Sieninius James , (Polon. Siennynski,) a Polish Knight, Palatine of Podolia, and Toparch of Racow, was the son of John Sieninius. Racow was the property of the family of the Sieninii. It was founded by John Sieninius in 1569 ; and situated about a mile from Sidlow, in the Palatinate of Sandomir. Its founder gave it the name of Racow, or Rakow, in compliment to his lady, whose family name was Rah, denoting a crab, the family arms. Here various persons, both natives of Poland and foreigners, were induced to settle, attracted by the numerous advantages granted to the colonists, and particularly by the unrestrained freedom of opinion that was ensured to them. The town increased rapidly in population and prosperity; and became one of the most remarkable places in Poland. It is now an insignificant village.

John Sieninius was a Calvinist, and his son James was brought up in that persuasion ; but being converted to the Unitarian faith by John Securinus, in the course of a debate held at Racow on the 13th of November, 1599, between the Unitarians and the Calvinists, he withdrew, in the year following, from the communion of the Reformed Church, and joined that of the Unitarians, of which he proved a munificent patron.

An Antitrinitarian congregation, of which Gregory Pauli was the Minister, was established in the new settlement ; and the number of members received large accessions from Cracow, and other quarters. In the year 1602, at the suggestion of Stanislas Lubieniecius, the elder, with whom James Sieninius had contracted a friendship at Court in early life, he erected a public School, or College, designed as a seminary for the Unitarian Church ; and established a printing-office, for the more effectual diffusion of Unitarian sentiments, through the medium of the press. (Vide Art. 94.) Both these were at Racow, his own town, which thus became the centre of the Unitarian community, and from which they afterwards derived the name of Racovians. The College flourished almost beyond the expectation of its founder. Sandius refers to its code of Laws, which was printed by Sebastian Sternacki. (B. A. p. 175.) Its first Moderators were James Sieninius ; Jerome Moscorovius ; Stanislaus Wyzicius ; Christopher Morstinius, Starost of Philipovia ; John Baptist Cettis ; Adam Goslavius ; Samuel Golecius ; Benedict Wissowatius ; Peter Statorius ; John Volkelius ; André and Stanislaüs Lubieniecius ; Valentin Smalcius ; Simon Pistorius, and Andrew Voidovius. Its most eminent Rectors were, Christopher Brockayus ; George Manlius ; Samuel Nieciecius ; Paul Krokier ; John Crellius ; Martin Ruarus ; Joachim Stegmann ; Adam Franck ; Peter Teichmann ; George Nigrinus, and Laurence Stegmann. It was frequented by Roman Catholics, and the youth of different Protestant communities, as well as Unitarians ; and the number of students educated within its walls generally amounted to about a thousand. Indeed, it was so celebrated, as to gain for Racow the appellation of the Sarmatian Athens ; and among the number of its Professors, it reckoned some of the most eminent scholars in Poland. But in 1638, when James Sieninius was in his seventieth year, both the College and the printing-office were destroyed in a riot, excited by an act of indiscretion on the part of some of the students. The privileges which the Unitarians had enjoyed were greatly abridged after this time, and scarcely anything remained but the shadow of a great name. Sieninius survived this calamity only about one year. He left a son, who remained steady to his principles, as an Antitrinitarian ; but Racow is said to have come, by inheritance, at a later period, into the possession of his granddaughter, the widow of Christopher Wissowatius, who, after her husband's death, abandoned the religion of her father and grandfather, and became a convert to Catholicism. The following are the only writings attributed to James Sieninius.

1. The Dedication of the Latin Version of Smalcius's treatise, " On the Divinity of Christ," to Sigismund III., King of Poland. Racow, 1608. This Dedication was also prefixed to Theodore Raphael Camphuysius's Dutch translation of Faust Socin's treatise "On the Authority of Sacred Scripture." 

2. Speeches delivered at the Diets of the Kingdom. MS.

Le Roux Didier - Unitariens - © Since 2006 -  All rights reserved " No reproduction, even partial, other than those planned in the article L 122-5 of the code of the intellectual property, can be made by this site without the express authorization of the author ".