Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–1655)

Prince Janusz Radziwiłł ( _lt. Jonušas Radvila, also known as "Janusz the Second", 1612–1655) was a powerful Polish–Lithuanian noble ("szlachta") and magnate. He was Court Chamberlain of Lithuania since 1633, Field Lithuanian Hetman and Samogitian starost since 1646, voivode of the Vilnius Voivodeship since 1653, Great Hetman of Lithuania since 1654, starost kamienicki, kazimierski and sejwejski.

Biography

He was born to one of the most powerful of princely Lithuanian families and as heir to its Kėdainiai estate (as it is written in the Lithuanian Rhymed Chronicle). [Genealogics pedigree|id=00017224] His descendants did not accept the Union of Lublin that tightened the constitutional bond between Lithuania and Poland.

Early years

Educated abroad, in Germany and the Netherlands, he took part in the Smolensk War in 1633. He was a Calvinist, but he married a Catholic (first wife, Katarzyna) in 1638. In 1645 he married Maria Lupul, daughter of a Moldavian hospodar. Radziwiłł was a protector of the Protestant religion in Lithuania and sponsor of many Protestant schools and churches.

For several decades, the interests between the Radziwłł family and the state (Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) had begun to drift apart, as the Radziwłłs increased their magnate status and wealth. Their attempts to acquire more political power in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania culminated in the doings of Janusz Radziwiłł, who is remembered in Polish historiography as one of the Grand Duchy nobles responsible for the end of the Golden Age of the Commonwealth.

Rise to power

Janusz Radziwiłł's ambitions appeared early in his military career. Upon marching into Kiev (Kyiv) in 1651, he ordered production of a commemorative medal on which he compared his victory to the taking of Kiev by the first Polish king, Boleslaw I of Poland, some six hundred years earlier.

Janusz Radziwiłł used his political influence against the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania John II Casimir in order to secure the offices of voivode and hetman. In 1652 he paralyzed the central government by invoking a Liberum veto, a procedure whereby any single member of the Sejm (federal parliament of the Commonwealth) could completely halt and annul its proceedings by the simple expression of dissent, saying 'Veto'.

Defeat

In August 1654 he defeated invading Russians at the Battle of Szkłów, but this was his last victory. Weeks later he was defeated by the Russians at the Battle of Szepielewicze. A few months later, during the Swedish invasion of Poland, together with his cousin Bogusław Radziwiłł, Janusz began negotiations with Swedish king Charles X Gustav of Sweden, aimed at breaking the Commonwealth and the Polish–Lithuanian union. They signed a treaty according to which the Swedish–Lithuanian union was founded.

Janusz was not alone in abandoning the Polish side; many Polish nobles, such as Deputy Chancellor of the Crown Hieronim Radziejowski and Grand Treasurer of the Crown Bogusław Leszczyński, believing that John II Casimir was a weak king or a Jesuit-king, encouraged Charles Gustav to claim the Polish crown. John II Casimir had few friends among the Polish szlachta, as he openly sympathized with Austria and showed disregard and contempt for Polish culture. Poznań Voivode Krzysztof Opaliński surrendered Great Poland to Charles Gustav, and soon other voivodes followed.

Although almost all of Poland was overrun by the Swedes, after a few years starting with the Jasna Góra resistance and the Tyszowce Confederation, King John II Casimir and his allies were able to regain power. The Swedish defeat and eventual retreat from the territories of the Commonwealth abruptly ended the plans of Janusz and Bogusław. Janusz died in Tykocin, besieged by loyal Commonwealth forces (desperate Swedish defenders later blew themselves up).

Genealogy

Janusz and Bogusław's lines of the Radziwiłł family became extinct by the next generation. His descent [Genealogics descent|id=00017224|name=Prince Janusz Radziwill, Palatin of Wilno] continues in the later kings of Bavaria and other royal and princely families [Genealogics descent|id=00007713|name=Pfalzgräfin Maria Francisca Dorothee Christine Ernestine von Sulzbach] (such as the Bernadotte royal house of Sweden, the current monarchs of Norway and Denmark, last kings of Italy and Saxony, latest kings of Belgium, latest monarchs of Liechtenstein, etc.) through their lineage.

In 1917, William, Duke of Urach, widower of Janusz Radziwiłł's direct descendant Amalia of Bavaria, was chosen as King of Lithuania Mindaugas II. However due to turbulences of the World War I, he never ascended to the throne.

References