Elżbieta Sieniawska
Encyclopedia
Elżbieta Helena Sieniawska née Lubomirska ' onMouseout='HidePop("19942")' href="/topics/Konskowola">Końskowola
– 21 March 1729 in Oleszyce
) was a Polish
noble lady
, Grand Hetmaness of the Crown and renowned patron of arts
. As an influential woman politician
in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of Augustus II the Strong
she was deeply embroiled in the Great Northern War
and in the Rákóczi's War for Independence
. She was considered the most powerful woman in the Commonwealth and called the uncrowned Queen of Poland.
known as the Polish Solomon
, had a great influence on her education and politics. After her father's death she inherited many of his estates, including Puławy, Łubnice, Siekierki
, Czerniaków
and many other properties in Warsaw. She was educated in the Visitationist Sisters boarding-school in Warsaw
and in 1680 she was admitted at the court as a lady-in-waiting
of Queen Marie Casimire
. In 1687, she married Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski, Grand Hetman of the Crown, and despite her husband's demands she stayed in Warsaw, where she got involved in a famed romance with Jan Stanisław Jabłonowski. She was reconciled with her husband, but soon after, her affair with Aleksander Benedykt Sobieski
became well known. Her financial independence caused conflict with her husband and she was forced to defend her property and income from his interference. Eventually, the hetmaness achieved equilibrium within their marriage, and sometimes even underlined her leadership role in their intimate relations addressing Sieniawski as My dear Maiden in her letters. Monsieur de Mongrillon, secretary of the French Embassy in the period 1694-1698, recalled in his memoirs: she is a true Amazon
[...] She smokes like a man. It is said that the Tatar ambassador who came to Poland with peace overtures came to smoke by her bed and she smoked with him.
's death she supported the French candidature of François Louis, Prince of Conti
for the Polish throne and became a leader of his party. When she became disillusioned with his candidature, she affiliated with Augustus II. After Queen Marie Casimire's departure to Rome
, she administered her widow dowry
in Warsaw. Between 1701 and 1703, due to incitement of the French diplomacy, she was involved in the anti-Habsburg insurrection
in Hungary
, which she financially and politically supported. The rebellion's leader Francis II Rákóczi
, Prince of Transylvania, became her lover. In the Sieniawskis' estate in Berezhany
, Rákóczi issued a proclamation
To all Hungarians considered as the beginning of the uprising. Their discreet romance flourished in the turbulent years of war. He wrote a madrigal
in French dedicated to the hetmaness and his love letters are interesting examples of epistolography
. When in 1704, Jakub
and Konstanty Sobieskis were kidnapped and imprisoned in Saxony
, Aleksander resigned from the rivalry for the crown, afraid of revenge from his former lover (at that time Wettin partisan).
In 1706, after Augustus II's abdication, she engaged in the negotiations to reach an agreement between the tsar Peter I of Russia
and king Charles XII of Sweden
. During the negotiations she met with her former lover Jabłonowski, King Leszczyński's envoy. Sieniawska was abducted in November 1707 by the Swedish Army and met with the king himself. She was released after a month due to French mediation. After Augustus' abdication
Sieniawska's husband become one of the most significant players in the struggle for Polish crown. He was considered as one of the leaders of the Sandomierz Confederation
, and starting from 1707 he negotiated with the Tsar Peter I his own candidature to the throne. But his wife strongly opposed his candidacy and threatened him with divorce
. She did however support the candidature of her lover Francis Rákóczi as the most appropriate in a very difficult political situation of the Serenissima. With a support of a French diplomat Jean Victor de Besenval she was involved in peace mediations. After the declaration of interregnum
in the Commonwealth in July 1707 an agreement was reached and on August 8, 1707 the Lublin
Council was appointed. Because of robberies and other abuses by Russian troops, Sejm
began to enforce the Sieniawska's protegee. When those plans failed, she endeavoured to legalise Leszczyński's election and to remove all foreign troops from the country. In her politics, she also aimed to reduce the Russian influences in the Commonwealth. She was an unscrupulous politician participating in political affairs on a large scale, establishing secret contacts with different camps and conducting various personal intrigues – Charles XII of Sweden referred to her as "that most accursed woman".
