBN 978-9-00403-893-6 .

Web links

Commons : Mikołaj Czarny Radziwiłł  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lorenz Hein: Italian Protestants and their influence on the Reformation in Poland during the two decades before the Sandomir Consensus 1570 , Brill, Leiden 1974, ISBN 978-9-00403-893-6 , pp. 13-21
personal data
SURNAME Radziwiłł Czarny, Mikołaj
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Radziwill, Mikolaj (simplified German [actually incorrect] spelling); Radvila Juodasis, Mikalojus (Lithuanian form); Radziwiłł, Nikolaus; Radziwill, Nicolaus (Latin form)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish statesman and soldier
DATE OF BIRTH February 4, 1515
PLACE OF BIRTH Nyasvish , Grand Duchy of Lithuania
DATE OF DEATH May 28, 1565
Place of death Vilnius , Grand Duchy of Lithuania