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

starosta The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

'' of Płock, and owner of

Tenczyn Tenczyn is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lubień, within Myślenice County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south of Lubień, south of Myślenice, and south of the regional capital Krak� ...

and Rytwiany. 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 c ...

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) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

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

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

at Rytwiany, and his court was always open to writers and philosophers, such as Jan Andrzej Morsztyn, one of the most celebrated poets of the Polish Baroque. Piotr Kochanowski dedicated to Tęczyński his translation of Torquato Tasso's '' Jerusalem Delivered''. Tęczyński was a patron of Jan Brożek, professor at the

Kraków Academy The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university i ...

. 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