Jakub Uchański (1502–81), of Radwan coat of arms, was a Polish clergyman and statesman, archbishop of Gniezno and primate of Poland from 1562 to 1581, interrex from 1572 to 1573 and from 1574 to 1575.

Biography

He began his service at the royal court as a secretary and administrator of the lands of Queen of Poland Bona Sforza. With her support he received the position of the ecclesiastical Crown Referendary, and several canonries. He became the bishop of Chełm in 1551, bishop of Włocławek in 1561 (chosen in 1557), and archbishop of Gniezno and primate of Poland in 1562. He was a close advisor to King Sigismund II Augustus, and supported many of his plans, including the one to divorce Catherine of Austria. He threw his weight behind the pro- reform camp, and was actively involved in bringing about the transformation of the Polish–Lithuanian union into the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He represented King Sigismund II Augustus in negotiations with Lithuanian magnates in Vilna, and he took part in the Lithuanian

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

in Bielsk Podlaski of 1564. He looked favorably on the idea of creating a Polish national church, though he stopped short at breaking away from Rome. He also supported dialogue with

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

s, advocating

religious tolerance Religious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, ...

. For his liberal religious views he was scorned in Vatican and was briefly excommunicated in 1558 by Pope Paul IV

who suspected him of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

. Uchański was even summoned before the Roman Inquisition; however, he refused the summons to Rome and the conflict was solved via diplomacy. Uchański, while supportive of the Protestants and tolerance, never abandoned Catholic faith and during the dynasty change the 1570s insisted on the election of the monarchs. Even though his stance towards Protestants was quite liberal, he was a political opponent of

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

Marshal of the Crown Jan Firlej, especially during the political crises of the 1570s, when Uchański tried to exclude the lesser nobles (members of the

) from the decision-making processes and rely solely on the Senate of Poland (Firlej also wanted to elect a Protestant king to the Polish throne). After the death of Sigismund II Augustus, last of the Jagiellon dynasty, he became the interrex until Henry of Valois was elected as the first king of the new Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. After Henry's sudden return to France, Uchański once again took the position of the interrex, until Anna Jagiellon became the queen of Poland. In 1575 he joined the pro- Habsburg camp and together with some other Polish senators he proclaimed Emperor Maximilian II to be the king of Poland, however due to opposition from many other Polish nobles ('' szlachta'') Maximilian lost, and Stephen Báthory was eventually to become the king of Poland. He was also a translator and a protector of many liberal thinkers of the Polish renaissance, including Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski and Jakub Wujek.

Uchański lineage

Since his consecrator is unknown and some of the bishops alive today traced (erroneously as it could be shown later) their episcopal lineage back to him, the person of Jakub Uchański was very important for the history of the Catholic Church. This so-called Uchański lineage includes many members of the Polish episcopate and Pope Pius X. In 2007, it became clear that Uchanski was never part of this succession line. Its roots can be traced back to bishop Claudio Rangoni, who was bishop of

Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...

between 1592 and 1621. He worked as Apostolic Nuncio to Poland from 1598 to 1607.Prokop, Krzysztof Rafał: Sukcesja święceń biskupich pastrzy Kościoła Legnickiego. Szkice Legnickie, XXVIII (2007), 317-28 Claudio Rangoni belongs to the Rebiba lineage, so the part of Uchański-lineage up of Claudio Rangoni is a branch of the Rebiba lineage.

References

External links

Virtual tour Gniezno Cathedral

List of Primates of Poland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uchanski, Jakub Ecclesiastical senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Archbishops of Gniezno Polish interreges 16th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests 16th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1502 births 1581 deaths People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Apostolic nuncios to Poland