Stanislaus

Stanislaus [LEszczvNsKI] (1677-1766), king of Poland, born at Lemberg in 1677, was the son of Rafael Leszczynski, palatine of Posen, and Anne Catherine Jablonowska. married Catherine Opalinska by whom he had one daughter. In 1697, as cupbearer of Poland, he signed the confirmation of the articles of election of Augustus II. In 1703 he joined the Lithuanian Confederacy, which the Sapiehas with the aid of Swedish gold had formed again: Augustus, and in the following year was selected by Charles XII. to supersede Augustus. Leszczynski was a young man of blameless antecedents, respectable talents, and ancient family, but certainly without sufficient force of character or political influence to sustain himself on so unstable a throne. Nevertheless, with the assistance of a bribing fund and an army corps the Swedes succeeded in procuring his election by a scratch assembly of half a dozen castellans and a few score of gentlemen (July 2, 1704). A few months later Stanislaus was forced by a sudden inroad of Augustus to seek refuge in the Swedish camp, but finally on the 24th of September 1705 he was crowned king with great splendour, Charles himself supplying his nominee with a new crown and sceptre in lieu of the ancient regalia which had been carried off to Saxony by Augustus. The first act of the new king was to conclude an alliance with Charles XII. whereby Poland engaged to assist Sweden against the tsar. Stanislaus did what he could to assist his patron. Thus he induced Mazeppa the Cossack hetman to desert Peter at the most critical period of the war, and placed a small army corps at the disposal of the Swedes. But he depended so entirely upon the success of Charles's arms that after Poltava (1709) his authority vanished as a dream at the first touch of reality. The vast majority of the Poles hastened to repudiate him and make their peace with Augustus, and Leszczynski, henceforth a mere pensioner of Charles XII., accompanied Krassau's army corps in its retreat to Swedish Pomerania. On the restoration of Augustus, Stanislaus resigned the Polish Crown (though he retained the royal title) in exchange for the little principality of Zweibri cken. In 1716 he was saved from assassination at the hands of a Saxon officer, Lacroix, by Stanislaus Poniatowski, the father of the future king. He now resided at Weissenburg in Lorraine, and in 1725 had the satisfaction of seeing his daughter Mary become the consort of Louis XV. and queen of France. His son-in-law supported his claims to the Polish throne after the death of Augustus II. in 1733, which led to the war of the Polish Succession. On the 9th of September 1733 Stanislaus himself arrived at Warsaw, having travelled night and day through central Europe disguised as a coachman, and on the following day, despite many protests, was duly elected king of Poland for the second time. But Russia, opposed to any nominee of France and Sweden, at once protested against his election; declared in favour of the new elector of Saxony, as being the candidate of her Austrian ally; and on the 30th of June 1 734 a Russian army of 20,000 under Peter Lacey, after proclaiming Augustus III. at Warsaw, proceeded to besiege Stanislaus in Danzig where he had intrenched himself with his partisans (including the primate and the French and Swedish ministers) to await the promised succour from France. The siege began in October 1734. On the 17th of March 1735 Marshal Miinnich superseded Lacey, and on the 10th of May the long expected French fleet appeared in the roads and disembarked 2400 men. A week after its arrival this little army gallantly attempted to force the Russian intrenchments, but was beaten off and finally compelled to surrender. This, by the way, was the first time France and Russia met as foes in the field. On the 30th of June 1 735 Danzig capitulated unconditionally, after sustaining a siege of 135 days which cost the Russians 8000 men. Stanislaus, disguised as a peasant, had contrived to escape two days before. He was first heard of again at Konigsberg, whence he issued a manifesto to his partisans which resulted in the formation of a confederation on his behalf, and the despatch of a Polish envoy to Paris to urge France to invade Saxony with at least 40,000 men. In the Ukraine too, Count Nicholas Potocki kept on foot to support Stanislaus a motley host of 50,000 men, which was ultimately scattered by the Russians. In 1736 Stanislaus again abdicated the throne, but received by way of compensation the dukedom of Lorraine and Bar, which was to revert to France on his death. He settled at Luneville, founded there the Academia Stanislai, and devoted himself for the rest of his life to science and philanthropy. He died in 1766 at the age of 89. Among his works may be mentioned: Ouvres du philosophe bienfaisant  (Paris, 1763; 1866).

See Robert Nisbet Bain, Charles XII. (London, 1895); ibid., Pupils of Peter the Great, cap. vi. (London, 1897); Czarnowski (Jan Nepomucen), Stanislaw Leszczynski in Poland (Pol.; Warsaw, 1858); Louis Lacroix, Les Opuscules inedites de S. L. (Nancy, 1866); Lettres inedites de S. L., ed. P. Boye (Paris, 1901); Marchioness Des Reaulx, Le Roi Stanislas et Marie Leszczynski (Paris, 1895). (R. N. B.)