Zygmunt Unrug (1676–1732), also known as Sigismund von Unruh, was a Polish ''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

'' nobleman of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

descent who served as a royal chamberlain, ''

starosta Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands. The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...

'', and

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

during the period of

Stanisław I Leszczyński Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

and

Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...

. Charged with the crime of

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

after some of his purloined private writings were made public by his political enemies, the

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 ...

Unrug received refuge from Prussia's Frederick William I after being sentenced to death by the Polish-Lithuanian authorities in 1715. Unrug, who, remained committed to clearing his name during his period abroad, was able to secure support from the

Papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

and the Sorbonne; a decade later, the original verdict of guilt was finally rejected by the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

.Morfill, W. R. (1890)
"A Blasphemy Case in Poland in the Eighteenth Century".
''The Academy'' 38 (No. 961): pp. 240-241.

Biography

A ''

'' nobleman by birth, Unrug was born in

Międzychód Międzychód (, ) is a town in Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, the administrative seat of Międzychód County. It is located on the southern shore of the Warta river, about west of Poznań. Population is 10,844 (2010). History The town w ...

in 1676, one of the twelve children and six sons of

Gniezno Gniezno (; ; ) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County (''powiat'') ...

and

Wałcz Wałcz (pronounced ; ) is a county town in Wałcz County of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Granted city rights in 1303, Wałcz has become the administrative, industrial and cultural center of the Wałcz Lake District wi ...

'' Krzysztof Unrug (Christoph von Unrug) and his wife Bogumiła Jaskólecka. A

(member of the

Bohemian Brethren The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination, denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation o ...

), with German-Polish roots dating back to the 16th century, the privileged Zygmunt Unrug received a Polish education before attending a nearby

university at Frankfurt on the Oder, and rose to become a ''starosta'' and a royal chamberlain. Unrug was notably sent as an ambassador to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

's Frederick William I, in 1708, shortly before Stanisław's replacement by King

. The well-read and philosophically-inclined Unrug spent a considerable amount of his time poring over the works of various writers and setting down his own ideas privately. Purloined from Unrug's closet, these notes fell into the hands of another nobleman, Andrzej Potockia political enemy who had earlier stood opposite Unrug during the earlier conflict between

and

. With Potocki's uproar about allegedly

blasphemous Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

passages in Unrug's collection of notes, the matter quickly became an affair for the Polish-Lithuanian tribunal at Piotrków. The deliberations carried out at the tribunal returned a verdict confirming Unrug's guilt for the alleged blasphemy. Unrug's insistent protestations of innocence were disregarded; the tribunal ordered the confiscation of Unrug's property (some of it going to Potocki), as well as the burning of the offending notebookwhile Unrug himself was sentenced to death by burning after having his tongue torn out and his right hand cut off.Pollard, Albert Frederick (1892)
''The Jesuits in Poland: The Lothian Essay''.
Oxford Prize Essays. Oxford: B. H. Blackwell; London: Methuen and Co. p. 92. Unrug's timely escape rendered the full execution of the sentence impossible, as Protestant monarch Frederick William granted Unrug his protection in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Unrug remained committed to clearing his name during his period abroad. Already supported by Protestants, he was able to secure support from the highest

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

authority, the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, who rejected the original ruling on the basis of the incompetence of the court, as well as from the influential scholars at the Sorbonne, who also rejected the Piotrków verdict. The original sentence was finally rescinded by the

in 1726, which ordered that the property earlier seized from Unrug be returned to him. Zygmunt Unrug died in 1732. Unrug's life and the nature of his historic blasphemy case was documented by influential Polish writer Aleksander Kraushar (Alexander Kraushar) in his two-volume ''Sprawa Zygmunta Unruga: epizod historyczny z czasów saskich, 1715-1740'', first published 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 ...

(

Austrian Poland The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia in Eastern Europe. The crown land was established ...

) in 1890.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unrug, Zygmunt 1676 births 1732 deaths People charged with blasphemy Polish diplomats Polish expatriates in Germany 17th-century Polish nobility Polish people of German descent Polish Protestants 18th-century Polish nobility

Biography

Further reading

References