Wojciech Jastrzębiec – faworyt króla Władysława Jagiełły

Abstract

Owing to king Władysław Jagiełło’s favour, Wojciech Jastrzębiec was granted a string of church offices and state positions. He began his career in the chancery of queen Jadwiga, then he became a bishop of Poznań (1399), which granted him entry to the royal council. Subsequently, due to a plot against Piotr Wysz, he assumed after him the episcopacy of Kraków (1412). At the same time, after Mikołaj Trąba was deposed from the royal chancery, he became its chief by assuming the office of the chancellor. During the following eight years he was the closest advisor of the king, his favourite. He exerted a great influence upon the internal and the external policy of the Kingdom of Poland. Wojciech Jastrzębiec’s political position declined in 1420 due to an unfavourable verdict which was issued by king Zygmunt Luksemburski in the Polish‑Teutonic dispute. Jagiełło accused the chancellor that he allegedly failed to fulfil his command even during the session in Koszyce in 1419, which was supposed to affect the subsequent Wrocław verdict. Due to the fact that the chancellor did not want to assume responsibility for the failure of the royal policy, in 1423 Jagiełło brought about a situation in which he was stripped of the chancellorship and the Kraków archiepiscopate, and then his transfer to the archbishopric of Gniezno, which constituted an apparent promotion because in reality it entailed a loss of influence in the sphere of the monarch.