Wincenty II Kot (c. 1395–1448) was a 15th-century

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Archbishop of Gniezno This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Archbishop of Gniezno This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.the king's sons Wladyslaw and Kazimierz. Kot caught the attention of Wladyslaw Jagiello on a visit to

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. Kot soon after moved to the

Wawel Castle 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 ...

, where the

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

lived. At the end of May 1434 Wladyslaw Jagiello contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

while out listening to the songs of

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is no ...

s in the woods near

Przemyśl Przemyśl (; yi, פשעמישל, Pshemishl; uk, Перемишль, Peremyshl; german: Premissel) is a city in southeastern Poland with 58,721 inhabitants, as of December 2021. In 1999, it became part of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it was pr ...

and died on 1 June at the age of 83. Two years later, when the post of

archbishop of Gniezno This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Bishop of Cracow A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

, Zbigniew Oleśnicki.

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Kot held the office of the

Archbishop of Gniezno This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

San Crisogono San Crisogono is a church in Rome (rione Trastevere) dedicated to the martyr Saint Chrysogonus. It was one of the tituli, the first parish churches of Rome, and was probably built in the 4th century under Pope Sylvester I (314–335). The ...

and

Vice-Chancellor of the Crown Chancellor of Poland ( pl, Kanclerz - , from la, cancellarius) was one of the highest officials in the historic Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom of the 12th century until the end of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

Bishop

Kot went to work in the archdiocese with great energy and zeal. he consistently defended the purity of faith and persistently worked on raising the religious life of the clergy and the faithful. He also took care of the

Cathedral of Gniezno The Royal Gniezno Cathedral (The Primatial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Shrine of St. Adalbert, pl, Bazylika Archikatedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny i Sanktuarium św. Wojciecha) is a Bri ...

, which he found dirty and worn. He was known as a "man commonly known and revered for science, a truly priestly soul and rare nobility of character." And he was able to lead in financial management. He also took care for those who worked in the church estates, especially the peasants, whose fate especially lay in his heart. Kot was also a statesman of great stature, skillfully moving through court and church politics and operating in diplomatic channels. * In 1447 he crowned his younger pupil Casimir. However, in 1448, there was a problem of priority when Bishop of Krakow Olesnicki received the long-awaited

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 ...

's hat and claimed priority over the primate. The dispute took three years to resolve, when it was decided that both bishops should take part in the deliberations of the Royal Council. * He supported the

antipope An antipope ( la, antipapa) is a person who makes a significant and substantial attempt to occupy the position of Bishop of Rome and leader of the Catholic Church in opposition to the legitimately elected pope. At times between the 3rd and mid- ...

Felix V Amadeus VIII (4 September 1383 – 7 January 1451), nicknamed the Peaceful, was Count of Savoy from 1391 to 1416 and Duke of Savoy from 1416 to 1440. He was the son of Amadeus VII, Count of Savoy and Bonne of Berry. He was a claimant to the papac ...

, who made him a cardinal (c. 1441) but later went to recognize

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V ( la, Nicholaus V; it, Niccolò V; 13 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV, Po ...

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 ...

. * He fought the influence

Hussitism The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

, supporting Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki, in the

Battle of Grotniki The Battle of Grotniki took place on 4 May 1439 in the vicinity of Grotniki Duże, a village near Nowy Korczyn, currently in Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. The battle was fought between the Hussite confederates under Spytko III of Melsztyn aga ...

1439. He took a particular liking to

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a ma ...

, where he usually lived. He died on 14 August 1448, in

Uniejów Uniejów is a spa town in Poddębice County, Łódź Voivodeship in central Poland, with 2,957 inhabitants (2020). It is the seat of the local government of Gmina Uniejów. The town lies in northwestern corner of Poddębice County, near the bord ...

, and on 19 August was buried in the

. He was about 53 years old. He was remembered at that time as "extremely shrewd, energetic and devout, looking forward to universal respect and trust".J. Korytkowski ''The Archbishop of Gniezno''

References

External links

Virtual tour Gniezno Cathedral List of Primates of Poland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kot, Wincenty 15th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland Archbishops of Gniezno 1390s births 1448 deaths 15th-century Polish nobility