Franciszek Krasiński (1525 – 1577) was a Polish

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

who was

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

(1572-1577). Krasiński was born in 1525 to Jan Krasiński, a ''

stolnik Stolnik (, , , , ) was a court office in Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, responsible for serving the royal table, then an honorary court title and a district office. It approximately corresponds to English term wikt:pantler, "pantler". S ...

''. The family claimed the Ślepowron coat of arms. As Vice-Chancellor of the Crown, Franciszek Krasiński played a political role during the

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...

. After becoming Bishop of Kraków in 1572, Krasiński was the only bishop to sign the

Warsaw Confederation The Warsaw Confederation, also called the Compact of Warsaw, was a political-legal act signed in Warsaw on 28 January 1573 by the first Convocation Sejm (''Sejm konwokacyjny'') held in the Polish Commonwealth. Convened and deliberating as a co ...

which famously granted religious freedoms in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Krasiński offered his signature in order to prevent religious violence, an outcome that the act was generally able to maintain for the duration of the Commonwealth period. Krasiński died in 1577. A posthumous portrait of him exists in the cloister of the Franciscan friary in Kraków.

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...

also produced a later work depicting Krasiński.Polona.pl - woodcut portrait of Krasiński
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krasinski, Franciszek 1525 births 1577 deaths Bishops of Kraków Place of birth missing 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 16th-century Polish nobility