The Strange History of Stanisław Leszczyński: The Two-Time King Who Abdicated the Throne Twice

portrait_of_stanislaw_i_leszczynski.jpg, default, Portrait of Stanisław I Leszczyński, Jean-Baptiste van Loo, 1727–1728, photo: Wikimedia Commons

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When the Russian army besieged the Polish city of Gdańsk on 27th June 1734, a man dressed in peasant clothing fled the city. But this was no ordinary man. It was Stanisław I, King of Poland. He was fleeing Poland for the second time. His escape led to his second abdication of the Polish-Lithuanian throne. However, his story did not end there. Despite leaving Gdańsk dressed as a peasant, he managed to stitch together his tattered legacy in France.

Stanisław Leszczyński was born on 20th October 1677 in Lviv, Ukraine, which then was part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was born into a family of magnates and was homeschooled by an army of teachers for the majority of his life. They helped Leszczyński master such languages as Latin, Italian, German, and French. However, when Poland was under the Catholic rule of Jan Sobieski III, Stanisław attended a Protestant Middle School. His parents also took an active role in widening his worldview by sending him to Italy, France, Netherlands, and Germany. During those youthful travels, he met prominent figures – even Pope Innocent XII.

Political roots

When Leszczyński reached adulthood, his father acquainted him with the world of politics, a natural step since Leszczyński came from a political family. His mother was the daughter of Stanisław Jabłoński, who held the top military position in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. His father held many political offices in his life, such as the Voivode of Poznań and the Crown Treasurer and Starost of Greater Poland. Rafał Leszczyński, his father, was even a member in numerous Polish Seyms and previously served as their marshal. Rafał’s close relationship with King Jan Sobieski III launched Stanisław Leszczyński’s political career, and in 1696 the king appointed him the Starost of Odolanów. Leszczyński then quickly rose through the ranks, even participating in the Election Seym of 1697 after Jan Sobieski III’s death the year before.

In that election, the Leszczyński father-son combination had to vote for either Francis Bourbon, who was the Prince of Conti, or Augustus the Strong, the Elector of Saxony. They decided that Augustus would strengthen the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. But on 27th June 1697, the Seym devolved into chaos. Augustus II the Strong was known for his strength – being known for having the ability to break a horseshoe with his bare hands – but despite his physique, his claim to the throne was rather weak, and the nobility overwhelmingly voted for Bourbon. In a turn of events, on that very same night, a small group of nobility members changed their minds after being bribed by Augustus supporters, thus proclaiming Augustus the Strong as King of Poland.

Augustus the Strong literally marched into power. He led a Saxon army into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to seize the throne before Francis Bourbon could sail in from France. On 15th September 1697, Augustus the Strong was crowned Augustus II, King of Poland, by the Bishop of Kujawy, Stanisław Dąmbski, who was known for organizing the bribing of nobility members to support Augustus II. Augustus II was quite the fitting name for a man who seized the throne despite receiving the second-greatest number of votes. A few weeks later, Francis Bourbon arrived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but seeing the tides of change in Poland’s political system, he returned home.

Thumbnail — A portrait of August II the Strong on a white horse, entitled 'Equestrian portrait of August II the Strong', Louis de Silvestre, 1718, photo: Wikimedia Commons

Augustus II and Leszczyński’s relationship fortified after Leszczyński supported Augustus in the Election Seym. Augustus II named Leszczyński the Voivode of Poznań in 1699, which secured the latter a place in the Senate. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before their relationship faltered. In 1700, Augustus formed an alliance with Peter I, the Russian Czar, and the Danish King Fryderyk IV against the Swedish King Charles XII to regain the territories they had previously lost to Sweden. But Augustus II had an ulterior motive: he wanted to regain the old German land of Livonia, not for the commonwealth, but to strengthen his family’s dynasty. This plan shifted toward reality when The Great Northern War started in 1700.

