Krzysztof Opaliński

Krzysztof Opaliński ( born January 21, 1611 Sieraków, † December 6, 1655 in Włoszakowice, Poland) was a Polish nobleman, an official in the civil service, politicians and poets. As the son of Piotr Opaliński (1586-1624) he was descended from the noble Opalińskis. His mother was Zofia Opalinska, nee Kostka.

Life

Opaliński studied together with his brother Łukasz (1612-1666) from 1620 to 1625 at the Lubrański Poznań Academy and later from 1626 to 1630 in Leuven, Orléans and Padua. After he returned to Poland as Starosta of Srem, he became active in the political landscape of the state. He participated in 1632 in the election of the king Władysław IV Vasa and was honored for the Sejm deputies. 1637, after the death of his uncle in January Opaliński ( 1581-1637 ), he was Voivode of Poznan. He stood in opposition to most of Władysław IV Vasa military planning (including the increase of its army to "crusade" against the Ottoman Empire ), but supported the idea of setting tariffs for maritime trade. In 1645 he headed a delegation to Paris to teach there, the marriage of Maria Luisa Gonzaga with Władysław and to accompany them in connection to Poland.

In 1647 he bought from his brother Łukasz Sieraków and moved there. In 1650 he opened here, with recourse to the didactic material Johann Amos Comenius ', the first modern school in Poland. As a Catholic, he supported religious tolerance and was an opponent of the Jesuits. He appeared as a patron of numerous writers and scientists and was known as a bibliophile. His political rivals in Greater Poland belonged to the Starosta Bogusław Leszczynski (1612-1659), with whom he competed for the office of Voivode of Poznan.

As John II Casimir was elected in 1648 as the new king of Poland, Krzysztof Opaliński joined the opposition in against this. The king had few supporters and friends in the ranks of Polish szlachta, since he had openly sympathized with Austria and the Polish culture against ignorant and contemptuous kicked over. Therefore, kept many of the nobles of the State John II Casimir either a weak or the Jesuits supporting King ( " Jesuits king" ), or had other reasons to reject it and instead to support the Protestants Charles X Gustav of Sweden soon, claims on the Polish to make claims throne. During the following Swedish invasion, the persons entrusted with the defense of Great Poland Krzysztof Opaliński and Bogusław Leszczynski decided to be a fight because of their dissatisfaction with John II Casimir, Karl Gustav, together with her needle array ( pospolite ruszenie ) on July 25, 1655 at Ujście to result. Many other provincial governors then followed her example, especially Janusz Radziwill in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, although Krzysztof's brother Łukasz Opaliński remained loyal to the Polish king. Large parts of the country were then occupied by the Swedes - until the siege of Jasna Góra and the Confederation of Tyszowce, which brought the war against the Swedes at a turning point.

Krzysztof Opaliński was buried beside his father in the catacombs the Church of Sieraków.

Civil Service

Opaliński was from about 1630 Starosta of Srem, Kovel and Międzylesie. From 1637, he followed in the office of Voivode of Poznan.

Marriage and issue

Opaliński was married from 1634 with Teresa Konstancja Czarnkowska († 1660). From this marriage sprang six children, including two sons:

• Piotr Adam Opaliński (1636-1682)
• January Opaliński Karol (1642-1695), on one of his daughters grandfather of Mary Leszczyńska

Works

Opaliński was the author of a popular work, which was often reprinted in the 17th century and the name Satyry, albo przestrogi do naprawy rządu i obyczajów w Polszcze należące ( satires, or warnings for the reform of government and customs in Poland) was wearing. He published it in 1650, during the Khmelnytsky uprising that ended the Golden Age of Poland-Lithuania. These satires, written after the model of the satires of Juvenal, are probably his most famous work. In them, he denounced the oppression of the peasants ( the serfdom promoted ) and the misuse of the Golden freedom, in the increasing anarchy in the political life of Poland-Lithuania put it on. He also wrote on the subject of witchcraft in one of his satires, and was thus one of the few contemporary people who clearly some of the motifs detected behind the persecution of witches and those rejected. He also wrote comedies and tragedies for his school, but have not survived. His letters to his brother Łukasz provide information about his life and were collected in Listy Kszysztofa Opalińskiego do brata Łukasza 1641-1653 ( first edition 1957).

Literature

• Michael J. Mikos: Polish Baroque and Enlightenment Literature: An Anthology. Ed. Michael J. Mikos, Columbus OH / Slavica Publishers, Bloomington IN, 1996, ISBN 0-89357-266-7, pp. 104-108 (contains a short biography as well: Satire III:. Burdens On and Oppressions of Peasants in Poland)
• Kate Wilson: The Politics of Toleration Among the szlachta of Great Poland Rafał Leszczynski (1579-1636) and Krzysztof Opaliński ( 1609-55 ). Slovo 14/2002

Web

• Genealogia dynastyczna

• Person ( Lithuanian history )
• Politicians (Poland )
• Opponents of witch-hunting
• Pole
• Born in 1609
• Died in 1655
• Man