Jan Zamoyski
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Good article Template:Infobox officeholder
Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (Template:Langx;<ref name="Zamoyski1904">Template:Cite book</ref> 19 March 1542 – 3 June 1605) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, statesman and the 1st ordynat of Zamość. He served as the Royal Secretary from 1565, Deputy Chancellor from 1576, Grand Chancellor of the Crown from 1578, and Great Hetman of the Crown from 1581.
Zamoyski was the General Starost of the city of Kraków from 1580 to 1585, Starost of Bełz, Międzyrzecz, Krzeszów, Knyszyn and Tartu. An important advisor to Kings Sigismund II Augustus and Stephen Báthory, he was one of the major opponents of Bathory's successor, Sigismund III Vasa, and one of the most skilled diplomats, politicians and statesmen of his time, standing as a major figure in the politics of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth throughout his life.
Biography
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Childhood and education
Jan Zamoyski was born on 19 March 1542 to Stanisław Zamoyski and Anna Herburt in Skokówka.<ref name="Plew1995-114"/> He started his education in a school in Krasnystaw but when he was thirteen years old he was sent to study abroad; from 1555 to 1559 he was a page at the royal court in Paris.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-9-10"/> Already at this young age he attended lectures at the Sorbonne University and Collège de France.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-9-10"/> In 1559 he briefly visited Poland, then attended the University of Strasbourg; after a few months there he moved to University of Padua, where from 1561 he studied law and received a doctorate in 1564.<ref name="Plew1995-114"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-11-15"/> During his years abroad he converted from Calvinism to Roman Catholicism.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-11-15"/>
During his education, he became active in university politics, and in 1563 he was elected the rector of the law department.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-11-15"/> Around that time he also wrote De senatu Romano, a brochure about Ancient Rome government.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-11-15"/> He returned to the Commonwealth in 1565, and was the first person to receive a commendation letter from the senate of the Republic of Venice.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-11-15"/><ref name="Plew1995-115"/>
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Bust of Zamoyski in the University of Padua, where he was a student and rector of the Universitas Iuristarum.
Early career
After returning to Poland, he was appointed to the Royal Chancellery, and soon became a favorite secretary to King Sigismund II.<ref name="Plew1995-115"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-18"/> In 1567 he commanded a royal task force, sent to remove the noble family of Starzechowscy from the royal lands they were decreed to hold illegally.<ref name="Plew1995-115"/> Another major task he completed at that time was the reorganization of the Chancellery archive.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-20-21"/>
In 1571 he married Anna Ossolińska; his wife and their young son died shortly afterwards, in 1572.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-20-21"/> After the extinction of the Jagiellon dynasty in 1572 during the election sejm (special session of the Commonwealth parliament) he used his influence to enforce the viritim election (meaning all nobles had the right to vote for the new king during the upcoming 1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election).<ref name="Leśniewski2008-24-26"/><ref name="Lerski1996"/> However, his proposal for majority voting did not pass, which opened the process for abuses of liberum veto in the future.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-24-26"/> He was a colleague of Mikołaj Sienicki and Hieronim Ossolinski, and with them he was one of the leaders of a faction of the lesser and middle nobility (szlachta) in the Commonwealth, whose goal was the reform the country – the execution movement – preserving the unique constitutional and parliamentary government of the Commonwealth with the dominant role of poorer nobility (Golden Freedom).<ref name="Lerski1996"/><ref name="Żurek2003">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Dzięgielewski1995"/> He was so influential and popular among the lesser nobility that he was known as the "first tribune of nobility"<ref name="taraka"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-22-23"/> or "Polish Gracchus."<ref name="Leśniewski2008-24-26"/>
Chancellor and Hetman
In that first election he was in favour of Henry de Valois (later, Henry III of France).<ref name="Leśniewski2008-30"/> Subsequently, he was part of the diplomatic mission that traveled to France to finish formalities with the newly elected king.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-32-35"/> He also published a pamphlet praising the new king, and thus suffered a loss of face when Henry secretly abandoned Poland and returned to France.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-32-35"/> During the following 1575 election he was a vocal enemy of the Habsburg dynasty and its candidate, and this anti-Habsburg stance, resounding among the lesser nobility, helped him regain his popularity.<ref name="Lerski1996"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-32-35"/> For the king, Zamoyski championed the case of a Polish candidate, which ended up in the marriage of Anna Jagiellon with the anti-Habsburg Stephen Bathory of Transylvania.<ref name="Lerski1996"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-37-38"/>