Since 1709, she fostered Konstanty's candidature to the throne (he visited her together with Stanisław Leszczyńksi in Lviv
in Spring 1709), and though she was against the Wettin restoration, she could accommodate to Augustus II being already in possession of the Polish crown. To the baptism of her only daughter in 1711 in Jarosław she invited the powerful of the age. Among the godparents were Tsar Peter I, King Augustus II and prince Rákóczi, accompanied by about 15000 soldiers. The tsar Peter I was attracted by her unusual intelligence and it is believed that she became his mistress. During his stay in Jaworów in May 1711, according to the French ambassador Sieur Baluze, they talked endlessly and built a boat together.
, Monsieur Zabagłowicz: Among her close collaborators were Końskowola canon
Andrzej Stanisław Tucci and a Jewish woman
Feyga Leybowiczowa, to whom she entrusted the management of mills and inns in Końskowola. She also supported Jewish settlement on her lands (on 2 May 1718 she issued a privilege for the Jews to settle in Staszów
and build a synagogue
).
She also focused on constructional foundations. In 1720, she established the new orangery
of the Wilanów Palace, in 1722 she started the reconstruction of the Puławy Palace and in 1730 she enlarged the Łubnice Palace, at that time artistic center of Sieniawska's properties. From Konstanty she purchased Olesko
and Ternopil
and in 1720 the Sobieskis colifichet de gentillesse (the most pleasant trinket) – Wilanów Palace
. Among her most notable foundations are the church and monastery for the Capuchin friars
in Lviv founded in 1708 and accomplished in 1718, the wooden mansion in Oleszyce
(1713), a palace-orangery in Sieniawa
(1718), the Discalced Carmelite Sisters Church in Lublin (before 1721), the palace in Wysocko
(1720s), the two storied palace in Przybysławice (1720s), reconstruction of the Founding of Holy Cross Parish Church in Końskowola (1724), the St. Elisabeth's Church in Powsin
(1725), reconstruction of the Lubomirski Palace in Lublin
(1725–1728) – some of them she erected together with her husband. When Sieniawska's daughter widowed in 1728 her new marriage become a significant matter, not only in the Commonwealth but also in Europe. After her father's death in 1726 Maria Zofia inherited his Ruthenian estates including 35 towns, 235 villages and Berezhany fortress
, she was also the only inheritor of her husband's estates and of her mother's fortune. Among the candidates to the hand of one of the wealthiest women in Europe were Charles de Bourbon-Condé, Count of Charolais supported by France
(Louis XV
even invited Maria Zofia to Versailles
), Portuguese infante Dom Manuel de Bragança supported by the Habsburgs (proposed as the next King of Poland, due to the tenets of the Löwenwolde's Treaty
), Jan Klemens Branicki
, Franciszek Salezy Potocki
, Jan Tarło and August Aleksander Czartoryski
, who eventually won the competition full of duels and speech encounters due to support of Augustus II, as the latter was afraid of increase of power of his opponents.
, through Prague
, Vienna
and Wrocław, the hetmaness brought to Poland many renowned artists. Ádám Mányoki
, Rákóczi's court painter
, before he was appointed official court painter of Augustus II was at Sieniawska's service in Warsaw since 1713. She employed the most prominent artists active in the Commonwealth. Among them there were architects Giovanni Spazzio, Józef Fontana, Karol Bay, Efraim Szreger and František Mayer of Moravia
, painters Jan Jerzy Plersch and Giuseppe Rossi, eminent sculptors of Bohemian Baroque Jan Elijáš and Hynek Hoffmanns, stucco decorators Francesco Fumo and Pietro Innocente Comparetti, gardener
Georg Zeidler of Saxony. She also employed Dresden
court artists such as Johann Sigmund Deybel, Louis de Silvestre
and sculptor Jean-Joseph Vinache
and was a patron of young talented artists, like Julius Perty son of her architect Jacob, who was trained in Charles de Prevot's atelier in Sandomierz
between 1726–1730. Among her protegees was also a poetess Elżbieta Drużbacka
known as the Sarmatian Muse.
