Zbigniew Oleśnicki (Cardinal)

Zbigniew Cardinal Oleśnicki

Zbigniew Cardinal Oleśnicki (kneeling) on ​​a foundation plaque in the Collegium Maius of the Jagiellonian University

Zbigniew Oleśnicki (born December 5, 1389 in Sienno , † April 1, 1455 in Sandomir ) was a Polish cleric and statesman . He was Bishop of Cracow , Cardinal , Diplomat , Duke of Siewierz and Regent of Poland .

Life

Oleśnicki was the son of a Krakow district judge. He was educated in Sandomir, Breslau and at the Jagiellonian University . Since 1410 he was in contact with the Chancellery of King Władysław II Jagiełło, whose life he saved in the battle of Tannenberg that same year . As a notary, protonotary and bishop, he performed important diplomatic missions from 1411 to 1429, including at the court of King Sigismund , with John XXIII. and the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich I. After his episcopal ordination on December 19, 1423, which Jan Rzeszowski , the Archbishop of Lwowdonated, he became the leader of the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the Lesser Poland oligarchy . In 1435, Oleśnicki had achieved the peace of Brest in Kujawien , which was favorable for Poland, with the Teutonic Order .

During the reign of King Władysław III. , who was crowned in Poland in 1434 at the age of ten, Oleśnicki was the actual regent.

In terms of foreign policy, Oleśnicki advocated the recovery of Silesia , advocated closer ties to Lithuania (as opposed to a coronation by Witold and the Svidrigailas government) and strengthened the Polish-Hungarian alliance with the aim of a common struggle against the Ottoman Turks . In 1440 Wladyslaw III ascended also the Hungarian throne . However, he fell in 1444 in the battle of Varna in the fight against the Turks.

Domestically, Oleśnicki represented the interests of the magnates and the church. He opposed royal reform approaches. In his diocese, he fought all signs of heresy , especially the Hussite movement . After Kasimir IV ascended the throne in 1447, he lost his position of power and joined the opposition . Pope Eugene IV appointed him cardinal priest on December 18, 1439 , but in 1447 he obeyed Pope Nicholas V , who in 1449 again presented him with the cardinal's hat. He was assigned the titular church of Santa Prisca .

In 1443 he acquired the Duchy of Siewierz , which remained the property of the Kraków bishops until the end of the Polish kingdom.

Oleśnicki liked to surround himself with scholars and writers ( Jan Długosz was one of them ) and exchanged letters with Enea Silvio Piccolomini .

literature

• Wojciech Iwanczak:  OLESNICKI, Sbigneus, (Zbigniew). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 6, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-044-1 , Sp. 1195.

Web links

Commons : Zbigniew Oleśnicki  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Oleśnicy, Zbigniew z. In: Salvador Miranda : The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. ( Florida International University website), accessed May 5, 2017.

predecessor	Office	successor
Wojciech Jastrzębiec	Bishop of Cracow 1423-1455	Tomasz Strzępiński