Misplaced Pages

#281718

52-523: The town's population is 2,446 (2006). It was the seat of King Stanisław Leszczyński during his first short reign from 1704 to 1709. Rydzyna is commonly referred to as "the pearl of the Polish Baroque " due to its preserved Old Town core and a high abundance of historical monuments. It was founded at the beginning of the 15th century by Jan from Czernina , a descendant of the Wierzbno family,

104-528: A country estate in Lunéville , and actively ruled Lorraine and Bar, sponsoring numerous public works projects. Nearby, Nancy , the historic capital of Lorraine, has a Place Stanislas (Stanisław Square) named in his honour, much of which was developed during his reign. He also took up political philosophy , engaging in discourse with other Enlightenment figures such as Jean Jacques Rousseau , and wrote philosophical treatises in his native Polish, making him

156-651: A daughter, Maria , who became Queen of France as wife of Louis XV . In 1697, as Cup-bearer of Poland , he signed the confirmation of the articles of election of Augustus II the Strong . In 1703 he joined the Lithuanian Confederation, which the Sapiehas with the aid of Sweden had formed against Augustus. The following year, Stanisław was selected by Charles XII of Sweden after a successful Swedish invasion of Poland , to supersede Augustus II, who

208-956: A defeat by the Russians at the Battle of Poltava , and was subsequently driven into exile in the Ottoman Empire . As a result, Augustus II returned to the throne, and while Charles served his exile in the Ottoman Empire, Stanisław accepted the rule of the tiny state of Palatine Zweibrücken , a small state of the Holy Roman Empire which was in personal union with Sweden and located near the region of Alsace . After Charles's death in 1719, he moved to nearby Wissembourg in Alsace. In 1725, his daughter Marie Leszczyńska married Louis XV of France. The death of Augustus II sparked

260-486: A dozen castellans and a few score of noblemen on 12 July 1704. A few months later, Stanisław was forced by a sudden inroad of Augustus II to seek refuge in the Swedish camp, but finally on 24 September 1705, he was crowned king with great splendor. Charles himself supplied his nominee with a new crown and scepter in lieu of the ancient Polish regalia , which had been carried off to Saxony by Augustus. During this time

312-675: A figure within the Polish Enlightenment . When he died in 1766, his titles passed to his son-in-law, Louis XV. His retaking of the Polish throne in 1733 formed the backdrop for Un giorno di regno , an opera by composer Giuseppe Verdi and librettist Felice Romani , which premiered in 1840. Born in Lwów (now Lviv ) in 1677, he was the son of Rafał Leszczyński , voivode of Poznań Voivodeship , and Princess Anna Katarzyna Jabłonowska . He married Katarzyna Opalińska , by whom he had

364-564: A gesture of public faith that flourished in the Catholic countries of Europe especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. Thus they became one of the most visible features of Baroque architecture . This usage also influenced some Eastern Orthodox Baroque architecture. In Imperial Rome , it was the practice to erect a statue of the Emperor atop a column. In 1381, Michael Tutz erected the gothic Tutzsäule at Klosterneuburg Monastery to mark

416-781: A knight of king Władysław II Jagiełło . Rydzyna was a private town , administratively located in the Kościan County in the Poznań Voivodeship in the Greater Poland Province of the Polish Crown. At the end of the 17th century the town and its environs were owned by well-known magnates, the Leszczyński and then the Sułkowski families, whose investment in the town resulted in its current nickname as "the pearl of

468-622: A model for many similar works in the country. The era of these religious structures culminated with the outstanding Holy Trinity Column in Horní Square in Olomouc . This monument, built shortly after the plague which struck Moravia (nowadays in the Czech Republic) between 1714 and 1716, was exceptional because of its monumentality, rich decoration and unusual combination of sculptural material (stone and gilded copper). Its base

520-514: A plague column was built in 1681, with the original being replaced in 1743. Arranged around a pillar bearing an image of Virgin Mary, are six saints, all intercessors against the plague. Over time distinctions between a Marian column and a plague column blurred. Although plague columns are most commonly dedicated to the Virgin Mary, some depict other saints . The Plague Column at Eisenstadt

