Marcin II Szyszkowski of

Clan Ostoja The Clan of Ostoja (old Polish: ''Ostoya'') was a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe. The clan encompassed families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including present-day Belarus and Ukraine), Hungary and Upper Hu ...

(1554 – 30 April 1630)The History of Wawel Cathedral: The Cathedral of Cracow Bishops.
''Królewska Katedra na Wawelu''. Official website. Retrieved October 1, 2011. was a notable

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

priest who attended the

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school of

Kalisz (The oldest city of Poland) , image_skyline = , image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town , image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...

and became bishop of

Lutsk Lutsk ( uk, Луцьк, translit=Lutsk}, ; pl, Łuck ; yi, לוצק, Lutzk) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast (province) and the administrative center of the surrounding Luts ...

Płock Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to the ...

and finally of

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 ...

. In the power of the Bishop of Kraków, he also became Prince of Siewierz.

Life and education

Szyszkowski was born into a noble family which was part of the

Clan of Ostoja The Clan of Ostoja (old Polish: ''Ostoya'') was a powerful group of knights and lords in late-medieval Europe. The clan encompassed families in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (including present-day Belarus and Ukraine), Hungary and Upper Hu ...

. After finishing

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

school, he furthermore studied in Krakow,

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

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and

Padova 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 ...

. His great intellect and humanistic view helped him advance quickly. He became

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of Piotr Myszkowski, who was bishop of Krakow at the time, and he quickly advanced to the office of Bishop of Luck in 1604, the holy Catholic capital in the area named Christopolis. On 18 November 1607 he became the Bishop of Płock . He translated a lot of work from

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, and founded a Jesuit school in Płock in the year 1616. He finished the building of the Bishop Palace and in Pultusk; he also rebuilt the town castle, and opened a college for poor students. Szyszkowki moved to Krakow in October 1616 and became Bishop of Krakow on 3 June 1617. During his time as the Bishop of Krakow he opened several schools, churches, and chapels for the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

friars. He was against the reforms and in his battle to preserve the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

he regained 37 churches for the cause. In the cathedral on

Wawel The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on ...

in Krakow, present confession is in the form of a domed canopy made of black and rose marble, gilt-bronze and wood, which was created in the years 1626-1629 on Bishop Marcin Szyszkowski’s foundation. The most popular sarcophaguses in the 17th century were in the form of busts of the deceased persons, in a style taking its origins from Rome. Four

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

statues of the bishops of Cracow including Marcin Szyszkowski (made of black marble by Jan Trevano) were placed around St Stanislaus’ confession standing over the crypt in which the bishops are buried.

Sources

* Nowowiejski A. J., Płock. Monografia historyczna...., Płock 1990 * Piotr Nitecki, Biskupi Kościoła w Polsce w latach 965 - 1999, , Warszawa 2000. * Krzysztof Rafał Prokop: Sylwetki biskupów łuckich. Biały Dunajec: Ostróg : "Wołanie z Wołynia", 2001. . {{Authority control 1554 births 1630 deaths Clan of Ostoja Polish nobility 17th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Bishops of Płock Bishops of Kraków

Life and education

See also

Sources