Bathory thanked Zamoyski by granting him the office of Deputy Chancellor on 16 May 1576.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-41"/> He participated on Batory's side in the quelling of the Danzig rebellion in 1576–1577, sponsoring a chorągiew of pancerni (cavalry unit) and participating in close combat on several occasions.<ref name="Plew1995-115"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-44"/> In 1577 he married again, this time marrying Krystyna Radziwiłł, daughter of magnate Mikołaj Radziwiłł Czarny; this made him a close ally of the Radziwiłł family, the most powerful family in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-50-51"/> In 1578 he received the post of the Grand Crown Chancellor.<ref name="Plew1995-115"/><ref name="Lerski1996"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-50-51"/> That year poet Jan Kochanowski dedicated his Odprawa Posłów Greckich, the first Polish tragedy, to him.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-50-51"/>
He took part in the preparation for a war against Muscovy in 1579–1581, where he contributed a group of 400<ref name="Plew1995-115"/> or 600<ref name="Leśniewski2008-54"/> mercenaries. Through he had little prior military background nor experience, he was interested in mastering the military art, and proved to be an adept learner.<ref name="Plew1995-115"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-55"/> With Batory's support, he began filling in for some of the roles of Grand Crown Hetman Mikołaj Mielecki, particularly when Mielecki was not present.<ref name="Plew1995-116"/> While not campaigning, he was also instrumental in ensuring that the ongoing political support for the war continued.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-60-61"/> In 1580 he was hit by another personal tragedy, as his wife died in labor, together with their child; entering a short period of depression.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-60-61"/>
Later that year, in August, he captured Velizh<ref name="Plew1995-116"/> in September he participated in the siege of Velikiye Luki,<ref name="Plew1995-118"/> and then took Zavoloc.<ref name="Plew1995-119"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-63-66"/> On 11 August 1581 he received the nomination for the post of Grand Crown Hetman; this nomination, although uncontroversial at that time, was technically illegal.<ref name="Plew1995-119"/> Following that he participated in the long and inconclusive Siege of Pskov, which ended with the Peace of Yam-Zapolsky in 1582.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-70-78"/> Though Zamoyski failed to capture Pskov, he drained the Russian resources, and the ongoing siege was a major reason for the final treaty, which was highly favorable to Poland.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-70-78"/>
In June 1583 Zamoyski took his third wife, Gryzelda Bathory, a relative of king Bathory himself.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-80-81"/> In May 1584 Zamoyski's men captured Samuel Zborowski, a noble whose death sentence for treason and murder had been pending for roughly a decade; shortly afterwards with Bathory's consent Zborowski was executed.<ref name="Stone2001-125"/><ref name="psb123"/> This political conflict between Báthory, Zamoyski and the Zborowski family, framed as a clash between the monarch and the nobility, would be a major recurring controversy in internal Polish politics for many years, beginning with a major dispute at the Sejm of 1585.<ref name="Stone2001-125"/><ref name="psb123"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-84-89"/>
Later years
After Báthory's death in 1586, Zamoyski helped Sigismund III Vasa gain the Polish throne, fighting in the brief civil war against the forces supporting Habsburg archduke Maximilian III of Austria.<ref name="Plew1995-121"/> The camp supporting Sigismund was rallied around Zamoyski, whereas Maximilian was supported by the Zborowski family.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-96"/> Zamoyski defended Kraków<ref name="Plew1995-121"/> and defeated Maximilian's forces in the Battle of Byczyna in 1588.<ref name="Plew1995-122"/> In that battle, which Sławomir Leśniewski describes as "one of the most important in Polish history, and the most important in Zamoyski's military career", Maximilian was taken prisoner and in the resulting Treaty of Bytom and Będzin of 1589 had to give up all pretenses to the Polish crown.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-111-118"/> Later that year Zamoyski proposed a reform of the royal elections, which failed to pass the Sejm.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-111-118"/> Zamoyski presented to this Sejm a project that in case the present King should die without issue none but a candidate of some Slav stock should henceforth be eligible to the Polish throne. This was a project which could even imagine the possibility of some kind of union between Catholic Poland, Orthodox Moscovy and semi-Protestant Bohemia. In fact, it was a circuitous and clumsy counter-proposal against pro-Habsburg policy.<ref>Bain, R. Nisbet, Slavonic Europe, Cambridge University Press, 1908, p.137.</ref>