572-644: Is that in the Grabenplatz , Vienna, built after the 1679 plague ; in this monument the column has entirely disappeared in marble clouds and colossal saints, angels and putti . The column became a site of pilgrimage during the Covid-19 epidemic. There is a Holy Trinity Column in Holy Trinity Square, in front of Matthias Church in Budapest , a plague memorial erected in 1713, which served as

SECTION 10

#1732783829282

624-599: The Académie de Stanislas and Bibliothèque municipale de Nancy , and devoted himself for the rest of his life to science and philanthropy, engaging most notably in controversy with Rousseau . He also published Głos wolny wolność ubezpieczający , one of the most important political treatises of the Polish Enlightenment. His court painter was André Joly . Stanisław was still alive when his great-great-granddaughter, Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria ,

676-604: The Château de Chambord . Stanislaw's son-in-law Louis XV supported his claims to the Polish throne after the death of Augustus II the Strong in 1733, which led to the War of the Polish Succession . On 11 September 1733, Stanisław himself arrived at Warsaw , having traveled night and day through central Europe disguised as a coachman. On the following day, despite many protests, Stanisław was duly elected King of Poland for

728-555: The Sejm elected Augustus the Strong , Elector of Saxony to succeed John III in 1697 as August II. Russia's primary antagonist in the Great Northern War , Sweden had supported Stanisław Leszczyński for the throne, and after defeating a combined army of Saxon and Polish-Lithuanian forces, deposed August II and installed Leszczyński as Stanisław I in 1704. In 1709, Charles XII of Sweden , Stanisław's main supporter, suffered

780-558: The War of the Polish Succession in 1733. As had happened on the death of John III Sobieski , foreign intrigue and influence plagued the Sejm election . Despite the presence of Russian troops in the country, the Sejm, with support of the French, elected Stanisław to succeed Augustus II, while the Russians encouraged a group of break-away nobles to hold their own election, selecting instead Frederick Augustus II of Saxony , son of Augustus II, to

832-428: The opera Un giorno di regno , ossia Il finto Stanislao ( A One-Day Reign, or The Pretend Stanislaus , but often translated into English as King for a Day ) by Giuseppe Verdi , to an Italian libretto written in 1818 by Felice Romani . [REDACTED] Media related to Stanislaus I Leszczyński at Wikimedia Commons Holy Trinity columns Marian columns are religious monuments depicting Virgin Mary on

884-529: The 18th century and designed by the same architects as the castle. The evangelical church building now serves as a concert hall. In the center of the Market Square a unique Holy Trinity column was erected in 1761 by sculptor Andrew Schmidt in memory of the plague that decimated the town in 1709. The monumental former annexes to the castle, facing its north side, are in Classic style. All the monuments are

936-515: The Great at the most critical period of the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden, and Stanisław placed a small army corps at the disposal of the Swedes and was beaten in Battle of Koniecpol . However, Stanisław depended so entirely on the success of Charles' arms that after the Battle of Poltava (1709), his authority vanished as a dream at the first touch of reality. Stanisław then resided in

988-441: The Great of Prussia), whence he issued a manifesto to his partisans which resulted in the formation of a confederation on his behalf, and the despatch of a Polish envoy to Paris to urge France to invade Saxony with at least 40,000 men. In Ukraine too, Count Nicholas Potocki kept on foot to support Stanisław a motley host of 50,000 men, which was ultimately scattered by the Russians. On 26 January 1736, Stanisław again abdicated

1040-800: The Leszno County, including Rydzyna, in the forest near the town. In February 1940, the Germans arrested local Polish parish priest Aleksander Sterczewski, who was imprisoned in Rawicz , then deported to concentration camps and killed in Dachau (see Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland ). Towards the end of the war, the town was captured by the Red Army in the spring of 1945 and