A disagreement between father & son

Leszczyński’s father disagreed with Augustus the Strong’s plan. Rafał did not see how going to war against King Charles XII would benefit the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This was a time, he thought, when the commonwealth should harmonise. Unfortunately, Rafał’s pleas fell on deaf ears, and feeling threatened by Augustus II, he went into hiding in Silesia, where he died in 1703.

Charles XII quickly defeated Peter I and Fryderyk IV. Fryderyk IV signed a truce in Travendal on 19th August 1700, while Peter I also made peace in Narwa on 30th November 1700. Augustus II remained, but a bigger question loomed: how could Charles XII eclipse Augustus’s reign as king? The Swedish king wanted to avoid the reenergized Peter I and Fryderyk IV fighting him again, so he had to come up with a plan to have Augustus II overthrown. Charles XII went deep into his deck and pulled out his trump card. That card involved the Sobieski family, which would lead to Stanisław Leszczyński being planted onto the Polish throne.

Leszczyński was a co-founder of the Greater Polish Confederation, which was a group of powerful people – including the Sobieski family – who resisted Augustus II. Since he represented the confederation, Leszczyński eventually met Charles XII, and they agreed Leszczyński would take over the throne. Once accomplished, he would pass it off to Jakub Sobieski, the son of Jan Sobieski III who was jailed because Augustus thought he wanted to overthrow him.

On 12th July 1704, an Election Seym in Warsaw convened in a Swedish military camp, where eight hundred nobility members elected Stanisław Leszczyński as the King of Poland. But Leszczyński was not officially the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as the Primate Michał Radziejowski would have to proclaim him so. Augustus the Strong would not give up his throne and aligned with Russia to fight back against Charles XII. In the fall of 1705, Augustus saw defeat returning to Saxony. On 4th October 1705, Leszczyński was officially crowned King Stanisław I, and eventually Augustus the Strong relinquished the throne.

The first abdication

Stanisław I’s reign as King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was short-lived. Not because of his previous guarantee to return the throne to Jakub Sobieski, because Stanisław I retracted his word. Stanisław I’s military disagreed with Charles XII’s plan to make Ukraine independent from Russia, as most of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth preferred neutrality. On 8th July 1709, Charles XII lost to Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava. Augustus II, who had formed an alliance with Russia, seized the opportunity to make his way back to Poland. Nobles lost their confidence in Stanisław I because of his support of Charles XII in the attack, and he went to live with his family in Kristianstad, Sweden. On 5th December 1712, he signed the throne over to Augustus the Strong in return for a lifetime salary of 150,000 thalers, or silver coins.

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Night View of Place Stanislas in Nancy, photo: Nicolas Cornet / CC-by-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons

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Charles XII invalidated Leszczyński’s agreement to relinquish the Polish throne as soon as he found out about it. Charles XII and Leszczyński then assembled a plan to regain the Polish throne. It would be set in motion after Leszczyński would send money to his contacts in Warsaw, who would start riots against Augustus II. Suddenly, during the riots, Leszczyński would appear as Poland’s knight in shining armour, leading a gigantic army of thousands of Tatars, Turkish troops, and Swedish dragoons. The rioters would then join Leszczyński’s army. Turkey would declare Leszczyński King of Poland, and Leszczyński would offer Ukraine to Turkey. But Turkey backed out as it wanted to avoid a potential war with Russia, and Leszczyński abandoned the plan.

In May of 1714, Leszczyński left Bendery, where he had lived for the past two years. He could no longer bridge the gap between himself and the Polish throne. Charles XII gave him a parting gift: the Duchy of Two Bridges in Germany. In his new position as duke, Leszczyński continued his attempt to regain the Polish throne by forming an army consisting of his citizens. At the same time, while Leszczyński was out of power, he was accumulating enemies. A former French soldier by the name of Lacroix tried recruiting someone to kidnap and kill Leszczyński, but the planned co-conspirator informed a Polish military commander before the plot could be executed. Another Saxon agent planned on giving Leszczyński a poisoned pipe, but he fled once his plan was revealed. When Charles XII died on the battlefield at the end of 1718, Leszczyński lost the Duchy of Two Bridges.

