Stanisław I Leszczyński (Stanisław Bogusław; 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicised and Latinised as Stanislaus, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at various times Prince of Deux-Ponts, Duke of Bar and Duke of Lorraine.
During the Great Northern War, multiple candidates had emerged after the death of John III Sobieski for the elective kingship of Poland (which also included the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as part of the Poland-Lithuanian Commonwealth). Backed by powerful neighbors in Russia and Austria, the Sejm elected Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony to succeed John III in 1697 as August II. Russia's primary antagonist in the Great Northern War, Sweden had supported Stanisław Leszczyński for the throne, and after defeating a combined army of Saxon and Polish-Lithuanian forces, deposed Augustus II the Strong and installed Leszczyński as Stanisław in 1704.
In 1709, Charles XII of Sweden, Stanisław's main supporter, suffered a defeat by the Russians at the Battle of Poltava, and was subsequently driven into exile in the Ottoman Empire. As a result, Augustus II returned to the throne, and while Charles served his exile in the Ottoman Empire, Stanisław accepted the rule of the tiny state of Palatine Zweibrücken, a small state of the Holy Roman Empire which was in personal union with Sweden and located near the region of Alsace. After Charles's death in 1719, he moved to nearby Wissembourg in Alsace. In 1725, his daughter Marie Leszczyńska married Louis XV of France.
The death of Augustus II sparked the War of the Polish Succession in 1733. As had happened on the death of John III Sobieski, foreign intrigue and influence plagued the Sejm election. Despite the presence of Russian troops in the country, the Sejm, with support of the French, elected Stanisław to succeed Augustus II the Strong, while the Russians encouraged a group of break-away nobles to hold their own election, selecting instead Augustus III of Poland, son of Augustus II, to the kingship. War broke out almost immediately, evolving into a proxy war between the Bourbon and Habsburg dynasties and their supporters, with the Bourbon faction led by France and Spain, with their allies Sardinia and Sweden, while the Habsburg faction was led by Austria and their allies Russia, Prussia, and Saxony. After two years of fighting across the entire continent, a ceasefire was declared in 1735. Stanislaw officially abdicated in January 1736, and the Peace of Vienna was promulgated in 1738, whereby Augustus III was officially recognised as King of Poland, and Stanisław was compensated for losing the throne a second time with the duchies of Bar and Lorraine, both of which were nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire at the time.
While Duke of Lorraine, Stanisław lived out his remaining years at a country estate in Lunéville, and actively ruled Lorraine and Bar, sponsoring numerous public works projects. Nearby, Nancy, the historic capital of Lorraine, has a Place Stanislas (Stanisław Square) named in his honour, much of which was developed during his reign. He also took up political philosophy, engaging in discourse with other Enlightenment figures such as Jean Jacques Rousseau, and wrote philosophical treatises in his native Polish, making him a figure within the Polish Enlightenment. When he died in 1766, his titles passed to his son-in-law, Louis XV. His retaking of the Polish throne in 1733 formed the backdrop for Un giorno di regno, an opera by composer Giuseppe Verdi and librettist Felice Romani, which premiered in 1840.
Born in Lwów (now Lviv) in 1677, he was the son of Rafał Leszczyński, voivode of Poznań Voivodeship, and Princess Anna Leszczyńska. He married Katarzyna Opalińska, by whom he had a daughter, Maria, who became Queen of France as the wife of Louis XV. In 1697, as Cup-bearer of Poland, he signed the confirmation of the articles of election of Augustus II the Strong. In 1703, he joined the Lithuanian Confederation, which the Sapiehas, with the aid of Sweden, had formed against Augustus.
The following year, Stanisław was selected by Charles XII of Sweden after a successful Swedish invasion of Poland, to supersede Augustus II, who was hostile towards the Swedes. Leszczyński was a young man of blameless antecedents, respectable talents, and came from an ancient family, but certainly without sufficient force of character or political influence to sustain himself on such an unstable throne.
Nevertheless, with the assistance of a bribing fund and an army corps, the Swedes succeeded in procuring his election by a scratch assembly of half a dozen castellans and a few score of noblemen on 12 July 1704. A few months later, Stanisław was forced by a sudden inroad of Augustus II to seek refuge in the Swedish camp, but finally, on 24 September 1705, he was crowned king with great splendor. Charles himself supplied his nominee with a new crown and scepter in lieu of the ancient Polish regalia, which had been carried off to Saxony by Augustus. During this time, the king of Sweden sent Peter Estenberg to King Stanislaw to act as an ambassador and correspondence secretary. The Polish king's first act was to cement an alliance with Charles XII whereby the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth engaged to assist Sweden against the Russian tsar. Stanisław did what he could to assist his patron. Thus, he induced Ivan Mazepa, the Cossack hetman, to desert Peter the Great at the most critical period of the Great Northern War between Russia and Sweden, and Stanisław placed a small army corps at the disposal of the Swedes and was beaten in Battle of Koniecpol. However, Stanisław depended so entirely on the success of Charles' armies that after the Battle of Poltava (1709), his authority vanished. Stanisław then resided in the town of Rydzyna.
The vast majority of Poles hastened to repudiate Stanisław and make their peace with Augustus. Henceforth a mere pensioner of Charles XII, Stanisław accompanied Krassow's army corps in its retreat to Swedish Pomerania. On the restoration of Augustus, Stanisław abdicated the Polish Crown (though he retained the royal title) in exchange for the little Principality of Palatine Zweibrücken. In 1716, an assassination was attempted by a Saxon officer, Lacroix, but Stanisław was saved by Stanisław Poniatowski (father of the future king Stanisław August Poniatowski). Forced to leave Deux-Ponts in 1719 after the death of Charles XII of Sweden in whose name he was Count Palatine, Stanisław Leszczyński then resided at Wissembourg in Alsace. In 1725, he had the satisfaction of seeing his daughter Maria become queen consort of Louis XV of France. From 1725 to 1733, Stanisław lived at the Château de Chambord.
Stanislaw's son-in-law Louis XV supported his claims to the Polish throne after the death of Augustus II the Strong in 1733, which led to the War of the Polish Succession. On 11 September 1733, Stanisław himself arrived at Warsaw, having traveled night and day through central Europe disguised as a coachman. On the following day, despite many protests, Stanisław was duly elected King of Poland for the second time. However, Russia was opposed to any nominee of France and Sweden. Russia protested against his election at once, in favor of the new Elector of Saxony, son of the late king, as being the candidate of her Austrian ally.
On 30 June 1734, a Russian army of 20,000 under Peter Lacy, after proclaiming Frederick Augustus II of Saxony as king in Warsaw, proceeded to besiege Stanisław at Danzig, where he was entrenched with his partisans (including the Primate and the French and Swedish ministers) to await the relief that had been promised by France.
The siege began in October 1734. On 17 March 1735, Marshal Burkhard Christoph von Münnich superseded Peter Lacy, and on 20 May 1735, the long-expected French fleet appeared and disembarked 2,400 men on Westerplatte. A week later, this little army gallantly attempted to force the Russian entrenchments but was finally compelled to surrender. This was the first time that France and Russia had met as foes in the field. On 30 June 1735, Danzig capitulated unconditionally, after sustaining a siege of 135 days, which cost the Russians 8,000 men.