From 1589 Zamoyski, in his role as the hetman, tried to prevent the intensifying Tatar incursions along the Commonwealth's south-eastern border, but with little success.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-121-122"/> In order to deal with the recurring disturbances in that region Zamoyski developed a plan to turn Moldavia into a buffer zone between the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire; this would lead to a lengthy campaign.<ref name="Plew1995-123"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-122-123"/>
In opposition to the throne
Meanwhile, in internal Commonwealth politics, early on in Sigismund III's reign, Zamoyski, who was once a staunch supporter of the Commonwealth kings, begun to distance himself from the King. Sigismund had quickly allied himself with the Habsburgs, much to chancellors dissatisfaction.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-119"/> Zamoyski was dissatisfied with Sigismund's early plans to use Poland as a stepping stone to gaining the Swedish crown, as Sigismund was plotting to cede the Polish crown to the Habsburgs in exchange for their support of his right to the Swedish throne.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-120"/> The new King feared the chancellor's power, but due to Commonwealth laws he was unable to dismiss him from his posts. He offered him a prestigious voivode of Kraków office, but Zamoyski declined, as if he was to accept, the law would require him to resign from his slightly less prestigious but more influential chancellorship.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-111-118"/> By 1590–1591 Zamoyski was seen as one of the king's staunchest opponents.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-124"/> Open quarrel between king and chancellor broke out during the Sejm of 1591, culminating in a heated exchange of words and the king storming out of the chamber.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-124-126"/> Despite their tensed relations, neither the king nor the chancellor wanted a civil war; soon after their quarrel Zamoyski would issue a public apology to the king and their uneasy relationship would continue until Zamoyski's death.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-124-126"/>Template:Refn
In 1594 Zamoyski once again failed to stop a Tatar incursion in the southern borders.<ref name="Plew1995-123"/> The next year was much more successful, as in Moldavia in 1595 he was victorious in the Battle of Cecora, and helped hospodar Ieremia Movilă (Jeremi Mohyła) gain the throne.<ref name="Plew1995-123"/> In 1600 he fought against Michael the Brave (Michał Waleczny, Mihai Viteazul), hospodar of Wallachia and the new Prince of Transylvania, who had conquered Moldavia a few months earlier.<ref name="Plew1995-124"/> He defeated him on the Bukova (Bucovu) and restored Ieremia to the throne.<ref name="Plew1995-124"/> He also helped his brother, Simion Movilă to become brief ruler of Wallachia, thus spreading the influence of the Commonwealth to the Central Danube.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-137"/>
In 1600 and 1601 Zamoyski took part in the war against Sweden commanding the Commonwealth forces in Livonia (Inflanty).<ref name="Plew1995-125"/> At the same time he was a vocal opponent of that war on the political scene.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-139"/> In 1600 he recaptured several strongholds from the Swedes and a year later captured Wolmar on 19 December 1601<ref name="Plew1995-125"/> Fellin on 16 May 1602, and Bialy Kamien on 30 September 1602.<ref name="Plew1995-126"/> The rigours of the campaign, however, placed a strain on his health, and he resigned the command.<ref name="Plew1995-126"/>
At the Sejm of 1603 Zamoyski led opposition to the governance reforms proposed by Sigismund; seeing in them intentions of transforming the Commonwealth into an absolute monarchy.<ref name="Lerski1996"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-161-162"/> Later, he also opposed Sigismund's plans to intervene in the civil war plaguing Muscovy (the Time of Troubles and the Dymitriads).<ref name="Leśniewski2008-163-164"/> He clashed with Sigismund for the final time during the Sejm of January 1605.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-165-166"/>
Zamoyski died suddenly on 3 June 1605, due to a stroke.<ref name="Plew1995-126"/> His fortune was inherited by his single son, Tomasz Zamoyski.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-152"/>
Assessment and legacy
Remembrance
The fame of Zamoyski, significance in life, endured after his death. He was praised by artists such as Szymon Starowolski and Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, and historians, including Stanisław Staszic, Stanisław Tarnowski and Artur Śliwiński.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-169-171"/> There were also those critical of him: Hugo Kołłątaj, Józef Szujski, Michał Bobrzyński.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-169-171"/> Nonetheless, Polish historiography and culture treatment of Zamoyski is mostly positive, and historian Janusz Tazbir remarked that Zamoyski's posthumous career was even more magnificent than his real one.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-169-171"/> Leśniewski, ending his recent biography of Zamoyski, concludes that he is a significant, if controversial, figure of Polish Renaissance.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-169-171"/>
Zamoyski was the subject of several paintings and drawings. Most notably, he is one of the characters in two large paintings by Jan Matejko, featured on the Skarga's Sermon<ref name="www"/> and Batory at Pskov.<ref name="Davies2005"/>
Political and military leader
