Samuel Zborowski
Encyclopedia
Samuel Zborowski was a Polish
military commander and a notable member of the szlachta
(Polish landed gentry). He is best remembered for having been executed by supporters of the Polish king Stefan Batory
and chancellor Jan Zamoyski
; an event which caused much uproar among the contemporary Polish nobility.
and brother to Andrzej, Jan, Krzysztof and Piotr, Samuel was an heir of a significant fortune within Poland. His family was notable for its wealth and influence at the royal court of Poland, his father was a castellan
of Kraków
and his brother Jan was a personal secretary of the king Sigismund II of Poland and one of the most influential people of the epoch.
Samuel Zborowski rose to the power of a Royal rotmistrz at the court of Sigismund II. The title, quite prestigious at the time, was seen as a base for further titles and powers. After Sigismund's death and the election of Henry III de Valois as the next King of Poland, a tournament was held at the Wawel Castle
in honour of the new monarch on February 23, 1573. Zborowski had the honour of throwing his gauntlet
as the first knight, yet his proposal of a fight was not responded by any respectable nobleman. Instead, the goblet was raised by certain Karwat, one of non-noble soldiers of the castellan
of Wojnice Jan Tęczyński. After Karwat defeated Zborowski's servant in a duel, Zborowski felt this as a serious offence and attacked Tęczyński himself, in the presence of a new monarch. Castellan of Przemyśl
Andrzej Wapowski tried to calm down the fighters, but was hit with Zborowski's mace and was badly hurt. Wapowski refused to rest and instead started a campaign against Zborowski; his wound got infected and he died a week later. Although a murder committed during a Sejm
(Polish parliament) or in presence of a monarch was punishable by death, the new king did not want to start conflicts with the mighty family of Zborowski and sentenced him to banishment, without infamy
.
Samuel Zborowski fled Poland even before the verdict was presented and joined the court of Stefan Batory
, then the Prince of Transylvania
. After several months Henry III fled Poland and three years afterwards Batory was elected his successor. Zborowski returned to Poland, expecting that his brothers, some of the most notable supporters of Batory's candidacy, would raise to even greater fame and wealth after the new monarch arrives. However, most of the important offices were taken by the supporters of Jan Zamoyski
and the Zborowski brothers gradually lost importance. This made them enemies of the new king and two of them, namely Andrzej and Krzysztof started to plot with the courts of Moscow and Vienna against the life of the monarch. Samuel tried to rehabilitate himself by raising a Cossack
regiment and taking part in the war against Muscovy and the Velikiye Luki
(Wielkie Łuki) Campaign of 1580, where he proved to be a courageous warrior. However, the sentence was not changed and the Zborowskis received no reward or recognition for their efforts. Samuel then moved to Dzikie Pola
region where he was a celebrity among the Cossacks; together they carried several raids against the Ottoman Empire
, angering king Batory, who wanted to pursue a policy of appeasement with Ottomans.
In 1584 Wojciech Długoraj, a notable composer and virtuoso
lutenist in Zborowski's service who was maltreated by him turned several incriminating letters written between the Zborowski brothers (Krzysztof and Samuel) to their enemy Jan Zamoyski
. In these letters they described their preparations for the assassination of the king. Batory told Zamoyski that Zborowski should be executed, however as he had no power to issue such an order, Zamoyski would act on the basis of the 1573 banition sentence. In May of 1584 Zborowski entered the area of Lesser Poland
(Małopolska), which was then under jurisdiction of Jan Zamoyski. He was arrested in Piekary
and executed on May 26, 1584 at the Wawel
hill by beheading. Długoraj was forced to flee to Germany
for fear of Zborowski's heirs, who swore revenge.
Despite the fact that the execution was fully lawful, it was seen by many of the szlachta
, most notably by the Protestants, as an act of vengeance or abuse of monarch power, a warning to the dangers of absolutism
. Zborowski would be remembered by many as a martyr.
His brothers moved to avenge him and tried to gain support from other nobles. At the November 1585 local sejmik, Krzysztof Zborowski and his men filled the church where the meeting was to take place (and where Zamoyski was to appear) and disrupted the proceedings with brandished weapons, openly calling for the other nobles to hand over Zamoyski. The proceedings were moved to the graveyard, where Zborowski proceeded to "filibuster" by ringing the church bell. Two different marshals were elected at the meeting, one by Zborowski's supporters and one by the opposition, and resolutions were only slowly passed, one of which asked the national Sejm to consider the legality of Zamoyski executing Samuel Zborowski.
At the Sejm
of January of 1585 two of Zborowski's brothers were tried for their plans and Krzysztof was banished. During the proceedings, evidence against Krzysztof Zborowski amounted, including a letter in which he discussed killing the king. Bathory summoned Krzysztof to appear, but he did not. The second Zborowski was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. This finally broke the power of the once mighty family.
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...
military commander and a notable member of the szlachta
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...
(Polish landed gentry). He is best remembered for having been executed by supporters of the Polish king Stefan Batory
Stefan Batory
Stephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...
and chancellor Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
; an event which caused much uproar among the contemporary Polish nobility.
Biography
Son of Marcin ZborowskiMarcin Zborowski
Marcin Zborowski was a Polish castellan of Kalisz , voivod of Kalisz , voivod of Poznań and castellan of Kraków . He was one of the leaders of execution movement, co-initiator of the Chicken War and also supporter of the Reformation...
and brother to Andrzej, Jan, Krzysztof and Piotr, Samuel was an heir of a significant fortune within Poland. His family was notable for its wealth and influence at the royal court of Poland, his father was a castellan
Castellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
of Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and his brother Jan was a personal secretary of the king Sigismund II of Poland and one of the most influential people of the epoch.
