Spytek of Melsztyn also known as Spytko; 1398-1439 was a notable member of the 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...

 gentry

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...

, and a strong supporter of Polish cooperation with the Hussite

Hussite

The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...

 movement against the Polish magnates.

Biography

Spytek was the owner of Melsztyn

Melsztyn

Melsztyn is a village on the left bank of the Dunajec river in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Zakliczyn, south-west of Tarnów, and east of the regional capital Kraków....

 estates and 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 Biecz

Biecz

Biecz is a town and municipality in southeastern Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Gorlice County. It is in the Carpathian Mountains, in the Doły Jasielsko Sanockie, by the Ropa River...

. He was the leader of the opposition against the political influences of Bishop of Kraków, Zbigniew Oleśnicki during the reign of young King Władysław III - as an early example of his opposition, Spytek interrupted Władysław's coronation ceremony.

He supported military expeditions of Sigismund Korybut

Sigismund Korybut

Sigismund Korybut was a duke from the Gediminid dynasty, best known as a military commander of the Hussite army and a governor of Bohemia and Prague during the Hussite Wars....

 to Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 in the years 1422-1427, supporting the pro-Hussite intervention. In 1429 he organized the Korczyn Confederation against Zbigniew Oleśnicki. Defeated by troops of the king, he died in the Battle of Grotniki

Battle of Grotniki

The Battle of Grotniki took place on May 4, 1439 in the vicinity of Grotniki Duże, a village near Nowy Korczyn, currently in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship....

.