Sieraków
Sieraków is a town in western Poland with 8,768 inhabitants. Located by the Warta River, it has been situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship in Poznań Voivodeship. Sieraków is known as a holiday destination with well-developed sport infrastructure, it is surrounded by extensive areas of forest and lakes, including the protected area called Sieraków Landscape Park. Lewis Naphtali Dembitz, German American legal scholar Hartmut Neugebauer German actor and voice actor Krzysztof Opaliński, Polish nobleman and political satirist Piotr Opaliński, Krzysztof Opaliński, Łukasz Opaliński Sierakow official web page Parish of Sierakow official web page TKKF Discussion forum WartaGlass Glass Work Majchrzak
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from one state or an organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state. In practice, a diplomatic mission denotes the resident mission, namely the embassy, the main office of a country's diplomatic representatives to another country but not the receiving state's capital city. Consulates, on the other hand, are smaller diplomatic missions which are located outside the capital of the receiving state; as well as being a diplomatic mission to the country in which it is situated, it may be a non-resident permanent mission to one or more other countries. There are thus non-resident embassies. A permanent diplomatic mission is known as an embassy, the head of the mission is known as an ambassador or high commissioner; the term "embassy" is used as a section of a building in which the work of the diplomatic mission is carried out, but speaking, it is the diplomatic delegation itself, the embassy, while the office space and the diplomatic work done is called the chancery.
Therefore, the embassy operates in the chancery. The members of a diplomatic mission can reside within or outside the building that holds the mission's chancery, their private residences enjoy the same rights as the premises of the mission as regards inviolability and protection. All missions to the United Nations are known as permanent missions, while EU member states' missions to the European Union are known as permanent representations, the head of such a mission is both a permanent representative and an ambassador. European Union missions abroad are known as EU delegations; some countries have more particular naming for their missions and staff: a Vatican mission is headed by a nuncio and known as an apostolic nunciature. Under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's missions used the name "people's bureau", headed by a secretary. Missions between Commonwealth countries are known as high commissions, their heads are high commissioners. Speaking and high commissioners are regarded as equivalent in status and function and embassies and high commissions are both deemed to be diplomatic missions.
In the past a diplomatic mission headed by a lower-ranking official was known as a legation. Since the ranks of envoy and minister resident are obsolete, the designation of legation is no longer used today. A consulate is similar to, but not the same as a diplomatic office, but with focus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or consulate general is a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, the United Kingdom has its Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D. C. but maintains seven consulates-general and four consulates elsewhere in the US. The person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a consul or consul-general, respectively. Similar services may be provided at the embassy in what is called a consular section. In cases of dispute, it is common for a country to recall its head of mission as a sign of its displeasure; this is less drastic than cutting diplomatic relations and the mission will still continue operating more or less but it will now be headed by a chargé d'affaires who may have limited powers.
A chargé d'affaires ad interim heads the mission during the interim between the end of one chief of mission's term and the beginning of another. Contrary to popular belief, most diplomatic missions do not enjoy full extraterritorial status and – in those cases – are not sovereign territory of the represented state. Rather, the premises of diplomatic missions remain under the jurisdiction of the host state while being afforded special privileges by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Diplomats themselves still retain full diplomatic immunity, the host country may not enter the premises of the mission without permission of the represented country to put out a fire. International rules designate an attack on an embassy as an attack on the country it represents; the term "extraterritoriality" is applied to diplomatic missions, but only in this broader sense. As the host country may not enter the representing country's embassy without permission, embassies are sometimes used by refugees escaping from either the host country or a third country.
For example, North Korean nationals, who would be arrested and deported from China upon discovery, have sought sanctuary at various third-country embassies in China. Once inside the embassy, diplomatic channels can be used to solve the issue and send the refugees to another country. See the list of people who took refuge in a diplomatic mission for a list of some notable cases. Notable violations of embassy extraterritoriality include repeated invasions of the British Embassy, the Iran hostage crisis, the Japanese embassy hostage crisis at the ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru; the Vienna Convention states:The functions of a diplomatic mission consist, inter alia, in representing the sending State in the receiving State.
Nobility
Nobility is a social class ranked under royalty and found in some societies that have a formal aristocracy. Nobility possesses more acknowledged privileges and higher social status than most other classes in society; the privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be honorary, vary by country and era. As referred to in the Medieval chivalric motto "noblesse oblige", nobles can carry a lifelong duty to uphold various social responsibilities, such as honorable behavior, customary service, or leadership positions. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is hereditary. Membership in the nobility has been granted by a monarch or government, unlike other social classes where membership is determined by wealth, lifestyle, or affiliation. Nonetheless, acquisition of sufficient power, military prowess, or royal favour has enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility. There are a variety of ranks within the noble class.
