Radziwiłł family

Radziwiłł family, an important Polish–Lithuanian princely family that played a significant role in Polish–Lithuanian history.

Prince Mikołaj I (d. 1509) started a long line of Radziwiłł palatines of Wilno (Vilnius) when he was named to that post in 1492; he was chancellor of Lithuania at the same time. His son Mikołaj II (1470–1522) succeeded him in both offices; an advocate of closer ties between Lithuania and Poland, he was made a prince of the Holy Roman Empire by Maximilian I, who hoped to make him change his policy. Of Mikołaj II’s three brothers, Jerzy (1480–1541) became hetman of Lithuania in 1531, Jan Mikołaj (d. 1522) was castellan of Troki, and Wojciech (1478–1519) was bishop of Wilno. Jerzy’s daughter Barbara (1520–51) became mistress and then queen to King Sigismund II Augustus of Poland, thus greatly enhancing the family’s position in Lithuania.

Mikołaj the Black (1515–65), son of Jan Mikołaj, was marshal of Lithuania from 1544, chancellor of Lithuania from 1550, and palatine of Wilno from 1551. An opponent of political union with Poland, he became the first of several Radziwiłł Calvinists to promote the Reformation in Poland and Lithuania, others being Mikołaj the Red (1512–84), who was Barbara’s brother; Mikołaj the Red’s sons; two of his grandsons; and their sons Janusz (1612–55) and Bogusław (1620–69), the last of the Radziwiłł Calvinists, who sought to realign Lithuania with Protestant Sweden. The descendants of Mikołaj the Black returned to Roman Catholicism and supported Poland’s Counter-Reformation policies.

In the 18th century, Radziwiłł palatines, chancellors, and hetmany consistently supported the Saxon dynasty in its battles to keep or regain the Polish throne. Radziwiłłs continued to play important roles in Polish history into the 20th century. One of the best known was Janusz Radziwiłł (1880–1967), politician and chief of the Polish aristocracy.