Wejher, Jan

The representative of the Polish gentry Wejherov of the Wejher coat of arms. The fourth son of the elder of Putsky and colonel of the royal Ernest Wejher (c. 1517 - 1598 ) and Anna Ludviki Mortecka. The brothers are the royal nobleman František, the voivode Helminsky Melchior (c. 1574 - 1643 ), the voivode Malborksky and Helminsky Dmitry (c. 1578 - 1626 ), the Podkarbia of the Prussian land and the economy elblлонgsky Ludvik (d. 1616 ) and Martin Vladislav (c. 1586 ) 1610 )

Jan Weicher began his service at the court of the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa , at the age of 13 accompanied the king on his trip to Sweden. After returning from Sweden, he went to Hungary, where he participated in battles with the Turks. On the instructions of the great chancellor of the Great Crown Jan Zamoyski, Jan Weikher tried to recruit mercenaries for the king in Transylvania . In 1598, the 18-year-old Jan Weicher participated in the military expedition of the Polish king Sigismund of Vaz against the Duke Carl of Sodermanland to Sweden, where he participated in the battles of Stegeborg and under Stongebre . In the second battle, where the Poles suffered a complete defeat, Jan Weikher was wounded by a cannonball in his arm. After returning home, Jan Wejher participated in the expedition of the hetman of the great crown John Zamoyski to Wallachia, where he participated in fights with the Turks and the Crimean Tatars.

In 1601, Jan Wejher was sent from Wallachia to Gdansk , where, by royal order, he supervised the construction of five warships. He led the Gdansk Bay defense against attacks by the Swedish fleet. In 1605 he received the post of helminsky sub-commerce. In 1606, the Swedish fleet attempted to break into the Gdansk Bay in order to capture and plunder the richest trading city, Gdansk . In August , a small Polish flotilla led by Jan Weicher came out against the enemy. The Swedes were unable to land the troops and were forced to retreat. In October 1606, Swedish admiral Jacob Gotberg attempted to land on the Hel spit separating the Bay of Putsk from the Baltic Sea. Against the Swedish fleet (19 ships) the Polish flotilla consisted of 12 ships. After mutual artillery shelling, the Swedes and the Poles retreated. In 1607, Swedish agents attempted to organize the murder of Jan Weicher, but were captured and hanged.

In 1609, Jan Wejher, along with two brothers Ludvik and Martin Vladislav, participated in the campaign of the Polish army led by the king of the Commonwealth Sigismund III Vazy to Smolensk . During the Smolensk campaign, the elder of Putsky, Jan Weicher, commanded a regiment of German landsknechts (1,400 people). In 1611, after a two-year siege of Smolensk, the number of his regiment was reduced to 480 people, Jan Weikher himself miraculously escaped death, from which he was saved by good armor. After returning from Smolensk, along with his uncle, Lewvik Mortecki, a Helmsk governor, led the defense of the southern border of the Royal Prussia against the troops “sapieżyńców i smoleńszczan”. In 1613, Jan Wejher became the castellan of Elblгаg , in 1615 he received the post of governor of Malbork , and in 1618 he was appointed governor of Helmina .

He was married to Anna Shchavinsky (died 1627 ), the daughter of the elder Mirahovsky Yakub Shchavinsky, from a marriage with whom he had five sons and three daughters:

• Jakub Wejher ( 1609 - 1657 ), the Governor of Malbork
• Ludwik Wejher (d. 1656 ), Helmetian kastelyan and Pomeranian voivode
• Jan Weicher
• Karol Wejher
• Nikolai Weikher (d. 1647 ), Governor of Malbork and Helmina
• Sofia Wejher, 1st husband Jan Potulitsky, 2nd husband Lukash Octavian Olesky
• Elzbieta Wejher, wife of the governor of Minsk Prince Andrei Fyodorovich Masalsky (died 1651 )
• Suzanne Weyher, nun

• The genealogy of the Weikher family