Władysław Aleksander Łubieński

Władysław Aleksander Łubieński (1 November 1703 – 21 June 1767) was archbishop of Lwów (1758–59) and primate of Poland (1759–1767). He was an ally of the Czartoryski Familia and of the Russian Empire and an opponent of religious tolerance.^[1] He acted as interrex in 1763–1764, after the death of King Augustus III of Poland and prior to the election of Stanisław August Poniatowski as king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.^[2]

Łubieński was born on 1 November 1703 to Maciej (a member of a szlachta family that held the Pomian coat of arms) and Marianna Łubieński (née Stokowska). He was baptized on 11 November that same year.^[3][4] He was first educated at a Jesuit college in Kalisz, then at the diocesan seminary in Łowicz, before matriculating to the Kraków Academy in the winter of 1722, where he studied theology and canon law. He then traveled to Rome in 1724, where he continued his theological studies at the Roman College. Afterwards, he went on a journey throughout western Europe — visiting Italy, France and the Holy Roman Empire — and recording his travels in a detailed diary, the manuscript for which was later destroyed in World War II.^[5]

Upon his return to Poland, Łubieński joined the court of Teodor Andrzej Potocki, becoming his secretary and prelate; he was also installed as a canon of the cathedral chapter at Gniezno on 29 December 1726. He was consecrated a priest by Potocki at Gniezno Cathedral in 1727;^[6] he was then appointed coadjutor scholastic of Kraków by his uncle, Andrzej Łubieński, after celebrating his first mass,^[5] though he wouldn't be installed to the position until 3 September 1729. He was appointed on 26 August 1728 to serve as the provost of the collegiate church at Łask, granting him the right to use a mitre.^[7] After his uncle's death in 1730, he succeeded him as the scholastic of Kraków; he also served as vice president of the Crown Tribunal from that year until 1731.^[5]

On 5 August 1742, Łubieński was installed as dean of the cathedral chapter at Gniezno; he also held various prebendaries and benefices throughout this period, including his appointment on 12 April 1752 as custodian of the cathedral chapter at Sandomierz.^[8] After he helped Heinrich von Brühl secure a loan of 800,000 złoty, von Brühl repaid him by assisting in his appointment to the position of Archbishop of Lwów, to which he was appointed on 27 November 1757. Having retained his prebendaries in Paradyż and Sandomierz after his appointment, he arranged for one of his relatives, Maciej Józef Łubieński, to succeed him as dean of Gniezno. He was preconized by Pope Benedict XIV on 13 April 1758 and consecrated by Adam Ignacy Komorowski (assisted by Antoni Sebastian Dembowski and Kajetan Sołtyk) on 7 May of the same year; he was formally installed at Lwów on 3 August 1758. He was also appointed to the Order of the White Eagle on the day of his installation. He used his position as Archbishop to issue proclamations denouncing the disorder in the Sejm, while also calling for judicial & economic reform and military auctions.^[5][9]

In the midst of a tour of the cathedral at Lwów and its respective chapter, Łubieński was informed of the death of Adam Ignacy Komorowski and of his summons to Warsaw; he wouldn't return to the city after this summons.^[10] 9 days after Komorowski's death, on 11 March 1759, he was nominated to be the next archbishop of Gniezno. He was formally elected by the cathedral chapter at Gniezno on 29 March, preconized by Pope Clement XIII on 9 April, and assumed control of the Archdiocese at Łowicz in May of that year. However, he did not step foot in the Archdiocese, and instead had Maciej Józef Łubieński administer the Archdiocese in his absence.^[5] In spite of his absence, Łubieński founded a printing press at Łowicz, from which he published his pastoral letters, and renovated Gniezno Cathedral in 1765, including installing a high altar and renovating prebendal stalls, with the cathedral's chapter ordering to include the Pomian coat of arms on the stalls as a symbol of gratitude for the renovations. He had also previously donated 210,777 złoty from his estate and coffers to repair the Cathedral after it had caught on fire in 1760.^[11]

Łubieński began his political career in 1740 as a delegate for the cathedral chapter of Kraków, accompanying Jan Aleksander Lipski to a session of the Sejm. This session ran between 3 October–13 November 1740, where he offered a sermon at a votive Mass held at St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw. Once this session of the Sejm was broken up, he was appointed either by Lipski or Augustus III to serve as Great Scribe of Lithuania; though he informally held this post as soon as the session was ended, he was only formally nominated to the post on 21 May 1742.^[12] Around the same time, he compiled the Świat we wszystkich swoich częściach, considered the "first general geographic [document] in the Polish language" and later used as a textbook for Augustus III's sons to learn Polish. Łubieński presented Świat before Augustus III on 3 December 1740, and as a result he remained in the royal court for a span of 16 years.^[5][11]

• Prokop, Krzysztof (2010). "Władysław Aleksander Łubieński". Arcybiskupi haliccy i lwowscy obrządku łacińskiego (PDF) (in Polish). pp. 243–251.

• Virtual tour Gniezno Cathedral Archived 2020-07-17 at the Wayback Machine
• List of Primates of Poland