The Struggle of the Towianski Family Over the Inheritance Following the Death of Cardinal Michał Stefan Radziejowski in 1705

After the death of the Primate of Poland, Michał Stefan Radziejowski, in 1705, the members of Towiański family became involved in court proceedings, which continued until the 1720s, concerning the deceased's inheritance and settlements with legacies. The reason was to make Katarzyna Konstancja née Niszczycka Towiańska, the voivode of Łęczyca, the depositary of movable and immovable goods, and the one responsible for paying sums and issuing legacies mainly to monasteries and chapters – Łowicz, Uniejów and Gniezno. The Towiańskis were forced to cede some of the estates of the deceased hierarch to people related to him, including: the Radziejów estate for the Prażmowski family and the Kryłów estate for the Izbiński family. Both the first and second circumstances involved the Towiański family in long court battles. They resulted from a rather literal treatment of the provisions on taking over all goods, as well as the reluctance to regulate payments to clergy due to either the loss of funds or their lack of coverage in the deceased’s treasury. A very important problem was also the import of a silver altar set, ordered by Radziejowski from the workshop of Guillaume Jacob. The work presents court proceedings pending before the Crown Tribunal and the case of bringing the mentioned altar set to Gniezno

Altar · Clan · Estate · Family life · Central European Literary Studies · Historical and Cultural Studies of Poland · Medieval European History and Architecture