1092-535: The Polish baroque". The 11th Polish Infantry Regiment was stationed in Rydzyna. In the Second Partition of Poland , in 1793, the town was annexed by Prussia . After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806 , it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw , and following its dissolution in 1815, it was reannexed by Prussia. In 1871, the town became part of Germany and

SECTION 20

#1732783829282

1144-479: The Russian entrenchments, but was finally compelled to surrender. This was the first time that France and Russia had met as foes in the field. On 30 June 1735, Danzig capitulated unconditionally, after sustaining a siege of 135 days which cost the Russians 8,000 men. Disguised as a peasant, Stanisław had contrived to escape two days before. He reappeared at Königsberg (where he briefly met the future King Frederick

1196-514: The base combines the armorial eagles and dragons of Paul V ( Borghese ). The column, with a Corinthian capital, is topped with a statue of the Virgin and the child Jesus. The column itself is ancient: it had supported the vault of the so-called Basilica of Constantine in the Roman Forum , destroyed by an earthquake in the 9th century. By the 17th century only this column survived; in 1614 it

1248-528: The castle was restored and expanded by Prince August Sułkowski, who purchased the Leszczyński estates in 1738. The castle, together with its adjacent park and the surrounding terrain, forms one of the most valuable castle-park complexes in Poland. Other historical monuments in Rydzyna are baroque tenement houses around the Rynek (Market Square) together with the town hall and the baroque parish church, all built in

1300-437: The castle were the Leszczyński family. Together with its park and surrounding areas, it was one of the most splendid palaces in Poland. Between 1704 and 1709 it was a residence of the Polish king Stanisław I. In 1709, during the Great Northern War , the castle was partly burnt by the tsar's soldiers. However wall-paintings and stucco works in representative rooms, made by the best Italian artists, were not destroyed completely, and

1352-829: The city having been spared the plague in 1713. Braun also designed the Marian column in Jaroměř . The first column of this type north of the Alps was the Mariensäule built in Munich in 1638 to celebrate the sparing of the city from both the invading Swedish army and the plague. The statue, created in 1590, depicts the Virgin Mary as Queen of Heaven standing atop a crescent moon. It inspired for example Marian columns in Prague and Vienna , but many others also followed very quickly. In

1404-725: The countries which used to belong to the Habsburg monarchy (especially Austria , Hungary , the Czech Republic , and Slovakia ) it is quite exceptional to find an old town square without such a column, usually located in the most prominent place. The Prague column was built in Old Town Square shortly after the Thirty Years' War in thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary Immaculate for helping in

1456-658: The ending of an epidemic. The Christian practice of erecting a column topped with a statue of the Virgin Mary became common especially in the Counter-Reformation period following the Council of Trent (1545–1563). The column in Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome was one of the first. Erected in 1614, it was designed by Carlo Maderno during the papacy of Paul V . Maderno's fountain at

1508-478: The fight with the Swedes. At noon its shadow indicated the so-called Prague Meridian , which was used to check the exact solar time . Some Czechs connected its placement and erection with the hegemony of the Habsburgs in their country, and after declaring the independence of Czechoslovakia in 1918 a crowd of people pulled this old monument down and destroyed it in an excess of revolutionary fervor. The column

1560-531: The king of Sweden sent Peter Estenberg to King Stanislaw to act as an ambassador and correspondence secretary. The Polish king's first act was to cement an alliance with Charles XII whereby the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth engaged to assist Sweden against the Russian tsar. Stanisław did what he could to assist his patron. Thus, he induced Ivan Mazepa , the Cossack hetman , to desert Peter

1612-567: The kingship. War broke out almost immediately, evolving into a proxy war between the Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties and their supporters, with the Bourbon faction led by France and Spain , with their allies Sardinia and Sweden, while the Habsburg faction was led by Austria and their allies Russia, Prussia , and Saxony . After two years of fighting across the entire continent, a ceasefire