A move to France

Leszczyński became restless. He moved with his family to France after Charles XII’s death. He begged for money and eventually received a loan from the Prince of Lorraine and most of the pay that Charles XII promised him when he was still alive.

Leszczyński’s fortunes changed when he and his wife began looking for a royal suitor for their daughter Maria. The Leszczyńskis bumbled until the First Minister of France, Ludwig Henry Bourbon, and his mistress, Madame De Prie, set up Maria with the King of France, Ludwig XV. The Leszczyńskis sent Maria to Versailles to be taught to act like a proper lady. On 15 August 1725, Ludwig XV married Maria Leszczyńska.

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Château de Lunéville, 2012, photo: Pierre Selim / CC by-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons

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With this new connection, Leszczyński tried to meddle in France’s politics. The First Minister of France, however, was not amused and convinced Ludwig XV to move Leszczyński to his Château of Chambord. Since Leszczyński did not know many French policymakers, he was reduced to the role of Ludwig XV’s royal cheerleader – getting paid by Ludwig XV to host social events for France’s nobility.

When Augustus II died on 1st February 1733, Leszczyński tried regaining Poland’s throne with the support of King Ludwig XV. The French Ambassador Monti organized Leszczyński’s campaign for the upcoming Election Seym. However, Augustus II’s son, Frederick Augustus II, was also a contender for the throne. Frederick Augustus II had the backing of Russia and Austria, but not the backing of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as he was a foreign candidate. But Leszczyński prevailed: on 12th September 1733, Stanisław I was crowned King of Poland for the second time.

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The Arc Héré ('Héré Arch') at the Place Stanislas ('Stanislas Square'), photo: Davide Seddio / Getty Images

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It had taken him twenty years to regain the Polish throne. But this reign, like the first, was only temporary. Russia had already assembled an army to march into Poland. On 22nd September, fearing for his life, Stanisław I fled from Warsaw to Gdańsk, where he waited for the support of French troops. On 5th October 1733, another election was quickly held, and a small group of nobility voted for Frederick Augustus II to become the King of Poland, titled Augustus III. This was yet another illegal election, as the election results were not proclaimed by the Primate of Poland. A Russian and Saxon army later took over Gdańsk by defeating a small army of French soldiers, and Stanisław I fled. He escaped dressed as a peasant, ending up in the Prussian land of Kwidzyn on 27th June 1734.

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France, Lorraine, Nancy, Place Stanislas, fountain, photo: Tibor Bognar / Getty Images

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The second abdication

All this tumult took place during The War of Polish Succession, between 1733 and 1735. France and Spain battled Russia and Austria to determine whether Stanisław I or Augustus III son would be King of Poland. On 27th January 1736, after moving around outside Polish territories, Leszczyński abdicated the Polish crown for the second time and Augustus III officially became the King of Poland. When The Treaty of Vienna was officially finalized to end the war, Ludwig XV received The Duchy of Bar and Lorraine, which he gave to Stanisław Leszczyński to serve as Duke.

Leszczyński would never be king again. His time in Gdańsk ended in a fitting way, as he fled Poland dressed as a peasant. That clothing ended up representing his vision in France. Leszczyński spent the rest of his time in France stitching up his legacy: he became a charitable man, donated his silver tableware to the French mint to raise money for the Duchy of Lorraine’s taxes, and annually donated 3,600 livres for healthcare to expectant mothers and to the sick not admitted to hospitals. Leszczyński also built a lasting mark, as he created a public square in Nancy. The Royal College of Physicians, theatres, concert halls, and bookshops were all built on the square.

Leszczyński also wrote considering the peasants’ perspectives. In the 1730s or 1740s he published A Free Voice of Insuring Freedom, which was about proposed political reforms in Poland. He wrote in opposition to serfdom, as he believed in the personal freedom of Polish peasants. They should no longer have to stay working at a landowner’s estate, he claimed, as they had freedom to move and could finally sue their landowners in independent courts.