Legal recognition of nobility has been more common in monarchies, but nobility existed in such regimes as the Dutch Republic, the Republic of Genoa, the Republic of Venice, the Old Swiss Confederacy, remains part of the legal social structure of some non-hereditary regimes, e.g. Channel Islands, San Marino, the Vatican City in Europe. Hereditary titles and styles added to names, as well as honorifics distinguish nobles from non-nobles in conversation and written speech. In many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, some hereditary titles do not indicate nobility; some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil or life peers in the United Kingdom. The term derives from the abstract noun of the adjective nobilis. In ancient Roman society, nobiles originated as an informal designation for the political governing class who had allied interests, including both patricians and plebeian families with an ancestor who had risen to the consulship through his own merit.
In modern usage, "nobility" is applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies, excepting the ruling dynasty. In the feudal system, the nobility were those who held a fief land or office, under vassalage, i.e. in exchange for allegiance and various military, services to a suzerain, who might be a higher-ranking nobleman or a monarch. It came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. While noble status conferred significant privileges in most jurisdictions, by the 21st century it had become a honorary dignity in most societies, although a few, residual privileges may still be preserved and some Asian and African cultures continue to attach considerable significance to formal hereditary rank or titles. Nobility is a historical and legal notion, differing from high socio-economic status in that the latter is based on income, possessions or lifestyle.
Being wealthy or influential cannot ipso facto make one noble, nor are all nobles wealthy or influential. Various republics, including former Iron Curtain countries, Greece and Austria have expressly abolished the conferral and use of titles of nobility for their citizens; this is distinct from countries which have not abolished the right to inherit titles, but which do not grant legal recognition or protection to them, such as Germany and Italy, although Germany recognizes their use as part of the legal surname. Still other countries and authorities allow their use, but forbid attachment of any privilege thereto, e.g. Finland and the European Union, while French law protects lawful titles against usurpation. Although many societies have a privileged upper class with substantial wealth and power, the status is not hereditary and does not entail a distinct legal status, nor differentiated forms of address. Not all of the benefits of nobility derived from noble status per se. Privileges were granted or recognised by the monarch in association with possession of a specific title, office or estate.
Most nobles' wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small, that might include fields, orchards, hunting grounds, etc. It included infrastructure such as castle and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access, although at a price. Nobles were expected to live "nobly", that is, from the proceeds of these possessions. Work involving manual labour or subordination to those of lower rank was either forbidden or frowned upon socially. On the other hand, membership in the nobility was a prerequisite for holding offices of trust in the realm and for career promotion in the military, at court and the higher functions in the government and church. Prior to the French Revolution, European nobles commanded tribute in the form of entitlement to cash rents or usage taxes, labour or a portion of the annual crop yield from commoners or no
Greater Poland
Greater Poland known by its Polish name Wielkopolska, is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań; the boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history. Since the Middle Ages, the proper or exact/strict Wielkopolska included the Poznań and Kalisz voivodeships. In the wider sense, it encompassed Sieradz, Łęczyca, Brześć Kujawski and Inowrocław voivodeships. One another meaning included Mazovia and Royal Prussia. After the Partitions of Poland, Greater Poland was identified with the Grand Duchy of Posen; the region in the proper sense coincides with the present-day Greater Poland Voivodeship. Because Greater Poland was the settlement area of the Polans and the core of the early Polish state, the region was at times called "Poland"; the more specific name is first recorded in the Latin form Polonia Maior in 1257, in Polish in 1449. Its original meaning was the Older Poland, as opposed to Lesser Poland, a region in south-eastern Poland with its capital at Kraków which became the main center of the state later.
Greater Poland comprises much of the area drained by the Warta River and its tributaries, including the Noteć River. The region is distinguished from Lesser Poland with the lowland landscape, from both Lesser Poland and Mazovia with its numerous lakes. In the strict meaning, it covers an area of about 33,000 square kilometres, has a population of 3.5 million. In the wider sense, it has 60,000 square kilometres, 7 million inhabitants; the region's main metropolis is Poznań, on the Warta. Other cities are Kalisz to the south-east, Konin to the east, Piła to the north, Ostrów Wielkopolski to the south-east, Gniezno to the north-east, Leszno to the south-west. An area of 75.84 square kilometres of forest and lakeland south of Poznań is designated the Wielkopolska National Park, established in 1957. The region contains part of Drawa National Park, several designated Landscape Parks. For example, the Rogalin Landscape Park is famous for about 2000 monumental oak trees growing on the flood plain of the river Warta, among numerous ox-bow lakes.
