Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski

Prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski (1616-1667) was a Polish noble (szlachcic), magnate, outstanding politician and military commander. He was the initiator of the Lubomirski Rokosz.

Son of voivode and starost Stanisław Lubomirski and Princess Zofia Ostrogska. He was married to Konstancja Ligęza since 1641 and Barbara Tarło since 1654.

He was starost of Kraków since 1647, Court Marshall of the Crown in the same year Grand Marshal of the Crown since 1650, Field Crown Hetman since 1658, starost of Nowy Sącz and Spisz.

Sejm Marshal of the ordinary Sejm on February 1-March 29, 1643 in Warsaw.

Lubomirski become famous as a commander during wars with the Ukrainian Cossacks, Sweden, Transylvania and Muscovy in the 1648-1660 period. Inter alia he crushes invading troops of Rákóczi György I and marched in Transylvania. He also forced, together with Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki, Russian troops to surrender at Cudnów in 1660.

Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski

He was a staunch defender of the "Golden freedoms" and the leader of the opposition to King Jan II Kazimierz, who was attempting to increase his power.

The King accused him as traitor of the state and with an adjudication of guilt adopted by the Sejm, he lost all his offices and was sent into banishment in 1664.

However, in 1655 he started the "Lubomirski Rokosz" and countermined system reforms of the Republic. Using his influence Lubomirski had two sessions of the Sejm dissolved - in 1655 by deputies Piotr Telefus and Władysław Łoś, and in 1656 by deputies Kasper Miaskowski and Teodor Łukomski. At the head of regular army units and some noble levy (pospolite ruszenie) forces, he defeated the Royal army at Częstochowa in 1665 and royal troops led by the future King Jan Sobieski, at Mątwy in 1666.

The Agreement of Łęgonice, gived him back his dignity and annulled the earlier adjudication of the Sejm, the king was forced to give up his reform plans and the introduction of "vivente rege elections" and resulted indirect in abdication of the monarch in 1668. However Lubomirski was forced into exile to Breslau [1].

Some claim Lubomirski was one of the outstanding magnates of the 17th century. He frequently served as a deputy to the Sejm, was an excellent orator, military commander and politician, and had great private ambitions.

Others have a much lower esteem of his accomplishments; he is called prideful and ambitious, he is accused of "weird" (read: traitorous) behavior during the war against Sweden (1655-1660), he presumably contributed to the defeat of the Swedish-allied Transylvanian invaders but he let their leader and his top officials go in exchange for nothing (instead of keeping them prisoners for a ransom, or as political pawns), his "victorious" rebellion against the Polish government prevented the realization of key reforms, what in turn had grave consequences for the Commonwealth in the long term. His only real big accomplishment was the victory at Cudnow, but even that he did not accomplish alone.