Rydzyna - Misplaced Pages Continue

1664-477: The second time. However, Russia was opposed to any nominee of France and Sweden. Russia protested against his election at once, in favor of the new Elector of Saxony, son of the late king, as being the candidate of her Austrian ally. On 30 June 1734, a Russian army of 20,000 under Peter Lacy , after proclaiming Frederick Augustus II of Saxony as king in Warsaw, proceeded to besiege Stanisław at Danzig , where he

1716-483: The throne but received in compensation the duchies of Lorraine and of Bar , which was to revert to France on his death. In 1738, he sold his estates of Rydzyna and Leszno to Count (later Prince) Alexander Joseph Sułkowski . He settled at Lunéville where he held court at the Château de Lunéville , which became a centre of the arts and culture, drawing a number of personalities of the enlightenment including Madame Émilie du Châtelet . In Nancy in 1750 he founded both

1768-460: The top, often built in thanksgiving for the ending of a plague ( plague columns ) or for some other reason. The purpose of the Holy Trinity columns was usually simply to celebrate the church and the faith, though the plague motif could sometimes play its role in their erection as well. Erecting religious monuments in the form of a column surmounted by a figure or a Christian symbol was

1820-707: The town in accordance to the Treaty of Versailles . During the German invasion of Poland which started World War II in September 1939, the town was occupied by the Wehrmacht . It was annexed by Nazi Germany and was incorporated into the newly formed province of Reichsgau Wartheland . From October 1939 to February 1940, during the Intelligenzaktion , the Germans carried out mass executions of Poles from

1872-458: The town itself. Stanis%C5%82aw Leszczy%C5%84ski Stanisław I Leszczyński ( Polish pronunciation: [staˈɲiswaf lɛʂˈt͡ʂɨj̃skʲi] ; Lithuanian : Stanislovas Leščinskis Lithuanian pronunciation: [staˈɲɪsɫɔvas lɛʃˈtʃɪŋskʲɪs] ; French : Stanislas Leczinski French pronunciation: [stanislas lɛɡzɛ̃ski] 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I ,

1924-450: The town of Rydzyna . The vast majority of Poles hastened to repudiate Stanisław and make their peace with Augustus. Henceforth a mere pensioner of Charles XII, Stanisław accompanied Krassow 's army corps in its retreat to Swedish Pomerania . On the restoration of Augustus , Stanisław abdicated the Polish Crown (though he retained the royal title) in exchange for the little Principality of Palatine Zweibrücken . In 1716, an assassination

1976-532: The works of prominent architects brought in from all over Europe by the Leszczyński and Sułkowski families. At one time there were over 40 windmills around Rydzyna. Today only one remains, the "Józef" windmill from the 18th century, which was renovated in 2003. It now houses the Museum of Agriculture and Milling. The Polish S5 highway runs nearby, west of the town, and the Voivodeship road 309 passes through

2028-514: Was attempted by a Saxon officer, Lacroix, but Stanisław was saved by Stanisław Poniatowski (father of the future king Stanisław II August ). Forced to leave Deux-Ponts in 1719 after the death of Charles XII in whose name he was Count Palatine , Stanisław Leszczyński then resided at Wissembourg in Alsace . In 1725, he had the satisfaction of seeing his daughter Maria become queen consort of Louis XV of France. From 1725 to 1733, Stanisław lived at

2080-629: Was born in 1762. In his last years, his close friend, the Hungarian-born Marshal of France Ladislas Ignace de Bercheny lived on his estate to provide company. Leszczyński died aged 88 in 1766 as a result of serious burns – his silk attire had caught fire from a spark while the King was asleep near the fireplace in his palace in Lunéville on 5 February. He was medically treated for several days but died of wounds on 23 February. He

2132-610: Was declared in 1735. Stanislaus officially abdicated in January 1736, and the Peace of Vienna was promulgated in 1738, whereby Augustus III was officially recognized as King of Poland, and Stanisław was compensated for losing the throne a second time with the duchies of Bar and Lorraine , both of which were nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time. While Duke of Lorraine, Stanisław lived out his remaining years at