Greater Poland formed the heart of the 10th-century early Polish state, sometimes being called the "cradle of Poland". Poznań and Gniezno were early centres of royal power, but following devastation of the region by pagan rebellion in the 1030s, the invasion of Bretislaus I of Bohemia in 1038, the capital was moved by Casimir I the Restorer from Gniezno to Kraków. In the Testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth, which initiated the period of fragmentation of Poland, the western part of Greater Poland was granted to Mieszko III the Old; the eastern part, with Gniezno and Kalisz, was part of the Duchy of Kraków, granted to Władysław II. However, for most of the period the two parts were under a single ruler, were known as the Duchy of Greater Poland; the region came under the control of Władysław I the Elbow-high in 1314, thus became part of the reunited Poland of which Władyslaw was crowned king in 1320. In the reunited kingdom, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the country came to be divided into administrative units called voivodeships.
In the case of the Greater Poland region these were Kalisz Voivodeship. The Commonwealth had larger subdivisions known as prowincja, one of, named Greater Poland. However, this prowincja covered a larger area than the Greater Poland region itself taking in Masovia and Royal Prussia. In 1768 a new Gniezno Voivodeship was formed out of the northern part of Kalisz Voivodeship; however more far-reaching changes would come with the Partitions of Poland. In the first partition, northern parts of Greater Poland along the Noteć were taken over by Prussia, becoming the Netze District. In the second partition the whole of Greater Poland was absorbed by Prussia, becoming part of the province of South Prussia, it remained so in spite of the first Greater Poland uprising, part of the unsuccessful Kościuszko Uprising directed chiefly against Russia. More successful was the Greater Poland Uprising of 1806, which led to the region's becoming part of the Napoleonic Duchy of Warsaw. However, following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Greater Poland was again partitioned, with the western part going to Prussia.
The eastern part joined the Russian-controlled Kingdom of Poland, where it formed the Kalisz Voivodeship until 1837 the Kalisz Governorate. Within the Prussian empire, western Greater Poland became the Grand Duchy of Posen, which theoretically held some autonomy. Following an unrealized uprising in 1846, the more substantial but still unsuccessful uprising of 1848, the Grand Duchy was replaced by the Province of Pos
Władysław IV Vasa
Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV Vasa was king of Poland of the House of Vasa who ruled from 1632 until his death in 1648. He was elected Tsar of Russia by the Seven Boyars in 1610, but did not assume the throne due to his father's position and a popular uprising. Władysław IV was his wife, Anna of Austria; until 1634 he used the title of Grand Duke of Muscovy. Elected king of Poland in 1632, Władysław was successful in defending the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against invasion, most notably in the Smolensk War of 1632–34, in which he participated personally, he supported religious tolerance and carried out military reforms, such as the founding of the Commonwealth Navy. He was a renowned patron of the arts and music, he failed, however, to realize his dreams of regaining the Swedish crown, gaining fame by defeating the Ottoman Empire, strengthening royal power, reforming the Commonwealth. He died without a legitimate male heir and was succeeded to the Polish throne by his half-brother, John II Casimir Vasa.
Władysław's death marked the end of relative stability in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, as conflicts and tensions, growing over several decades came to a head with devastating consequences, notably the largest of the Cossack uprisings – the Khmelnytsky Uprising – and the Swedish invasion. In Latin: "Vladislaus Quartus Dei gratia rex Poloniae, magnus dux Lithuaniae, Prussiae, Samogitiae, necnon Suecorum, Gothorum Vandalorumque haereditarius rex, electus magnus dux Moschoviae." In English: "Władysław IV, by grace of God the King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Prussia, Samogitia and hereditary King of the Swedes and Vandals, elected Grand Duke of Muscovy."In 1632 Władysław Sigismund Vasa–Jagiellon was elected King of Poland. He claimed to be King of Sweden by paternal inheritance, but was never able to gain possession of the throne, his titles were the longest of any Polish king ever. Władysław IV's father, Sigismund III Vasa, grandson of Sweden's King Gustav I, had succeeded his father to the Swedish throne in 1592, only to be deposed in 1599 by his uncle, subsequently King Charles IX.