In 1713, the king Augustus II purchased the Morsztyn Palace and neighbouring allotments and started the construction of a new palace – so called Saxon Palace. Modelled after Versailles, it was the largest building in Warsaw, apart of the Sobieski's Marywil
. It was a time of late baroque and rococo, when theatrum mundi, with its theatrical decorations played an essential role, not only in founder's glorification
but also in politics to confirm the status. That is why the facade of the new palace was considered as rather poor (all the major funds were intended to embellished the prince-elector
's capital in Dresden, Germany). Sieniawska, who competed with the king in architectural foundations, choose an old Royal edifice – the Visitationist Church
established by Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, as her major propaganda
investment in the capital. Probably the most important was its location at the Cracow Suburb Street
, in front of the main entrance to the new royal residence, so everyone who visited the king must pass before the ornate Sieniawska's magnum opus. She appointed her court architect Karol Bay to design a new rococo
facade profusely embellished with columns and sculptures.
The conservation and enlargement of the former residence of Victorious King, John III Sobieski, is considered as her most significant achievement in the field of architecture. She embellished the palace facades and garden parterre
s with her coat of arms Szreniawa and monogram
s. For the decoration of the palace's interiors she nominated an Italian fresco
painter Giuseppe Rossi, who adorned the chambers with trompe-l'œil paintings and mythological
plafond
s. By taking the example of Queen Marie Casimire, that ordered to paint her as a goddess in palace plafonds, the hetmaness decorated the Lower Vestibule
with a fresco depicting her as a Roman goddess
of fertility
– Flora
(she was almost 60 at that time).
In 1729, she erected the mausoleum
in Berezhany to commemorate her husband, the last male line descendant of the Sieniawski family, but she did not complete the interior. Elżbieta Sieniawska died the same year in Oleszyce.
Konskowola
Końskowola is a village in southeastern Poland, located between Puławy and Lublin, near Kurów, on the Kurówka River. It is the seat of a separate commune within Puławy County in Lublin Voivodeship, called Gmina Końskowola. Population: 2,188 inhabitants .- Name :Końskowola literally translates as...
– 21 March 1729 in Oleszyce
Oleszyce
Oleszyce is a small town in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,089 inhabitants .During World War II, on 16 September 1939 there was a battle near Oleszyce, in which General Józef Kustroń fell, the commander of the Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division.-References:Notes...
) was a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
noble lady
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, Grand Hetmaness of the Crown and renowned patron of arts
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
. As an influential woman politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II the Strong
Frederick Augustus I or Augustus II the Strong was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania ....
she was deeply embroiled in the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
and in the Rákóczi's War for Independence
Rákóczi's War for Independence
Rákóczi's War for Independence was the first significant attempt to topple therule of Habsburg Austria over Hungary. The war was fought by a group of noblemen, wealthy and high-ranking progressives and was led by Francis II Rákóczi Rákóczi's War for Independence (1703–1711) was the first...
. She was considered the most powerful woman in the Commonwealth and called the uncrowned Queen of Poland.
Early life
Elżbieta was the only child of Stanisław Herakliusz Lubomirski by his first wife Zofia Opalińska. Her father, a neostoicNeostoicism
Neostoicism was a syncretic philosophical movement, joining Stoicism and Christianity.-Lipsius:Neostoicism was founded by Flemish humanist Justus Lipsius, who in 1584 presented its rules, expounded in his book De constantia , as a dialogue between Lipsius and his friend Charles de Langhe...
known as the Polish Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
, had a great influence on her education and politics. After her father's death she inherited many of his estates, including Puławy, Łubnice, Siekierki
Siekierki
Siekierki is a neighborhood in the Mokotów district of Warsaw, Poland.There is an PowerPlant Siekierki....
, Czerniaków
Czerniaków
Czerniaków is a neighbourhood of the city of Warsaw, located within the borough of Mokotów, between the escarpment of the Vistula river and the river itself....
and many other properties in Warsaw. She was educated in the Visitationist Sisters boarding-school in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
and in 1680 she was admitted at the court as a lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
of Queen Marie Casimire
Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien
Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien, in Polish: Maria Kazimiera, known also by the diminutive form "Marysieńka" was consort to King John III Sobieski, from 1674 to 1696.-Biography:...
