Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł

Mikolaj Radziwill Czarny ( German Nikolaus Radziwill, called the Black, Lithuanian Mikalojus Radvila Juodasis; born February 4, 1515 Nieswiez, † May 28, 1565 in Vilnius ) was a Lithuanian nobleman, an official in the civil service and statesman of Lithuania. He was also a prince of the empire in the Holy Roman Empire and was descended from the noble family of Radziwill.

Life

Radziwill came from an old noble family from Lithuania. In 1547 he was knighted by Emperor Charles V at the Imperial Prince and appointed in 1551 to the Voivode of Vilnius. The Polish King Sigismund II Augustus sent him on diplomatic missions to Germany and France, where he joined the Reformation, after he had been influenced by the teachings of John Calvin. He advocated the spread of Protestantism in Lithuania and in 1563 enabled the publication of the Radziwill Bible, the first Polish translation of the Bible. Shortly before his death he defeated the invading Russians in Livonia. Radziwill's sons, including Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwill returned later to Catholicism back and supported the policies of the Counter-Reformation of King Sigismund III. Wasa.