This resulted in a long-standing feud, with the Polish kings of the House of Vasa claiming the Swedish throne. This led to the Polish–Swedish War of 1600–29 and to the Deluge of 1655; the marriage of Anne of Austria to Sigismund III was a traditional, politically motivated marriage, intended to tie the young House of Vasa to the prestigious Habsburgs. Władysław was born 9 June 1595 at the King's summer residence in Łobzów, near Kraków, a few months after the main Wawel Castle had been consumed by fire. Władysław's mother died on 10 less than three years after giving birth to him, he was raised by one of her former ladies of the court, Urszula Meierin, who became a powerful player at the royal court, with much influence. Władysław's Hofmeister was a Polish-Prussian noble. Around early 17th century Urszula lost much of her influence, as Władysław gained new teachers and mentors, such as priests Gabriel Prowancjusz, Andrzej Szołdrski and Marek Łętkowski, in the military matters, Zygmunt Kazanowski.
Much of his curriculum was designed by priest Piotr Skarga, much respected by Sigmismund III. Władysław studied for several years in the Kraków Academy, for two years, in Rome. At the age of 10 Władysław received his own prince court. Władysław formed a friendship with his brother, Stanisław, it is reported. He spoke and wrote in German and Latin. Władysław was liked by the szlachta, but his father's plans to secure him the throne of Poland were unpopular and crushed in the Zebrzydowski Rebellion. With the intensification of the Polish intervention in Muscovy, in 1609, the royal family moved to their residence in Vilnius, capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There he witnessed the fire of Vilnius, which required the royal family to evacuate their residence in the Vilnius Castle. Shortly afterwards, that year, Władysław, aged 15, was elected Tsar by Muscovy's aristocracy council of Seven boyars, who overthrew tsar Vasily Shuysky during the Polish-Muscovite War and Muscovy's Time of Troubles.
His election was ruined by his father, who aimed to convert Muscovy's population from Orthodox religion to Catholicism. Sigismund refused to agree to the boyar's request to send prince Władysław to Moscow and his conversion to Orthodoxy. Instead, Sigismund proposed; this unrealistic proposal led to a resumption of hostilities. Beginning in 1610, Władysław struck Muscovite silver and gold coins in the Russian mints in Moscow and Novgorod with his titulary Tsar and Grand Prince Vladislav Zigimontovych of all Russia. Władysław tried to regain the tsar's throne himself, organizing a campaign in 1616. Despite some military victories, he was unable to capture Moscow; the Commonwealth gained some disputed territories in the Truce of Deulino, but Władysław was never able to reign in Russia. He held on to the title, without any real power, until 1634; the failure of this campaign showed Władysław the limits of royal power in Poland, as major factors for the failure included significant autonomy of the military commanders, which did not see Władysław as their superior, lack of funds for the army, as the Polish parliament refused
Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–1655)
Prince Janusz Radziwiłł known as Janusz the Second or Janusz the Younger was a noble and magnate in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Throughout his life he occupied a number of posts in the state administration, including that of Court Chamberlain of Lithuania, Field Hetman of Lithuania and Grand Hetman of Lithuania, he was a voivode of Vilna Voivodeship, as well as a starost of Samogitia, Kamieniec and Sejwy. He 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 had begun to drift apart, as the Radziwiłłs 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, remembered in Polish historiography as one of the Grand Duchy nobles responsible for the end of the Golden Age of the Commonwealth. In his times he was one of the most powerful people in the Commonwealth described as a de facto ruler of the entire Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
During the "Deluge", the Swedish invasion of Poland-Lithuania during the Second Northern War, he sided with the Swedish king signing the Treaty of Kėdainiai and the Union of Kėdainiai. This move however antagonised him including members of his own family, his forces were defeated in battle and he himself died in a besieged castle at Tykocin. He was born on 2 December 1612 in Popiel, he was heir to one of the most powerful of princely Polish–Lithuanian families, the Radziwiłł family. In September 1628 he departed for a four-year-long voyage in Germany and the Netherlands, returning to the Commonwealth's capital of Warsaw by autumn 1632. Soon afterward the new king of the Commonwealth, Władysław IV Waza, sent him with a diplomatic mission to the Netherlands and the United Kingdom; as a reward, he received his first governmental office, becoming the podkomorzy of Lithuania in early 1633. He took part in the Smolensk War in 1634, through he accompanied the king, did not participate in major combats.
He would become a regular part of Władysław IV Waza's company, spending much time at the royal court over the next five years. In 1635 he became the starost of Kamieniec, in 1638, Kazimierz Dolny. Since 1636 he administrated his family's estates, through not efficiently, which he admitted himself, he attended most of the Sejm sessions. He married a Katarzyna Potocka on 2 February 1638, he was a Calvinist, his wife, though this did not cause significant difficulties. They would have three children, through only their daughter Anna Maria, born in 1640, would survive till adulthood. Katarzyna died on 21 November 1642. In 1645 he married daughter of a Moldavian voivod Vasile Lupu; the death of his father in 1641 made him one of the wealthiest magnates in the entire Commonwealth. In 1646 he became a member of the senate of Poland, as he an important office that granted him this privilege: in April that year, he became the Field Hetman of Lithuania. In November, he received another prestigious title, that of a starost of Samogitia.
