Jan Boner (before 1463–1523), also known as Hans Boner, was a German naturalised Polish merchant and banker. He was one of the wealthiest people of his time in Europe. Born before 1463 in

Landau Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...

in Palatinate, early in his life he started a merchant business in Breslau. In 1483 he settled in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, in Poland. A wealthy merchant and tradesman dealing with spices, metals, timbers, livestock, etc., he opened branch offices of his firm in many towns of Poland, Germany, Russia and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. In 1498, he was elected to the Town's Charter, and in 1514, he was granted citizenship by King

Sigismund I of Poland Sigismund I the Old (, ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV and younger brother of Kings ...

, who granted him with a noble status. As the king's banker and main purveyor to the royal court, Boner became one of the wealthiest men in Europe of his times.History of the palace in Balice
/ref> Among other deeds, he was able to recover the royal treasury from the verge of bankruptcy, having strengthened it with roughly 200,000

Red złoty Red złoty (; also known as Polish ducats or Florin (Italian coin), florins) refers to circulating gold coins minted in the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland (later, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth) from 1526 to 1831. Whereas ...

, an incredible sum for 15th century standards. He bought off the Royal properties for debts, among them the entire area of Spisz (for 12,000

from Jordan of Zakliczyn), the town of

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

and

Ruthenia ''Ruthenia'' is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin, as one of several terms for Rus'. Originally, the term ''Rus' land'' referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine. ''Ruthenia' ...

n salt mines (for 14,000 Red złoty from Stanisław Kościelski) and a number of royal towns (including

Sieradz Sieradz (,) is a city on the Warta river in central Poland with 40,891 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of the Sieradz County, situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Sieradz is a capital of the historical Sieradz Land. Sieradz is one of the olde ...

Gostynin Gostynin is a town in central Poland with 19,414 inhabitants (2004). It is the capital of Gostynin County in the Masovian Voivodship. History Gostynin has a long and rich history, which dates back to the early Middle Ages. In the 6th century, a ...

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship. Radom is the fifteenth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in its province w ...

Sochaczew Sochaczew () is a town in central Poland, with 33,456 inhabitants (as of 2023). In the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), formerly in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Sochaczew County and is located approximately west ...

, Piotrków,

Drohobycz Drohobych ( ; ; ) is a city in the south of Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 1939–1941 and 1944–1959 it was ...

Rabsztyn Rabsztyn is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Olkusz, within Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately north-east of Olkusz and north-west of the regional capital Kraków. It is home to ...

, Głuchów,

Tuchola Tuchola (; ) is a town in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in northern Poland. The Pomeranian town, which is the seat of Tuchola County, had a population of 13,418 . Geographical location Tuchola lies about north of Bydgoszcz, close to th ...

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the Beskid S ...

Inowrocław Inowrocław (; , ) is a city in central Poland with a total population of 68,101 (as of December 2022). It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is one of the largest and most historically significant cities within the historic re ...

and others). In 1515, he became the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of the

Wieliczka Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of P ...

salt mine, one of the most profitable enterprises of the epoch, from which a large part of the Poland's income was drawn. He also received the castles of

Ojców Ojców is a village in Gmina Skała, in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is one of the sights of the Eagle Nests Trail (''Szlak Orlich Gniazd''), as there are the ruins of a gothic castle near the village. The v ...

and Rabsztyn as his private property. In 1522, he also became the royal governor of

. Among his most notable successes was a division of the treasury between state and royal treasuries, an arrangement that survived until the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

in the late 18th century. He served as financier to the

King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

, and acted as a representative for handling money paid to buy

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission bef ...

s in Poland. He was a patron of German and Italian scholars and artists. He died in 1523 in Breslau, during a business trip. He is featured in

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 ...

's painting The Hanging of the Sigismund Bell.

Notes and references

::In-line: ::General: #
Biography of Jan Boner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boner, Hans 15th-century births 1523 deaths People from Landau Merchants from the Holy Roman Empire Bankers from the Holy Roman Empire German bankers Polish bankers Businesspeople from Kraków Emigrants from the Holy Roman Empire Immigrants to Poland 16th-century Polish businesspeople