Jerzy ks. Zbaraski (1574–1631) wobec Kościoła i duchowieństwa katolickiego
Prince Jerzy Zbaraski’s (1574–1631) Attitude towards the Church and the Catholic Clergy

Summary/Abstract: Prince Jerzy Zbaraski (1574–1631) was one of the most eminent Polish politicians in the first half of the 17th century. A descendant of an old princely family which ruled a large latifundium in the south-eastern borderlands, well educated, fluent in several foreign languages, he had all the predispositions to play an outstanding role in the history of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Omitted by Zygmunt III in his granting of royal lands and higher offices, he quickly moved to the opposition to the king. This article discusses the prince’s attitude towards the Catholic Church and clergy. Attention was drawn to the fact that although from early childhood he was a follower of Catholicism, he quickly came into conflict with the Jesuits. This hindered his political career. Nevertheless in 1620 he was promoted to the office of the castellan of Kraków. In the 1620s he was already a recognized leader of the anti-royal opposition. The prince did not accept the changes taking place in the Polish Church and was an opponent of the religious policy of Zygmunt III. He himself was a spokesman for tolerance and upholding the provisions contained in the act of the Warsaw Confederation of 1573. He defended the Orthodoxy. He was on friendly terms with the leader of dissenters in Lithuania, prince Krzysztof Radziwiłł. He was in favor of increasing the charges of the clergy to the state. He consistently supported the interests of the Kraków Academy. He was an implacable enemy of the Jesuits, whom he considered to be the champions of Counter-Reformation fanaticism. He was a supporter of a secular, tolerant state that would not interfere in religious and ideological matters. Popular and liked by the nobility, prince Jerzy Zbaraski died on July 30, 1631 causing almost universal sadness. The news of his death was received with joy only by the Jesuits and their adherents at the royal court.

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