Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł

Who was Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł?

Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł, nicknamed The Black was Lithuanian noble of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, voivode of Vilnius, Grand Grand Lithuanian Chancellor and the Grand Hetman of Lithuania.

Mikołaj was able to gain much political influence thanks to the romance between his cousin Barbara Radziwiłł and King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Zygmunt II August. This made him one of the most powerful Royal advisers. Mikolaj became Marshal of Lithuania, Grand Chancellor of Lithuania, as well as Palatine of Vilnius, gained immense wealth and became the most powerful magnate in the Commonwealth of that time.

The growing influence of the Radziwiłł family was further bolstered when, during a diplomatic mission to Charles V and Ferdinand I, he and his cousin Mikołaj the Red received a hereditary title of Prince.

He formed an alliance with his cousin Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł against other notable Lithuanian families in the rivalry for the dominant status in the Great Duchy of Lithuania. This alliance marked the formation of a dynastic-like cooperation between Radziwiłłs and showed how family interests could affect magnates' relations with the state.