Konstanty Władysław Sobieski

Konstanty Władysław Sobieski was the youngest son of John III Sobieski. His first tutor was Karlo Mauricio Vota, a Jesuit. Later his teacher became Remigian Suszycki from the University of Cracow and "chevelier de Neufmaison", who taught him about military. Konstanty also learned Italian and French.

After the king’s death, he almost always accompanied his mother and brother Aleksander Benedykt. In 1698, after the division of his father’s estates, Konstanty received, most notably, the Żółkiew property, Wilanów Palace and the Kazimierz Palace in Warsaw. In the course of her stay in Rome, queen Marie Casimire planned to obtain a cardinal’s hat for Konstanty. Her intentions were thwarted by the uninhibited behaviour of the prince who, while visiting his mother in 1701, got involved in an affair with Tolla, a Roman beauty also adored by Duke Gaetan Sforza, who wounded her in front of the Sobieski mansion, a deed for which he later formally apologised. In the first years of the Great Northern War, Konstanty supported his brother Jakub’s attempts to mount the throne of Poland. In February 1704 both brothers were kidnapped and incarcerated by Augustus II the Strong. In 1706 they were set free by the victorious Charles XII of Sweden.[2]

In November 1708 Konstanty unexpectedly married, in Gdańsk, Maria Józefa Wessel, whom he probably knew from childhood. He presented his bride with a life estate contract, considerably hindering the subsequent attempts of the Sobieski family, which perceived the relationship as a misalliance, to annul the marriage. The prince had already abandoned his wife by December, leaving her in Gdańsk, and in the spring 1709 he accompanied Stanisław I to the Lwów region, where he met Elżbieta Sieniawska, a hetman’s wife, who believed that in the prevailing political situation Konstanty’s election would be preferable to Augustus II returning to the throne. In subsequent years, the prince often stayed on his brother’s estates in Oława, Wrocław and Żółkiew.[3]

• Konstanty Wadislaw Sobieski at the Wilanow Palace Museum