Having control of both the Chancellorship and the Grand Hetman office, Zamoyski was one of the most powerful people in the country, having obtained both the power of Grand Hetman (commander in chief of the armed forces) and that of chancellor, combined for the first time in the hands of one person.<ref name="Plew1995-119"/> He was responsible for much of the Polish internal and foreign policies.<ref name="Lerski1996"/> He is considered to be one of the most prominent statesmen in Polish history.<ref name="Lerski1996"/>
Even though his military career begun almost as an afterthought, or by accident, Zamoyski is also remembered as one of the most accomplished Polish military commanders.<ref name="Plew1995-126"/><ref name="Leśniewski2008-143"/> In his tactics, he favored sieges, flanking maneuvers, conserving his forces, and the new Western art of fortification and artillery.<ref name="Plew1995-126"/> The war with Muscovy shown him to be a skilled commander in sieges, and latter events would prove him to be an equally able leader in the open field.<ref name="Plew1995-120"/>
Wealth and cultural patronage
Zamoyski gathered a significant fortune; his estates generated a revenue of over 200,000 zlotys in the early 17th century.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-145"/> His personal lands covered Template:Convert, and included eleven towns and over 200 villages.<ref name="Lerski1996"/> He was a royal caretaker of another dozen or so cities and over 600 villages.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-146"/> Totaled, his personal and leased lands covered over Template:Convert, with 23 towns and cities and 816 villages.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-146"/> In 1589 he succeeded in establishing the Zamoyski Family Fee Tail (ordynacja zamojska), a de facto duchy.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-147"/> Zamoyski supported economical development of his lands, investing in colonization of frontiers, and the development of industry, both small (sawmills, breweries, mills and such) and large (his lands had four iron mills and four glass factories).<ref name="Leśniewski2008-158"/>
His most prized creation was the capital of his Fee Tail, the city of Zamość, founded in 1580, built and designed as a Renaissance Template:Lang or "ideal city" by the Italian architect Bernardo Morando.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-147-150"/> In the city, in 1595 he founded the Akademia Zamojska, the third university in the history of education in Poland.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-150-152"/> In addition to Zamość, he also funded four other towns: Szarogród, Skinderpol, Busza and Jasnogród.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-153-157"/>
Zamoyski collected a significant library, and was a patron of numerous artists in his Fee Tail.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-153-157"/> Artists under his patronage included the poets Jan Kochanowski and Szymon Szymonowic, and the writer and historian Joachim Bielski.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-153-157"/>
Personality
Zamoyski was not a deeply religious person, and his conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism was primarily pragmatic.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-12"/> Leśniewski notes that Zamoyski was often motivated by greed, for example during the Danzig Rebellion, when he supported lenient treatment of the rebels, and during the 1577–1578 negotiations with, when he favored the solution of George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach; in both cases his decision was likely influenced by bribes or favors.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-45-46"/> In another example, Leśniewski describes how Zamoyski openly demanded rewards following his victory at Byczyna, and tried to include an article favoring him in the Bytom and Będzin treaty.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-114-117"/> He further notes, critically, that with raising power and political success Zamoyski begun displaying negative qualities, such as egoism and arrogance.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-50-51"/> Zamoyski was ruthless to those weaker than him.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-145"/> At the same time, he was respected by his opponents, widely recognized as highly intelligent, a cunning strategist and tactician in matters political and military, and a popular political leader.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-24-26"/> He valued the good of the country at least as high as his own, and although he could have become the king after a victorious civil war against Sigismund, he preferred to act within the limits of law instead, avoiding a war that could devastate the country, and thus curbing his own ambitions.<ref name="Leśniewski2008-124-126"/>
See also
Notes
References
External links
Template:Hetmans GC Template:Grand Chancellors of the Crown Template:Deputy Chancellors of the Crown Template:Voivodes of Kiev Template:OrdZam Template:Authority control
- Pages with broken file links
- 1542 births
- 1605 deaths
- University of Paris alumni
- Secular senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
- People from Zamość County
- Great Crown Hetmans
- Polish Calvinist and Reformed Christians
- Zamoyski family
- Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism
- University of Padua alumni
- Polish people of the Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory
- Collège de France alumni
- People of the Long Turkish War
- 16th-century Polish landowners
- 17th-century Polish landowners
- Crown vice-chancellors