Published: 2019-02-12

The meanders of the political career of Andrzej Lipski (1572–1631). An ex-Lutheran holding the post of the bishop of Cracow

Janusz Dorobisz
Studia Oecumenica
Section: Zagadnienia historyczno-filozoficzne
DOI https://doi.org/10.25167/SOe/18/2018/367-380

Abstract

Andrzej Lipski (1572–1631) was born to a noblemen’s family of the middle rank and Lutheran denomination. He studied at Protestant (1582–1594 – Strasbourg, Heidelberg) and Catholic (1603–1605 – Rome) colleges, earning the title of Doctor of both laws (Doctor of Canon and Civil Law). Lipski’s career in the Chancellery of the Crown was sped up by his conversion to Catholicism, entering the clergy and protection of Bishop Vice-Chancellor Piotr Tylicki – an influential backer to Chancellor Jan Zamoyski. At that time Lipski belonged to the state clergy who served the King and the Kingdom of Poland and obtained revenues from benefices, the acquisition of which was easier at the Court. Zamoyski’s supporters’ leaving the elites of the Chancellor’s power in 1605, as well as Lipski’s sympathizing with the rebellion (1606–1609) caused him to be kept away from public matters as a person who was politically uncertain. During the period of the Court’s disfavour, Lipski redefined his political views and stayed a zealous royalist and also an advocate of drawing closer to the Habsburgs. Owing to Bishop Vice-Chancellor Henryk Firlej’s protection he earned trust of Queen Constance of the Habsburgs, who then became the patroness of Lipski’s further career. As a result he was appointed Bishop of Łuck in 1616, Vice-Chancellor in 1618, the Chancellor of the Crown in 1620, proving to be a declared advocate of the dynastic policy of Sigismund II Vasa, which was greatly unpopular with the nobility. Following Lipski’s promotion to the post of Bishop of Kuyavia (1623), which could not be connected with that of the Chancellor, for two years it was demanded of him – the trusted commander of the King – that he resign from the office of the Crown. Still, the ex-minister enjoyed the Court’s favours and was promoted to go to Gniezno (1626); finally, however, Lipski accepted the nomination to the post of Bishop of Cracow (1630). Lipski’s changing of his religious denomination and political views served well his career: he attained the highest honours within the structures of the state and the Church. Still, because of his difficult character, he did not enjoy a good opinion with his contemporaries; it was much better with historians, though. His career, which was full of turbulences, but most brilliant for the times, justifies only too well why the Bishop has deserved to have his biography elaborated.

Keywords:

Andrzej Lipski (1572–1631), Sigismund III Vasa, Jan Zamoyski, royalists, bishop, Chancellor of the Crown, parliamentary politics

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Citation rules

Dorobisz, J. (2019). The meanders of the political career of Andrzej Lipski (1572–1631). An ex-Lutheran holding the post of the bishop of Cracow. Studia Oecumenica, 18, 367–380. https://doi.org/10.25167/SOe/18/2018/367-380

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