In 1648 he was elected to the Lithuanian Tribunal. That year, the Commonwealth suffered two drastic events: death of king Władysław, the beginning of the Chmielnicki Uprising. In February 1649 he commanded the Commonwealth forces in the victorious Battle of Mazyr, in July, at Battle of Loyew. Fighting resumed in 1651, Radziwiłł was once again victorious, commanding the Lithuanian forces at the Second Battle of Loyew in July, capture of Kiev on 4 August, the Battle of Bila Tserkva in September. In 1652 a liberum veto was invoked in the Sejm by Władysław Siciński; some historians have speculated that Siciński might have acted on orders from Janusz Radziwiłł, through Wisner observed there is no evidence to support this theory. In 1653 the Cossacks allied themselves with Russia, in turn, Russian forces invaded the Commonwealth from the east. In March that year Janusz received the office of voivode of Wilno. On 17 June 1654 Janusz was elevated from the Field Hetman position to the Grand Hetman of Lithuania.
Despite the nominations, relations between him and the king have been worsening. In late August 1654 Janusz Radziwiłł defeated invading Russians at the Battle of Szkłów, but this was his last victory. Days he was defeated by the Russians at the Battle of Szepielewicze; the following winter Lithuanian counter-offensive proved unsuccessful. With the war against Russia still ongoing, the Commonwealth had to face a new enemy. In June 1655 Swedish forces started to advance across the northern territories of the Commonwealth; the Swedish invasion of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, part of the Second Northern War, is known in the Polish history as The Deluge. Together with his cousin Bogusław Radziwiłł, Janusz began talks with Swedish king Charles X Gustav of Sweden, discussing how to reverse the Union of Lublin which created the Commonwealth. Janusz first declared the Grand Duchy a Swedish protectorate in the Treaty of Kėdainiai on 17 August 1655 the brothers signed another treaty on 20 October according to which the Swedish–Lithuanian union was founded, in which Radziwiłł's were to rule a part of the Grand Duchy.
Janusz was not alone in abandoning the Polish side.
Lubrański Academy
The Lubrański Academy was a university college, established in 1518 in Poznań by Bishop Jan Lubrański. It was the first school with university aspirations in Poznań; the Academy's first rector was the Poznań humanist Tomasz Bederman. Another prominent lecturer was Grzegorz of Szamotuły; the Lubrański Academy aimed at independence from the Kraków Academy but was transformed into a faculty of the Kraków Academy. Before that the Lubrański Academy comprised six schools: of philosophy, mathematics, languages and rhetoric; the Academy's main building was remodeled in the 18th centuries. In 1780 the Academy was merged with the Jesuit Collegium Posnaniae. Today the Lubrański Academy's building holds the museum of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poznań. Józef Struś - scientist, mayor of Poznań. Klemens Janicki - poet Łukasz Opaliński - poet and writer Jan Śniadecki - astronomer and polymath Zamojski Academy Encyklopedia Polski, p. 12. K. Mazurkiewicz, Początki Akademji Lubrańskiego w Poznaniu. Przyczynek do dziejów rozwoju nauk humanistycznych w Polsce, Poznań 1921 J. Nowacki, Akademia Lubrańskiego, Kronika Miasta Poznania 1999, nr 2 M. Nowicki, Profil wychowawczy Akademii Lubrańskiego na tle sporu Krzysztofa Hegendorfera z Grzegorzem Szamotulczykiem, in Ku źródłom wartości, red.
P. Orlik, Poznań 2008, pp. 327–334 M. Nowicki, Vir orator czy vir probus, czyli problem recepcji antycznych wartości wychowawczych w programie wychowawczym Akademii Lubrańskiego, in Ku źródłom wartości, a cura di P. Orlik, Poznań 2008, pp. 313–326 M. Nowicki, Stan badań nad dziejami Akademii Lubrańskiego, Biuletyn Historii Wychowania 24, pp. 107–120 M. Nowicki, The educational activity of Lubrański Academy in 17th and 18th century, Poznań 2011 L. Sieciechowiczowa, Życie codzienne w renesansowym Poznaniu 1518-1619, Warszawa 1974 D. Żołądź-Strzelczyk, Academia Lubransciana, Kronika Miasta Poznania 1999, nr 2