. In 1687, she married Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski, Grand Hetman of the Crown, and despite her husband's demands she stayed in Warsaw, where she got involved in a famed romance with Jan Stanisław Jabłonowski. She was reconciled with her husband, but soon after, her affair with Aleksander Benedykt Sobieski
Aleksander Benedykt Sobieski
Aleksander Benedykt Stanisław Sobieski was the son of John III Sobieski, King of Poland, and his wife, Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien....
became well known. Her financial independence caused conflict with her husband and she was forced to defend her property and income from his interference. Eventually, the hetmaness achieved equilibrium within their marriage, and sometimes even underlined her leadership role in their intimate relations addressing Sieniawski as My dear Maiden in her letters. Monsieur de Mongrillon, secretary of the French Embassy in the period 1694-1698, recalled in his memoirs: she is a true Amazon
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
[...] She smokes like a man. It is said that the Tatar ambassador who came to Poland with peace overtures came to smoke by her bed and she smoked with him.
Stateswoman
The hetmaness was "a lady of great wisdom, reason and shrewdness" and she was deployed by her husband on diplomatic missions, duties and obligations that he could not cope with. Otwinowski called her "a great owner of such shrewdness that she had meetings with the whole of Europe". Others called her "a great ruler and the First Lady of the Republic" and Augustus II had her portrait amid the effigies of distinguished women. After John III SobieskiJohn III Sobieski
John III Sobieski was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and...
's death she supported the French candidature of François Louis, Prince of Conti
François Louis, Prince of Conti
François Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conti was Prince de Conti, succeeding his brother Louis Armand I, Prince of Conti in 1685. Until this date he used the title of Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon. He was son of Armand de Bourbon and Anne Marie Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Jules Mazarin...
for the Polish throne and became a leader of his party. When she became disillusioned with his candidature, she affiliated with Augustus II. After Queen Marie Casimire's departure to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, she administered her widow dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
in Warsaw. Between 1701 and 1703, due to incitement of the French diplomacy, she was involved in the anti-Habsburg insurrection
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, which she financially and politically supported. The rebellion's leader Francis II Rákóczi
Francis II Rákóczi
Francis II Rákóczi Hungarian aristocrat, he was the leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburgs in 1703-11 as the prince of the Estates Confederated for Liberty of the Kingdom of Hungary. He was also Prince of Transylvania, an Imperial Prince, and a member of the Order of the Golden...
, Prince of Transylvania, became her lover. In the Sieniawskis' estate in Berezhany
Berezhany
Berezhany is a city located in the Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Berezhanskyi Raion , and rests about 100 km from Lviv and 50 km from the oblast capital, Ternopil. The city has a population of about 20,000, and is about 400 m above sea level...
, Rákóczi issued a proclamation
Proclamation
A proclamation is an official declaration.-England and Wales:In English law, a proclamation is a formal announcement , made under the great seal, of some matter which the King in Council or Queen in Council desires to make known to his or her subjects: e.g., the declaration of war, or state of...
To all Hungarians considered as the beginning of the uprising. Their discreet romance flourished in the turbulent years of war. He wrote a madrigal
Madrigal (music)
A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....
in French dedicated to the hetmaness and his love letters are interesting examples of epistolography
Epistolography
Epistolography is the art or practice of writing letters, with particular regard to their timeframe and cultural environment. Generally, the letters were written for a public audience, however, private letters could be useful for a better knowing of the author and his works.- Context :According...
. When in 1704, Jakub
Jakub Ludwik Sobieski
James Louis Sobieski was the son of King John III of Poland and Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien.-Biography:...
and Konstanty Sobieskis were kidnapped and imprisoned in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
, Aleksander resigned from the rivalry for the crown, afraid of revenge from his former lover (at that time Wettin partisan).
In 1706, after Augustus II's abdication, she engaged in the negotiations to reach an agreement between the tsar Peter I of Russia
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
and king Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
. During the negotiations she met with her former lover Jabłonowski, King Leszczyński's envoy. Sieniawska was abducted in November 1707 by the Swedish Army and met with the king himself. She was released after a month due to French mediation. After Augustus' abdication
Abdication
Abdication occurs when a monarch, such as a king or emperor, renounces his office.-Terminology:The word abdication comes derives from the Latin abdicatio. meaning to disown or renounce...
