Lew Sapieha | |
|---|---|
| Great Hetman Grand Chancellor | |
 | |
| Coat of arms | Lis |
| Born | 4 April 1557 nearVitebsk,Grand Duchy of Lithuania (now Belarus) |
| Died | 7 July 1633(1633-07-07) (aged 76) Vilnius,Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (now Lithuania) |
| Noble family | Sapieha |
| Spouse(s) | Dorota Firlej Halaszka Radziwiłł |
| Issue | withDorota Firlej Katarzyna Sapieha Krzysztof Sapieha Jan Stanisław Sapieha Andrzej Sapieha with Halaszka Radziwiłł Anna Sapieha Krzysztof Michał Sapieha Kazimierz Leon Sapieha |
| Father | Iwan Sapieha |
| Mother | Bohdana Drucka Konopka |
Lew Sapieha (Belarusian:Леў Сапега;Lithuanian:Leonas Sapiega; 4 April 1557 – 7 July 1633) was a nobleman and statesman of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He became Great Secretary of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania in 1580, Great Clerk of the Grand Duchy in 1581,Crown Chancellor in 1585,Grand Chancellor from 1589 until 1623,Voivode of Vilnius in 1621,Great Lithuanian Hetman in 1623 andgovernor ofSlonim,Brest andMogilev.
Sapieha is considered as a great political figure of the Commonwealth. A rich and powerfulmagnate, he was known for his wisdom as a statesman, lawyer and military commander, he was one of the greatest leaders of theGrand Duchy of Lithuania at the times of the Duchy's highest cultural flourishing. He was ofRuthenian (Belarusian) ethnicity.[1][2] ModernBelarusian sources interpret his Ruthenian heritage asBelarusian.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
He was born inAstroŭna (Belarusian:Астроўна), nearVitebsk.[9] He was educated inLeipzig and worked in the royal chancellery of King of Poland and Grand Duke of LithuaniaStephen Báthory under the direction ofJan Zamoyski.
Raised Eastern Orthodox, in his youth he converted toCalvinism and founded a number of Calvinist churches in his former estates. In the 1570s, he turned toUnitarianism.[citation needed] Disillusioned by the squabbles within the Protestant camp, in 1586 he converted with his first wife toRoman Catholicism of which he became a zealous defender. After theUnion of Brest he enforced conformity on the unwilling Eastern Orthodox.[citation needed]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Lew Sapieha" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
He supported a political union withMuscovy in 1584–1600 and led thediplomatic mission to Moscow in 1600 that proposed the union totzarBoris Godunov, who declined the proposal. He also participated inwars with Muscovy under rule ofStephen Báthory and King of Poland and Grand Duke of LithuaniaSigismund III Vasa. He became an adviser of Sigismund III and supported his radical plans to take over the Muscovite throne and reclaimSmolensk by force.[10] He participated in establishing theLithuanian Tribunal in 1578.[11]
As Chancellor he was the main editor and publisher of the last version of theStatute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.[11] He laid grounds for the establishment of the Law Faculty in theUniversity of Vilnius, which was created in 1641. He was co-initiator and a participant in the military expedition to Moscow in 1618 by King of Poland and Grand Duke of LithuaniaWładysław IV.
AsSejm Marshal, he led the ordinarySejm inWarsaw from 4 October to 25 November 1582. He was a benefactor of many catholic churches in the Grand Duchy. He established the long-term power and wealth of theSapieha family.
Sapieha died on 1633 and was interred in the cellars of theChurch of St. Michael the Archangel in Vilnius, which he himself commissioned.[12] His tomb remains there to the present day and is still the largest piece of art of its kind in the territory of Lithuania.
.jpg)
![St. Michael's Church in Vilnius (1594), commissioned by Sapieha as a personal mausoleum[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aChurch_of_St._Michael_in_Vilnius02(js).jpg)
.jpg)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