Sadly, Leszczyński’s chances of ever returning to Poland went up in flames. At the age of 88, he died as the oldest living Polish King. He did not die by execution, like other famous monarchs, but while simply relaxing inside his palace in Lunéville, France. On 5th February 1766, while Stanisław was sitting in his chair near the fireplace, attempting to light his pipe in it, he leaned in too close and his clothes caught fire. He suffered burns to his face, left hand, stomach, and legs. The two-time Polish monarch fought valiantly, but his life’s arc had come to its end. On 23rd February, King Stanisław I died.

He was buried at Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours in Nancy, France. In 1793, during the French Revolution, a mob desecrated Stanisław I’s corpse. They cut off his head and paraded it around the city. Stanisław I’s corpse then disappeared until 1803, when it was recovered by the King’s former courtier, Mikołaj Krantz. Krantz stated that Stanisław I’s corpse was desecrated again before Nancy’s government reburied him. On 7th March 1803, Stanisław I’s corpse was reburied. According to eyewitness accounts, the recovery of the king’s body led some Nancy residents to tear relics from his body. Nancy’s government requested the return of the stolen remains, but not all were recovered. In 1806, the royal mausoleum returned to its place, and Stanisław I’s crypt was sealed.

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The fireplace incident, drawing by Ksawery Pilati from the 19th century, photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Recovering the remains of Stanisław I

In 1813 and 1814, General Michał Sokolnicki stopped in to recover as much of Stanisław I as possible to make a return to Poland. Sokolnicki could not access the king’s bones since his crypt was sealed, so he relied on Nancy’s residents, who had hidden relics of the king. Sokolnicki recovered Stanisław I’s finger, lower jaw, and part of his internal organs. In 1814, General Sokolnicki returned to Poland. He planned on keeping King Stanisław I’s ‘intestines’ (part of his abdomen and stomach) in Poznań. Stanisław I’s lower jaw would be given to Wawel while his finger would go to Puławy.

Poland’s press questioned the authenticity of the remains. Controversy stemmed from some Polish newspapers incorrectly stating that Sokolnicki returned with King Stanisław I’s corpse. Rumours also previously spread in Lorraine that Sokolnicki only purchased part of Stanisław I’s remains from Leopold Lamarche, who took part in the desecration of kings’ graves during the French Revolution. Sokolnicki published documents stating the authenticity of King Stanisław I’s remains. These documents were verified by the Prefect of the Warsaw Department. Sokolnicki died in 1816. In 1828, his nephew, Piotr Sokolnicki, donated the coffin containing the remains brought to Poland by his uncle to the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning. During the November Uprising of 1830, the Russians seized the coffin and transferred it to the Imperial Public Library in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Leszczynski’s bones were stored in Box #180.

In 1857, Czar Alexander II sent the remains to Saint Catherine’s Church in Saint Petersburg after the library’s director wanted to send the remains to the Vilnius Archaeological Society. In 1922, the coffin left the church through members of the Polish Recovery Commission, including Mikołaj Piotrowski. Piotrowski brought the coffin to Warsaw to Jan Skotnicki, the Director of the Department of Culture at the Ministry of Religious Denominations and Public Enlightenment. Jan gave the coffin to Mieczysław Treter, the director of State Collections at Wawel Castle, and Treter hid the coffin in the Castle’s treasury.

In 1928, Poland’s President Stanisław Wojciechowski decided to finally place the coffin at Wawel Castle. King Stanisław I finally had his royal homecoming. His presumed remains are scattered, but his strange, fateful legacy remains intact.

Written by Darek Makowski, Feb 2022

_{Sources: 'Pośmiertne Peregrynacje Stanisława I Leszczyńskiego' by Krzysztof Gombin;}_{'Stanisław Leszczyński' by Edmund Cieślak}

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