Born: December 5, 1389, Sienno, Poland
Died: Died: April 1, 1455
Early days. Father: Jan from Olesnica, coat of arms Debno, governor of Lithuania, judge of Cracovian Province. Mother: Dobrochna from Roznow. Olesnicki studied at the Akademia Krakowska (later known as Jagiellonian University) which he attended since 1406.
Career. In 1399 he became the secretary to King Wladys&law Jagiello, and fought with him in the battle of Grunwald on 14 July 1410. According to the historian Jan Dlugosz, Olesnicki saved King's life from the attack by Dypold von Kockritz by sweeping him of the horse. A favorite with the king, he took part in the management of the country's most important affairs. In 1415 he became the rector of St.Florian's collegiate church in Krakow. His influence with the king greatly aided him in opposing the Hussites, who had gained royal favor. On 9 July 1423, after obtaining papal dispensation, he was appointed to the Episcopal See of Krakow, where he served as bishop until his death in 1455. In 1424 he contributed to the issuance of the antihussitic edict. In 1433 he was sent by the king as legate to the council of Basel, where he endeavored to be on friendly terms with both parties. During the reign of Wladyslaw III (1434-1444) Olesnicki almost singlehandedly conducted Polish foreign affairs. In 1439 he defeated in the battle of Grotniki the pro-Czech group of the Polish gentry and- according to the historian Dlugosz- he personally slaughtered the injured. On 18 December 1439, he became cardinal priest with the titular church of St. Prisca, by Pope Eugene IV. The opinion that he accepted the same dignity from the antipope Felix V and adhered to him for some time has recently been attacked by P.M. Baumgarten: As cardinal, his influence in Poland was second only to that of the king, and, during the frequent absence of Casimir IV in Lithuania, he transacted the affairs of the State. He was recognized as one of the two most important Polish magnates of his time (the other one was magnate Jan Teczynski.) First years of the reign of Kazimierz IV Jagellon (Jagielonczyk) were characterized by his struggle against Olesnicki and his political camp. In 1449, after the death of archbishop of Gniezno and primate of Poland Wincenty Kot, the position was proposed to Olesnicki, but he refused it. It then passed to his political rival, bishop Wladyslaw Oporowski. In his conduct of Poland's affairs Olesnicki entertained far-reaching imperial dreams, which included a complete assimilation of Lithuania into the Polish state and the conquest of Silesia from the Kingdom of Bohemia. In particular, Olesnicki pursued the idea of a Crusading alliance with Hungary against the Ottoman Turks, with the ultimate aim of extending Poland's boundaries to the Black Sea. This was manifested in promoting Wladyslaw III's taking the Hungarian Crown - to which some Polish magnates were strongly opposed. However, all these aspirations came to naught with King Wladyslaw's death at the Battle of Varna. Being a man of great learning, he advanced the study of arts and letters in every possible way, and the flourishing condition of the University of Krakow during his episcopacy is due chiefly to his efforts. The well-known historian Jan Dlugosz was his secretary. To repress the spread of Hussitism he called in 1453 Giovanni da Capistrano (then in Breslau) and the Minorites to Krakow. Da Capistrano, whom Olesnicki invited, was also known for his anti-Jewish zeal, in which he engaged in Poland as in other countries. Olesnicki's own Anti-Jewish intolerance was manifested in his strongly criticizing Casimir IV for reaffirming in 1453 the tolerant measures towards Jews enacted by Casimir III (this information from Wikipedia is not confirmed by other sources available to me). Under Olesnicki's influence, the 1454 Statutes of Nieszawa included the provisions that Jews' rights be "restricted when they contradict canon law" and that Polish Jews be compelled to wear distinctive clothing. However, this was never enforced in practice. In 1454 he opposed King Casimir's III helping the Prussian Union in their rebellion against the Teutonic Knights. Olesnicki owned the palace in Pinczow nad also about 60 villages and three cities. To the end of his life he was at odds with the King Casimir III.
Sources:
This article uses mostly material from the Wikipedia article "Zbigniew Olesnicki" Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
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New Advent (Catholic Encyclopedia)
Britannica Online Encyclopedia
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