Sieniawska's husband become one of the most significant players in the struggle for Polish crown. He was considered as one of the leaders of the Sandomierz Confederation
Sandomierz Confederation
The Sandomierz Confederation was a confederation formed on May 20, 1704 in defense of the King of Poland, August II the Strong. It was formed in reaction to the Warsaw Confederation. Its marshal was Stanisław Ernest Denhoff. The confederation lasted until 1717, when it was disbanded by the...
, and starting from 1707 he negotiated with the Tsar Peter I his own candidature to the throne. But his wife strongly opposed his candidacy and threatened him with divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. She did however support the candidature of her lover Francis Rákóczi as the most appropriate in a very difficult political situation of the Serenissima. With a support of a French diplomat Jean Victor de Besenval she was involved in peace mediations. After the declaration of interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
in the Commonwealth in July 1707 an agreement was reached and on August 8, 1707 the Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
Council was appointed. Because of robberies and other abuses by Russian troops, Sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
began to enforce the Sieniawska's protegee. When those plans failed, she endeavoured to legalise Leszczyński's election and to remove all foreign troops from the country. In her politics, she also aimed to reduce the Russian influences in the Commonwealth. She was an unscrupulous politician participating in political affairs on a large scale, establishing secret contacts with different camps and conducting various personal intrigues – Charles XII of Sweden referred to her as "that most accursed woman".
Since 1709, she fostered Konstanty's candidature to the throne (he visited her together with Stanisław Leszczyńksi in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
in Spring 1709), and though she was against the Wettin restoration, she could accommodate to Augustus II being already in possession of the Polish crown. To the baptism of her only daughter in 1711 in Jarosław she invited the powerful of the age. Among the godparents were Tsar Peter I, King Augustus II and prince Rákóczi, accompanied by about 15000 soldiers. The tsar Peter I was attracted by her unusual intelligence and it is believed that she became his mistress. During his stay in Jaworów in May 1711, according to the French ambassador Sieur Baluze, they talked endlessly and built a boat together.
Later life
In the following years, the hetmaness retired from politics, and concentrated on administration of her vast estates and their economic development. In one of her letters of July 17, 1726 Sieniawska reprimanded an accountant in the Tenczyn CastleTenczyn Castle
The Tenczyn Castle, otherwise known as the Tęczyn Castle, is a medieval castle in the village of Rudno, Poland. It was built as a seat of the powerful Tęczyński family. The castle fell into ruin during the Deluge in mid-17th century, after being pillaged and burned by Swedish-Brandenburgian forces...
, Monsieur Zabagłowicz: Among her close collaborators were Końskowola canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
Andrzej Stanisław Tucci and a Jewish woman
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
Feyga Leybowiczowa, to whom she entrusted the management of mills and inns in Końskowola. She also supported Jewish settlement on her lands (on 2 May 1718 she issued a privilege for the Jews to settle in Staszów
Staszów
Staszów is a town in Poland, in Świętokrzyskie Voivodship, about 54 km southeast of Kielce. It is the capital of Staszów County. Population is 15,108 .- Demography :...
and build a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
).
She also focused on constructional foundations. In 1720, she established the new orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
of the Wilanów Palace, in 1722 she started the reconstruction of the Puławy Palace and in 1730 she enlarged the Łubnice Palace, at that time artistic center of Sieniawska's properties. From Konstanty she purchased Olesko
Olesko
Oles'ko is small town in Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine.It was the seat of the rebbes of Alesk, and also the birthplace of Jan III Sobieski, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania....
and Ternopil
Ternopil
Ternopil , is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical region of Galicia...
and in 1720 the Sobieskis colifichet de gentillesse (the most pleasant trinket) – Wilanów Palace
Wilanów Palace
Wilanów Palace is a royal palace located in the Wilanów district, Warsaw. Wilanów Palace survived the time of Poland's partitions and both World Wars and has preserved its authentic historical qualities, also is one of the most important monuments of Polish culture.The palace and park in Wilanów...
