Mikołaj Radziwiłł Rudy

Mikołaj Radziwiłł Rudy (dt. Nicholas Radziwill the Red ; lit. Mikalojus Radvila Rudasis , Belarusian Мікалай Радзівіл Руды * 1512 in Nesvizh ; † 27. April 1584 in Vilnius ) was great chancellor and hetman of Lithuania , as well as leading representatives of Calvinism in Lithuania .

Mikołaj Radziwiłł Rudy

family

He came from the Radziwiłł family and was the son of the castellan of Wilna Jerzy Radziwiłł Hercules (also called Jerzy Wiktor Radziwiłł) and Barbara nee. Kolanka. He was the brother of Barbara Radziwiłł and the cousin of Mikołaj Radziwiłł Czarny ("the black one"). He himself married Katarzyna von Tomice Iwińska. The sons Mikołaj VIII. Radziwiłł (1543 / 1546–1589) and Krzysztof Mikołaj Radziwiłł (1547 - November 20, 1603) emerged from the marriage.

Politics and military service

He was trained at home, at the royal court and in Germany. He then made numerous trips to Western Europe. In 1547, after the marriage of his sister to King Sigismund II. August , he and his cousin of the same name were given the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire . He was also Duke of Biržai and Dubingiai .

Radziwiłł had close ties with the king. From 1544 he was a Lithuanian cupbearer, from 1546 also Lithuanian hunter master and from 1550 Voivode of Trakai . In 1550 he was appointed Grand Hetman and in 1565 Lithuanian Grand Chancellor and Voivod of Vilna. He kept the office of Grand Chancellor until 1579. He was the governor of the king in Lithuania. This position was later confirmed by King Stephan Báthory .

Together with his cousin, he opposed the Polish-Lithuanian Union of Lublin . He campaigned in vain for a restriction to a personal union or mere military cooperation between the two countries.

He commanded the joint Lithuanian-Polish army in the Livonian War . He defeated the Russian troops in the Battle of the Ula River in 1564. With his troops he drove the Russian army out of Livonia between 1578 and 1579. He captured Velikiye Luki in 1580 and took part in the siege of Pskov a year later.

Promotion of Calvinism

Radziwill corresponded with John Calvin , among others, and had professed Calvinism since 1557 . He promoted the establishment of Calvinist communities, which soon formed a second Protestant denomination after the Lutherans in Lithuania. He was one of the most important leaders of the entire Reformation movement in Lithuania, especially after the death of his cousin. His residence town Biržai became a center of Calvinism. He took part in the Synod of Vilnius in 1570. This prepared the unification of the three Protestant denominations at the general synod in Sandomierz. He founded Protestant churches in Bierlica , Biržai, Dubingiai , Kėdainiai and Ašmena . He also had a palace built in Vilnius . Various Calvinist authors have dedicated their writings to him.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Genealogical information  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Ulrich Schoenborn : "... I see the footsteps of the Providences to God." On the work of the Hessian theologian Conrad Mel (1666–1722) in Mitau, Memel and Königsberg. Münster, 2006 p. 37

literature

• Jerzy Jan Lerski: Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. Westport, 1996. pp. 494f.
• Janusz A. Szteinke:  Rudy, Mikołaj Radziwiłł. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 7, Bautz, Herzberg 1994, ISBN 3-88309-048-4 , Sp. 1235-1236.