Rydzyna - Misplaced Pages Continue

2184-541: Was entrenched with his partisans (including the Primate and the French and Swedish ministers) to await the relief that had been promised by France. The siege began in October 1734. On 17 March 1735, Marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich superseded Peter Lacy , and on 20 May 1735 the long-expected French fleet appeared and disembarked 2,400 men on Westerplatte . A week later, this little army gallantly attempted to force

2236-498: Was erected in 1713 in honour of the Holy Trinity and by Mary, as Queen of heaven as a plea to God to free the city from the plague. On the pedestal there are represented Saints Roch , Sebastian, Kajetan, John of Nepomuk, Saint Rosalie, and Saint Francis. The Guglia di San Domenico designed by Cosimo Fanzago , was erected after the plague of 1656. St. Sebastian , a martyr whose statue also often decorates these structures,

2288-410: Was hostile towards the Swedes. Leszczyński was a young man of blameless antecedents, respectable talents, and came from an ancient family, but certainly without sufficient force of character or political influence to sustain himself on so unstable a throne. Nevertheless, with the assistance of a bribing fund and an army corps, the Swedes succeeded in procuring his election by a scratch assembly of half

2340-417: Was known as Reisen in German. Until 1887, Reisen belonged to the Fraustadt district in the Prussian Province of Posen . From 1887 to 1920, it was part of the Lissa district . According to the census of 1905, the town had a population of 1,123, of which 814 (72.5%) were Germans and 309 (27.5%) were Poles . After World War I , Poland regained independence as the Second Polish Republic , and then regained

2392-435: Was made so big that even a chapel was hidden inside. This column is the only one which has been individually inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as "one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee of central European Baroque artistic expression". There is also a Holy Trinity Column in the main square of Linz . The Holy Trinity Column in Teplice was designed by Matthias Braun and erected in thanksgiving for

2444-409: Was originally the patron of archers . In the Middle Ages Sebastian took the place of the plague-dealing archer Apollo , as people sometimes metaphorically compared the random nature of plague to random shots of archers, and thus he started being connected with the plague too; as was St. Roch , who is said to have fallen ill when helping the sick during an epidemic of plague and who recovered through

2496-431: Was rebuilt in 2020. The Column of the Virgin Mary Immaculate in Kutná Hora was constructed by the Jesuit sculptor František Baugut between 1713 and 1715 to commemorate the recent plague. The Marian column in Český Krumlov 's town square was completed in 1716. At the base are statues of SS. Sebastian, Wencelaus and Vitus. It commemorates the plague of 1697. In gratitude for the end of the plague in 1680 at Maribor ,

2548-424: Was restored to Poland. The most historically important site in Rydzyna is Rydzyna Castle , formerly the residence of king Stanisław I and the Sułkowski princes. The castle in Rydzyna was built at the beginning of 15th century by Jan of Czernina. At the end of the 17th century, Italian architects Joseph Simon Bellotti and Pompeo Ferrari erected the present Baroque castle on its ancient foundations. The first owners of

2600-467: Was the longest living Polish king. Originally buried in the Church of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours, Nancy , following the French Revolution his remains were brought back to Poland and buried in the royal tomb of the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków . His wife also suffered many miscarriages. Loosely based on an incident of King Stanisław's life are the play Le faux Stanislas written by the Frenchman Alexandre Vincent Pineu-Duval in 1808, transformed into

2652-452: Was transported to Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore and crowned with a bronze statue of the Virgin and Child made by Domenico Ferri. In a papal bull from the year of its installation, the pope decreed an indulgence for those who uttered a prayer to the Virgin while saluting the column. Within decades it served as a model for many columns in Italy and other European countries. The basic model which inspired building most Holy Trinity columns

SECTION 50

#1732783829282

2704-440: Was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania , and at various times Prince of Deux-Ponts , Duke of Bar and Duke of Lorraine . During the Great Northern War , multiple candidates had emerged after the death of John III Sobieski for the elective kingship of Poland (which also included the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth ). Backed by powerful neighbors in Russia and Austria ,

#281718