. Among her most notable foundations are the church and monastery for the Capuchin friars
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
in Lviv founded in 1708 and accomplished in 1718, the wooden mansion in Oleszyce
Oleszyce
Oleszyce is a small town in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,089 inhabitants .During World War II, on 16 September 1939 there was a battle near Oleszyce, in which General Józef Kustroń fell, the commander of the Polish 21st Mountain Infantry Division.-References:Notes...
(1713), a palace-orangery in Sieniawa
Sieniawa
Sieniawa is a town in southeastern Poland. It had a population of 2,127 inhabitants . Since 1999, Sieniawa has been part of Subcarpathian Province.-References:Notes...
(1718), the Discalced Carmelite Sisters Church in Lublin (before 1721), the palace in Wysocko
Wysocko, Subcarpathian Voivodeship
Wysocko is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Laszki, within Jarosław County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Laszki, east of Jarosław, and east of the regional capital Rzeszów....
(1720s), the two storied palace in Przybysławice (1720s), reconstruction of the Founding of Holy Cross Parish Church in Końskowola (1724), the St. Elisabeth's Church in Powsin
Powsin
Powsin is a neighbourhood of the Wilanów district of Warsaw. It is well-known for its Botanical Garden managed by the Polish Academy of Sciences. There is also a Saint Elizabeth Church built in the 14th century....
(1725), reconstruction of the Lubomirski Palace in Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
(1725–1728) – some of them she erected together with her husband. When Sieniawska's daughter widowed in 1728 her new marriage become a significant matter, not only in the Commonwealth but also in Europe. After her father's death in 1726 Maria Zofia inherited his Ruthenian estates including 35 towns, 235 villages and Berezhany fortress
Berezhany Castle
The Berezhany Castle round which the modern town of Berezhany has sprung up, was built on an island in the Zolota Lypa River in the 1530s and 1540s by Mikołaj Sieniawski as the main residence of the Sieniawski magnate family....
, she was also the only inheritor of her husband's estates and of her mother's fortune. Among the candidates to the hand of one of the wealthiest women in Europe were Charles de Bourbon-Condé, Count of Charolais supported by France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(Louis XV
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
even invited Maria Zofia to Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
), Portuguese infante Dom Manuel de Bragança supported by the Habsburgs (proposed as the next King of Poland, due to the tenets of the Löwenwolde's Treaty
Löwenwolde's Treaty
The Treaty of the Three Black Eagles or the Treaty of Berlin , was a secret treaty between the Austrian Empire, the Russian Empire and Prussia...
), Jan Klemens Branicki
Jan Klemens Branicki
Count Jan Klemens Branicki was a Polish nobleman, magnate and Hetman, Field Crown Hetman of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth between 1735 and 1752, and Great Crown Hetman between 1752 and 1771....
, Franciszek Salezy Potocki
Franciszek Salezy Potocki
Franciszek Salezy Potocki was a Polish-Lithuanian noble . Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, awarded on August 3, 1750 in Warsaw....
, Jan Tarło and August Aleksander Czartoryski
August Aleksander Czartoryski
Prince August Aleksander Czartoryski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble , magnate, and founder of the family fortune.August became Major-General of the Polish Army in 1729, voivode of the Ruthenian Voivodship in 1731, General Starost of Podolia in 1750–1758, and a Knight of Malta...
, who eventually won the competition full of duels and speech encounters due to support of Augustus II, as the latter was afraid of increase of power of his opponents.
Patronage
Through her extensive contacts from Neuburg courtPalatinate-Neuburg
Palatinate-Neuburg is a former territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of some 100,000.-History:...
, through Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Wrocław, the hetmaness brought to Poland many renowned artists. Ádám Mányoki
Ádám Mányoki
Ádám Mányoki was one of the most significant Hungarian Baroque painters of the 18th century.He was a pupil of the great German painter, A. Scheitz. He initially worked as a court painter of Francis II Rákóczi the prince of Hungary and Transylvania...
, Rákóczi's court painter
Court painter
A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or noble family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Especially in the late Middle Ages, they were often given the office of valet de chambre...
