Karol Stanisław "Panie Kochanku" Radziwiłł

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł
Noble Family	Radziwiłł
Coat of Arms	Trąby
Parents	Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł Urszula Franciszka Wiśniowiecka
Consorts	Maria Karolina Lubomirska Teresa Karolina Rzewuska
Children	none
Date of Birth	February 27, 1734
Place of Birth	Nieśwież
Date of Death	November 21, 1790
Place of Death	Biała

For other people to use this name see: Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł

Prince Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł (1734-1790) was a Polish-Lithuanian szlachcic. Voivod of Vilnius and the starost of Lwów. He is frequently referred to by his idiolect Panie Kochanku (Sir Beloved), to distinguish him from the other members of his family who used this name.

Throughout his life, Radziwiłł held many posts in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1752 he was the Master Swordbearer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. On August 3, 1757, he was awarded with the Order of the White Eagle and was among the first recipients of the decoration. From 1762 he was the voivod of Vilnius. In 1767 he became Marshal General of the Radom Confederation and the following year, Marshal of the Bar Confederation. After its fall in 1772 he emigrated, but returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1777 and assumed all his previous posts after pledging loyalty to the King of Poland Stanisław August, whom he had previously opposed.

During the Four-Year Sejm between 1788 and 1792 he was one of the most notable opponents of reforms, the king and the Familia faction.

Radziwiłł was the wealthiest magnate in Poland in the second half of the 18th century, and one of the richest in Europe. Of his life, legends abounded and Radziwiłł was featured in novels and poems. On the one hand, he was shown as a drunkard and a degenerate reveller, on the other, as a flamboyant character, a noble favourite, the best representative of sarmatism, and a great patriot. He was popular among the poorer szlachta and today remains one of the symbols of his epoch.