Reinhold Heidenstein – kodyfikator, dyplomata, dziejopis

Reinhold Heidenstein (1553–1620), historian, lawyer, royal secretary, came from a German Franconian family who settled down in the Duchy of Prussia (he was a Polonized German). He studied in the universities of Królewiec (Königsberg) (1566), Wittenberg (1571), Padua (1577-1581), in France (Orleans, Paris). In 1582, he was employed by Stefan Batory in the Royal Chancery and took part in a number of diplomatic actions as an expert and legal representative in matters relating to Prussia. He also worked in Sigismund’s III Chancery (until 1613), being sent on many secret diplomatic missions. At that time he prepared a project of improving the land rights in Prussia. The most significant historical work by Heidenstein was Rerum Polonicarum. As a historiographer, he modelled himself on Cesar and humanist historians as regards the framework and method applied. He justified the need for a strong monarchy and saw the model of a ruler in Stefan Batory and the ideal of a statesman in Jan Zamoyski – the Chancellor and Grand Hetman of the Crown. Together with Mikołaj Niewieściński – a King’s Secretary, lawyer and Member of Parliament, he undertook to correct the Prussian law.