Adam Stanisław Krasiński
Adam Stanisław Krasiński was a Polish noble of Ślepowron coat of arms, bishop of Kamieniec, Great Crown Secretary, president of the Crown Tribunal in 1759 and one of the leaders of Bar Confederation.Biography
He was born on 4 April 1714, as son of Jan Krasiński and Elżbieta Teresa Sołtyk, brother of Michał Hieronim Krasiński. In his early years he was a supporter of king Stanisław Leszczyński during the War of the Polish Succession which begun in 1733. A year later he joined the Dzików Confederation and acted as its diplomatic emissary to Paris. He attended universities in Paris, and later, in 1737, in Rome. In 1747 he matriculated from the Jagiellonian University. With support of Andrzej Stanisław Załuski he became canon of Płock and joined the chancellery of king Augustus III of Poland. In 1751 he was Płock's delegate to the Crown Tribunal. Next year, in 1752, with support of Jerzy August Mniszech he became the Great Crown Secretary. In 1753 he became the canon of Gniezno. In 1757 he became the prelate scholasticus of Gniezno and received the Order of the White Eagle. In 1758 he was the president of the Crown Tribunal and became the bishop of Kamieniec.
Opponent of Familia's reforms in 1763; supporter of the hetman's faction and House of Wettin. In 1764 his actions interrupted the sejmik in Grudziądz. Political opponent of Familia's King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Joined the Radom Confederation in 1767 and for a short time supported Gabriel Podoski and Nicholas Repnin's plans against Poniatowski.
From 1768 to 1772 one of the leaders of the Bar Confederation, considered by some to be the first Polish uprising. It was formed by Polish nobility who opposed Russian intervention into Polish internal politics; Krasiński also criticized the Holy See for its silence on the matter of arrest of several Polish nobles during that time, including two bishops saying 'shave his head and send him to the asylum'. Vocal opponent of Targowica Confederation, which after its victory punished him by abolishing his diocese. Supporter of Kościuszko Uprising; he collected funds for the uprising. After its defeat, he left political life again, eventually moving to the Prussian partition. He died in October 1800 in Krasne.
He was also known for his support of religious tolerance.
He has been a controversial figure for historians: unyielding supporter of Golden Liberty in the age where it was impossible to uphold this principle; supporter of the conservative and treacherous hetman's faction in the early 1760s, two decades later, leader of the Bar Confederation - seen the first of Poland's national uprisings - and finally one of the supporters of the May's Constitution.