, before he was appointed official court painter of Augustus II was at Sieniawska's service in Warsaw since 1713. She employed the most prominent artists active in the Commonwealth. Among them there were architects Giovanni Spazzio, Józef Fontana, Karol Bay, Efraim Szreger and František Mayer of Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, painters Jan Jerzy Plersch and Giuseppe Rossi, eminent sculptors of Bohemian Baroque Jan Elijáš and Hynek Hoffmanns, stucco decorators Francesco Fumo and Pietro Innocente Comparetti, gardener
Gardening
Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...
Georg Zeidler of Saxony. She also employed Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
court artists such as Johann Sigmund Deybel, Louis de Silvestre
Louis de Silvestre
Louis de Silvestre was a French portrait and history painter. He was court painter to King Augustus II of Poland, and director of the Royal Academy of Arts in Dresden.-Life and work:...
and sculptor Jean-Joseph Vinache
Jean-Joseph Vinache
Jean-Joseph Vinache was a French sculptor who served as court sculptor to Kurfürst Frederick Augustus I, Elector of Saxony, whose equestrian monument, the Goldener Reiter, the "gilded Horseman", is one of the most familiar sights of Dresden, Germany, though its sculptor is rarely noted.Vinache was...
and was a patron of young talented artists, like Julius Perty son of her architect Jacob, who was trained in Charles de Prevot's atelier in Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
between 1726–1730. Among her protegees was also a poetess Elżbieta Drużbacka
Elzbieta Druzbacka
Elżbieta Drużbacka was a Polish poet.Much of her work deals with the beauty of nature; her best known work isDescription of the Four Seasons ....
known as the Sarmatian Muse.
Marywil
Marywil was a large commercial centre and a palace in Warsaw, occupying roughly the place where the Grand Theatre stands today.-History:...
. It was a time of late baroque and rococo, when theatrum mundi, with its theatrical decorations played an essential role, not only in founder's glorification
Glorification
-Catholicism:For the process by which the Roman Catholic Church or Anglican Communion grants official recognition to someone as a saint, see canonization.-Eastern Orthodox Church:...
but also in politics to confirm the status. That is why the facade of the new palace was considered as rather poor (all the major funds were intended to embellished the prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
's capital in Dresden, Germany). Sieniawska, who competed with the king in architectural foundations, choose an old Royal edifice – the Visitationist Church
Visitationist Church
Church of St. Joseph of the Visitationists commonly known as the Visitationist Church is a Roman Catholic church in Warsaw, Poland, situated at Krakowskie Przedmieście 34...
established by Queen Marie Louise Gonzaga, as her major propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
investment in the capital. Probably the most important was its location at the Cracow Suburb Street
Krakowskie Przedmiescie
Krakowskie Przedmieście is one of the most impressive and prestigious streets of Poland's capital.Several other Polish cities also have streets named Krakowskie Przedmieście. In Lublin, it is the main and most elegant street...
, in front of the main entrance to the new royal residence, so everyone who visited the king must pass before the ornate Sieniawska's magnum opus. She appointed her court architect Karol Bay to design a new rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
facade profusely embellished with columns and sculptures.
The conservation and enlargement of the former residence of Victorious King, John III Sobieski, is considered as her most significant achievement in the field of architecture. She embellished the palace facades and garden parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
s with her coat of arms Szreniawa and monogram
Monogram
A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...
s. For the decoration of the palace's interiors she nominated an Italian fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
painter Giuseppe Rossi, who adorned the chambers with trompe-l'œil paintings and mythological
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
plafond
Plafond
Plafond , in a broad sense, is any ceiling of any premise.Plafond can be product of monumental and decorative painting and sculpture; subject or ornamental – also is designated by the term "Plafond"...
s. By taking the example of Queen Marie Casimire, that ordered to paint her as a goddess in palace plafonds, the hetmaness decorated the Lower Vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
with a fresco depicting her as a Roman goddess
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
of fertility
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
– Flora
Flora (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime...
(she was almost 60 at that time).
In 1729, she erected the mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
in Berezhany to commemorate her husband, the last male line descendant of the Sieniawski family, but she did not complete the interior. Elżbieta Sieniawska died the same year in Oleszyce.