Janusz Radziwiłł (1579-1620)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Janusz Radziwiłł
Noble Family	Radziwiłł
Coat of Arms	Trąby odmiana
Parents	Krzysztof 'Piorun' Radziwiłł Katarzyna Ostrogska
Consorts	Zofia Olelkowicz Słucka Elisabeth Sofie
Children	with Elisabeth Sofie Bogusław Radziwiłł
Date of Birth	2 July 1579
Place of Birth	Vilnius
Date of Death	3 December 1620
Place of Death	Czarlin

Prince Janusz Radziwiłł (1579-1620) was a Polish-Lithuanian noble (szlachcic) and magnate.

Podczaszy of Lithuania since 1599, Castellan of Vilnius since 1619 and Starost of Borysów. He held the title of Imperial Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.

Janusz expanded the already immense family fortune through his first marriage to Zofia Olelkowicz Słucka on 1 October 1600, who, at her deathbed in 1612, left him a huge estate, including seven castles and palaces and some thirty-two villages. His second marriage was to Elisabeth Sofie of Brandenburg, daughter of John George, Elector of Brandenburg on 27 March 1613 in Berlin.

It was during Janusz's life that the interests between the Radziwiłł family and the state (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita) began to drift apart, as Radziwiłłs seeked to increase their wealth and power, disregarding the public good and putting their dynastic interests over interests of the state.

Just like his father, Janusz took part in a military campaign against Swedes in Livonia. Unhappy with the lack of material rewards in appreciation of his skillful involvement in that campaign, however, he voiced his opposition against King Sigismund III Vasa by joining in 1606 Zebrzydowski Rokosz and becoming one of its leaders. This confederatio, an armed and legal rebellion, was aimed at stopping the king's plans of strengthening his dynasty and powers by introducing the hereditary monarchy, collecting additional taxes, and creating a larger standing army.

Janusz Radziwłł is one of the personas on the famous painting by Jan Matejko: the sermons of Piotr Skarga.