Samuel Zborowski rose to the power of a Royal rotmistrz at the court of Sigismund II. The title, quite prestigious at the time, was seen as a base for further titles and powers. After Sigismund's death and the election of Henry III de Valois as the next King of Poland, a tournament was held at the Wawel Castle
Wawel Castle
The Gothic Wawel Castle in Kraków in Poland was built at the behest of Casimir III the Great and consists of a number of structures situated around the central courtyard. In the 14th century it was rebuilt by Jogaila and Jadwiga of Poland. Their reign saw the addition of the tower called the Hen's...
in honour of the new monarch on February 23, 1573. Zborowski had the honour of throwing his gauntlet
Gauntlet (gloves)
Gauntlet is a name for several different styles of glove, particularly those with an extended cuff covering part of the forearm. Gauntlets exist in many forms, ranging from flexible fabric and leather gloves, to mail and fully articulated plate armour....
as the first knight, yet his proposal of a fight was not responded by any respectable nobleman. Instead, the goblet was raised by certain Karwat, one of non-noble soldiers of the castellan
Castellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
of Wojnice Jan Tęczyński. After Karwat defeated Zborowski's servant in a duel, Zborowski felt this as a serious offence and attacked Tęczyński himself, in the presence of a new monarch. Castellan of Przemyśl
Przemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
Andrzej Wapowski tried to calm down the fighters, but was hit with Zborowski's mace and was badly hurt. Wapowski refused to rest and instead started a campaign against Zborowski; his wound got infected and he died a week later. Although a murder committed during a Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
(Polish parliament) or in presence of a monarch was punishable by death, the new king did not want to start conflicts with the mighty family of Zborowski and sentenced him to banishment, without infamy
Infamy
Infamy, in common usage, is notoriety gained from a negative incident or reputation . The word stems from the Latin infamia, antonym of fama ....
.
Samuel Zborowski fled Poland even before the verdict was presented and joined the court of Stefan Batory
Stefan Batory
Stephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...
, then the Prince of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. After several months Henry III fled Poland and three years afterwards Batory was elected his successor. Zborowski returned to Poland, expecting that his brothers, some of the most notable supporters of Batory's candidacy, would raise to even greater fame and wealth after the new monarch arrives. However, most of the important offices were taken by the supporters of Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
and the Zborowski brothers gradually lost importance. This made them enemies of the new king and two of them, namely Andrzej and Krzysztof started to plot with the courts of Moscow and Vienna against the life of the monarch. Samuel tried to rehabilitate himself by raising a Cossack
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
regiment and taking part in the war against Muscovy and the Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki is a town on the meandering Lovat River in the southern part of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It is the second largest town in Pskov Oblast; population: The town is served by the Velikiye Luki Airport....
(Wielkie Łuki) Campaign of 1580, where he proved to be a courageous warrior. However, the sentence was not changed and the Zborowskis received no reward or recognition for their efforts. Samuel then moved to Dzikie Pola
Zaporizhia (region)
Zaporizhia , Russian: Запоро́жье, Zaporozhye) is a historical region which is situated about the Dnieper River, below the Dnieper rapids , , hence the name, translated as "territory beyond the rapids"...
region where he was a celebrity among the Cossacks; together they carried several raids against the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, angering king Batory, who wanted to pursue a policy of appeasement with Ottomans.
In 1584 Wojciech Długoraj, a notable composer and virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
lutenist in Zborowski's service who was maltreated by him turned several incriminating letters written between the Zborowski brothers (Krzysztof and Samuel) to their enemy Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski
Jan Zamoyski , was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, 1st duke/ordynat of Zamość. Royal Secretary since 1566, Lesser Kanclerz ) of the Crown since 1576, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown since 1578, and Grand Hetman of the Crown since 1581...
. In these letters they described their preparations for the assassination of the king. Batory told Zamoyski that Zborowski should be executed, however as he had no power to issue such an order, Zamoyski would act on the basis of the 1573 banition sentence. In May of 1584 Zborowski entered the area of Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...
(Małopolska), which was then under jurisdiction of Jan Zamoyski. He was arrested in Piekary
Piekary, Proszowice County
Piekary is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Proszowice, within Proszowice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately east of Proszowice and east of the regional capital Kraków.-References:...
and executed on May 26, 1584 at the Wawel
Wawel
Wawel is an architectural complex erected over many centuries atop a limestone outcrop on the left bank of the Vistula River in Kraków, Poland, at an altitude of 228 metres above the sea level. It is a place of great significance to the Polish people. The Royal Castle with an armoury and the...
hill by beheading. Długoraj was forced to flee to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
for fear of Zborowski's heirs, who swore revenge.
Despite the fact that the execution was fully lawful, it was seen by many of the szlachta
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...
, most notably by the Protestants, as an act of vengeance or abuse of monarch power, a warning to the dangers of absolutism
Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
. Zborowski would be remembered by many as a martyr.
His brothers moved to avenge him and tried to gain support from other nobles. At the November 1585 local sejmik, Krzysztof Zborowski and his men filled the church where the meeting was to take place (and where Zamoyski was to appear) and disrupted the proceedings with brandished weapons, openly calling for the other nobles to hand over Zamoyski. The proceedings were moved to the graveyard, where Zborowski proceeded to "filibuster" by ringing the church bell. Two different marshals were elected at the meeting, one by Zborowski's supporters and one by the opposition, and resolutions were only slowly passed, one of which asked the national Sejm to consider the legality of Zamoyski executing Samuel Zborowski.
At the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
of January of 1585 two of Zborowski's brothers were tried for their plans and Krzysztof was banished. During the proceedings, evidence against Krzysztof Zborowski amounted, including a letter in which he discussed killing the king. Bathory summoned Krzysztof to appear, but he did not. The second Zborowski was convicted of treason and sentenced to death. This finally broke the power of the once mighty family.