Jakub Strzemię (c. 1340 - 20 October 1409) was a Polish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

archbishop and a professed member of the

Order of Friars Minor The Order of Friars Minor (commonly called the Franciscans, the Franciscan Order, or the Seraphic Order; Post-nominal letters, postnominal abbreviation OFM) is a Mendicant orders, mendicant Catholic religious order, founded in 1209 by Francis ...

. He served as the Archbishop of Halicz from 1392 until his death when the archdiocese was incorporated into that of the Archdiocese of Lviv. The spread of his cultus across

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

led to his beatification in 1791.

Life

Jakub Strzemię was born in 1340 to Polish nobles. He fostered a significant devotion to

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

which led to him discovering that his religious calling was to join the

- this was despite the fact that he once wanted to join the missions to aid the poor. In 1375 he was made the superior of the Brothers Association of Pilgrims for Christ which was a group of Franciscans and

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

that would evangelize across

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in places such as

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. From 1385 until 1388 he was the guardian of the

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Franciscan convent. It was on 27 June 1391 that

Pope Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX (; ; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death, in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope during the Western Schism.Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of t ...

appointed him as the Archbishop of Halicz; he received his

episcopal consecration 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 ...

sometime in

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

in the first few months of 1392. In that role he defended the mendicant friars from attacks from the secular wing of the Polish priesthood and government while also defending the rights of the faithful. He was the Vicar-General of the Franciscan missions in western

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and was also behind the construction of religious houses and schools as well as new churches and additional hospitals in his archdiocese. He died on 20 October 1409. In 1419 his remains were exhumed and deemed to be incorrupt.

Beatification

He received beatification on 11 September 1791 from

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI (; born Count Angelo Onofrio Melchiorre Natale Giovanni Antonio called Giovanni Angelo or Giannangelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to hi ...

after the recognition of his widespread cultus (a following with devotion to him) in Poland and the surrounding states.

References

External links

Saints SQPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strzemie, Jakub 1340 births 1409 deaths 14th-century venerated Christians 14th-century Polish clergy 15th-century venerated Christians 15th-century Polish clergy Beatifications by Pope Pius VI Capuchins Polish beatified people