REMARKS ON PERSONAGES IN "THE DELUGE."
Yan Kazimir was a son of Sigismund III., who was a son of King John ofSweden and Catherine, daughter of Sigismund I. of Poland.
John of Sweden was succeeded by his son Sigismund, who under the nameof Sigismund III. was elected King of Poland in 1587 to succeed hismother's brother, Sigismund Augustus, the last descendant of Yagyelloin the male line.
Sigismund III. was dethroned by the Swedes, and his issue excluded fromthe succession. Duke Charles, the ablest of Gustavus Vasa's sons, anduncle of Sigismund, was made king as Charles IX.
This Charles IX. was father of Gustavus Adolphus. Gustavus Adolphus wassucceeded by his only daughter, Christina, who would not marry, and whoafter reigning for a time resigned in favor of her cousin Karl Gustavof Zweibruecken,[3] son of the only sister of Gustavus Adolphus.Gustavus Vasa was therefore the great-grandfather of both Yan Kazimirand Karl Gustav, who were thus second cousins. The Polish Vasas laidclaim to the Swedish crown, thereby causing the Commonwealth duringsixty years much loss in money and men. Yan Kazimir relinquished thisclaim when he made peace with Sweden.
Before his election Yan Kazimir, being a cardinal, was dispensed fromhis vows by the Pope. Chosen king, he married Louise Marie, daughter ofthe Duke of Nevers, a woman of strong will and much beauty.
Discouraged and wearied by many wars and reverses, and more than all bythe endless dissensions of magnates, Yan Kazimir resigned the kinglyoffice in 1668, and retired to France. Being now a widower, he becameAbbot of St. Germain and St. Martin, and lived on his stipend fromthese foundations, for the Poles refused to continue his pension. Itseems, however, that he did not remain in seclusion till the end, forhe is mentioned as marrying in secret a widow who had once been alaundress. He died in 1672, remembering the world much more than theworld remembered him.
Yan Zamoyski, one of the most celebrated nobles in Polish history, wasthe grandfather of Sobiepan Zamoyski. The time of Zamoyski's successwas during the reign of Stephen Batory, who gave him more offices andpower than any citizen of the Commonwealth had ever enjoyed. Ascastellan of Cracow, he was the first among lay senators; as starostaof the same territory, he had extensive jurisdiction over criminals inLittle Poland; as hetman, he was commander of all the military forcesof the kingdom; as chancellor, he held the seals, without which noofficial act of the king had validity.
Perhaps the most notable action in Zamoyski's career as a civilianduring Batory's reign was his treatment of the Zborovskis, one of whomhe had beheaded, and another condemned to decapitation and infamy. Thehatred of the Zborovskis for Zamoyski became so intense that later onthey tried to seat their candidate, Maximilian of Austria, inopposition to Sigismund III., Zamoyski's choice and that of themajority. The Zborovski party brought their candidate to the gate ofCracow, intending to enthrone him with armed hand. Zamoyski repulsedand pursued them to Silesia, where he defeated and made Maximilianprisoner. The Austrian Archduke was held in captivity till he renouncedall claim to the throne. This is the captivity to which Sobiepan referson page 324, Vol. II.
Zamoyski had Sigismund impeached in 1592, not to condemn him, but togive him a lesson. Zamoyski's course in this affair, and his lastspeech in the Diet of 1605 are his most prominent acts during a reignin which he was first in opposition, as he had been first on the king'sside during Batory's time. Zamoyski died in 1605, alarmed, as Lelevelsays, for the future of his country.
Sobiepan Zamoyski, who conceived such a friendship for Zagloba, marriedthe daughter of Henri de la Grange, a captain in the guard of Philip,Duke of Orleans. After Zamoyski's death, his widow, a woman of greatbeauty and ambition, married Sobyeski, subsequently elected king tosucceed Michael Vishnyevetski, who is mentioned on page 253, Vol. II.
Kmita, the hero of THE DELUGE, was probably of the Kmitas of LittlePoland, and of those who inherited lands granted Poles in Lithuania andRussia after the union.
Kmitsits, which means "son of Kmita," as "starostsits" means "son of astarosta," is the name used by Sienkiewicz; but as that word wouldbaffle most English readers, I have taken Kmita, the original form ofthe family name. Kmita is mentioned in Solovyoff's Russian history asco-operating with Sapyeha and Charnyetski against Hovanski andDolgoruki; in that connection he is called Kmitich.