John Albert Vasa (''Jan Albert Waza'') (25 June 1612 – 29 December 1634) was a Polish

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

, and a Prince-Bishop of

Warmia Warmia ( pl, Warmia; Latin: ''Varmia'', ''Warmia''; ; Warmian: ''Warńija''; lt, Varmė; Old Prussian: ''Wārmi'') is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capitals ...

and

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

. He was the son of

Sigismund III Vasa Sigismund III Vasa ( pl, Zygmunt III Waza, lt, Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632 N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 to ...

and

Constance of Austria Constance of Austria (german: Konstanza; pl, Konstancja; 24 December 1588 – 10 July 1631) was Queen of Poland as the second wife of King Sigismund III Vasa and the mother of King John II Casimir. Biography Constance was a daughter of Charles ...

Biography

John Albert Vasa was born in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

. When he was 9 years old, after the death of

Szymon Rudnicki Szymon Rudnicki (born 8 February 1938 in Wilno) is a Polish historian. He specializes in the history of the Second Polish Republic, right-wing political movements of that era, and Polish-Jewish relations. He lectured at the Institute of History ...

his father chose him to be the next Prince-Bishop of

. The pope agreed to that request on 21 October 1621. More difficult to reach was an agreement from the Warmian chapter, and the objections of

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (Polish: endonym, Lithuanian: šlėkta) were the noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth who, as a class, had the dominating position in the ...

delayed the final approval of this nomination in the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

until 1631. The prince never visited his

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

, it was governed in his name by the

suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

Michał Działyński,

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Jakub Wierzbipięta Borzuchowski Jacob is a common male given name and a less well-known surname. It is a cognate of James, derived from Late Latin ''Iacobus'', from Greek ''Iakobos'', from Hebrew (''Yaʿaqōḇ''), the name of the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob son of Isaac and Reb ...

and

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western can ...

of Warmia,

Paweł Piasecki Paweł Piasecki (1579–1649) was the Royal Secretary of king Sigismund III Vasa (1613–1627); Catholic priest, canon, abbot, bishop of Kamieniec (1627–1640), bishop of Chełm (1640–1644), bishop of Przemyśl A bishop is an ordained cle ...

. The cathedral at Frauenburg (

Frombork Frombork (; german: Frauenburg ) is a town in northern Poland, situated on the Vistula Lagoon in Braniewo County, within Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, it has a population of 2,260. The town was first mentioned in a 13th-centur ...

) was enriched by the gifts from Jan Albert that included liturgical robes and a golden statue of

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

. He was educated in the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. On 20 November 1632 Vasa received the office of Prince Bishop of Cracow (after the death of

Andrzej Lipski Andrzej is the Polish form of the given name Andrew. Notable individuals with the given name Andrzej * Andrzej Bartkowiak (born 1950), Polish film director and cinematographer * Andrzej Bobola, S.J. (1591–1657), Polish saint, missionary and ...

); he performed his duties in person from 27 February 1633. On 20 December 1632 his cardinal nomination was declared in public;

pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

signed the nomination on 19 October 1629 but in secret (''in pectore tacite''), and after revealing the information he granted Jan Albert the presbyterian title of Sanctae Marie in Aquiro. Jan Albert died in Italy in 1634 at

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, where he was likely sent by his brother, King Wladislaw IV Waza with a diplomatic mission. The cause of his death is uncertain - Albrycht S. Radziwill in his diary suggested that he was infected with

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

when he met his brother, Aleksander Karol during their meeting before he left for Italy (Karol died this same year from smallpox).

suggests that the cause of his death could be some illness other than smallpox. In the office of Bishop of Warmia he was succeeded by Mikolaj Szyszkowski in 1632. In the office of Bishop of Kraków he was succeeded by

Jakub Zadzik Jakub Zadzik (1582 – 17 March 1642) was a Polish Great Crown Secretary from 1613 to 1627, bishop of Chełmno from 1624, Crown Deputy Chancellor from 1627, Great Crown Chancellor from 1628 to 1635, bishop of Kraków from 1635, diplomat, szlach ...

Biography

Ancestors

Gallery

See also

References

External links