Jan Tęczyński (1581–1637), of the Topór coat-of-arms, was governor of Kraków (1620–37), Crown Cupbearer (''czesnik koronny'') from 1618, ''

starosta Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

'' of

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

, and owner of Tenczyn and

Rytwiany Rytwiany is a village in Staszów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Rytwiany. It lies on the Czarna Staszowska river, approximately south-east of Sta ...

. He was the son of Andrzej Tęczyński. In 1606 he married Dorota Mińska. As his three sons died young, he became the last of this line of the

Tęczyński The House of Tęczyński was a powerful family of nobility (''szlachta'') in the Kingdom of Poland, during the times of the late Piast dynasty, the Jagiellon dynasty and in the early decades of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (from 14th ce ...

family. In his youth Jan Tęczyński traveled throughout Europe and studied under

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

. This experience led him to become a patron of the arts and sciences. He expanded the

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

at Rytwiany, and his court was always open to writers and philosophers, such as

Jan Andrzej Morsztyn Jan Andrzej Morsztyn (1621–1693) was a Polish poet, member of the landed nobility, and official in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was ''starosta'' of Zawichost, Tymbark and Kowal. He was also pantler of Sandomierz (1647–58), Roya ...

, one of the most celebrated poets of the

Polish Baroque The Polish Baroque lasted from the early 17th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance styl ...

. Piotr Kochanowski dedicated to Tęczyński his translation of

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

's ''

Jerusalem Delivered ''Jerusalem Delivered'', also known as ''The Liberation of Jerusalem'' ( ; ), is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, first published in 1581, that tells a largely mythified version of the First Crusade in which Christian knights, l ...

''. Tęczyński was a patron of

Jan Brożek Jan Brożek or Johannes Broscius (November 1585 – 21 November 1652) was the most prominent Polish mathematician of his era and an early biographer of Copernicus. He held numerous ecclesiastical offices in the Catholic Church and was associated ...

, professor at the

Kraków Academy The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

. Tęczyński himself was also a writer. His library and much of his wealth were inherited by the son-in-law of his brother Andrzej Tęczyński, Łukasz Opaliński, husband of Izabela, who was also a famous writer and patron of the arts and sciences.

See also