Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz

Jan Chodkiewicz
Coat of arms	Kościesza odm.Chodkiewicz
Consort	Krystyna Zborowska
Issue Hieronim, Aleksander Jan Karol, Anna, Zofia Elzbieta, Aleksandra
Noble family	Chodkiewicz
Father	Hieronim Chodkiewicz
Mother	Anna Szemetówna
Born	1537
Died	August 4, 1579(1579-08-04) Vilnius

Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz (Ivan Hieronimovich) (1537–1579) Grand Pantler of Lithuania 1559, general starost of Samogitia 1563, Elder of Samogitia 1564, starost of Telšiai and Plateliai 1566, Livonia Hetman and governor, Grand Marshal of Lithuania 1566, Kaunas starost 1569, Count on Szkłów 1568, Vilnius castellan 1574.

Biography

He was one of the most famous Lithuanian magnates of the 16th century. Raised a Calvinist he studied at the universities of Königsberg, Leipzig and Wittenberg, and entered in the service of Emperor Charles V from 1552 to 1555. After that he entered the service of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. In 1558 Jan Chodkiewicz was made Livonia Hetman and sent to defend Livonia against Tsar Ivan IV 'the Terrible' who was trying to enforce a passage to the Baltic Sea. With the help of Michael Radziwill, Great Chancellor of Lithuania, he succeeded in attaching Livonia to Lithuania. But this territory remained for long the main target of Russian attacks. In 1564 he became Elder of Samogitia, in 1566 Grand Marshal of Lithuania and governor of Livonia (1566–78, with headquarter at Sigulda near Riga), and in 1574 Castellan of Vilnius.

As his uncle he was a strong opponent to the Union of Lithuania with Poland. King Zygmunt August in 1569 he succeeded formally to found one integrated state instead of a loose Polish-Lithuanian federation. The Lithuanian delegation to the meetings preparing the Act of Union was led by Jan, who insisted in a long impassioned speech on the equality and independence of the two nations. Finally "bowing to the king's power, he pointed out those parts of the Act of Union which were unacceptable to Lithuania and he stated that he yielded to the King's will only with the deepest sorrow". In practice the Union of Lublin in 1589 made sure that the Grand Dutchy of Lithuania retained its own form of government and separate laws until the end of the joint state in 1795.

In 1570 Jan Hieronimowicz converted to Catholicism and became a great benefactor of the Jesuits.

He married the Calvinist Krystyna Zborowska before 1559 in Crakow, daughter of Marcin Zborowski, Cracow castellan, and Anna Konarska. She remained Calvinist despite his conversion and raised some of their daughters in that religion despite their father's will. They had issue: Hieronim was born at Vilnius in 1559; Aleksander at Trakai in 1560; Jan Karol at Vilnius in 1560-61; Anna at Vilnius in 1562; Zofia at Vilnius in 1564, Elzbieta at Vilnius in 1568; and Aleksandra at Vilnius in 1576.

He died 4 August 1579, and was buried in Vilnius Cathedral.

Ancestry

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Anna of Riazan

Fyodor Bielski

Chodko Jurewicz

Jaroslav Hołwczyński

Jawnuta Bielska

Ivan Chodkiewicz

Elzbieta Hlebowiczówna

Melchior Szemet

Wasylissa Hołowczyńska

Aleksander Chodkiewicz

Anna Szemetówna

Hieronim Chodkiewicz

Ivan Hieronimowicz

Vilnius Cathedral, place of Ivans` burial

See also

• House of Chodkiewicz
• Lithuanian nobility
• Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Sources

Danuta Bogdan, Students of the Republic at the University of Königsberg, in Królewice and Poland, Olsztyn 1993, p 82.

Leszek Kieniewicz the Senate for the Stefan Batory Foundation, Warsaw 2000, p 299.

Joseph Janowski: Jan Chodkiewicz Hieronimowicz. In: Polish Biographical Dictionary . T. 3: Brozek Jan - Chwalczewski Francis. Cracow : Polish Academy of Learning - Main Ingredients in bookstores Gebethner and Wolff , 1937, pp. 361-363. Reprint: Department of National Theatre. Ossolińskich , Kraków 1989, ISBN 8304032910.

External links

• Genealogy of Chodkiewicz family.
• Family tree of Chodkiewicz.
• Full interactive family tree (in Polish).