Morsztyn was born 24 July 1621 at
Wiśnicz, near
Kraków, into a wealthy
Calvinist family of
coat-of-arms Leliwa. He studied at
Leiden University and, with his brother, traveled extensively in Italy and France. After returning to Poland, he became a retainer of the
magnate Lubomirski family, and through them became attached to the
royal court. He was a deputy to the
Sejms of 1648, 1650, 1653, 1658 and 1659. He served on numerous Sejm commissions for diplomatic, legal and fiscal matters. He took part in diplomatic missions to Hungary (1653), Sweden (1655) and Austria (1656). He was named Royal Secretary in 1656, Crown Referendary in 1658, and
Deputy Crown Treasurer in 1668. During those years he took part in many
diplomatic missions and negotiations; he was part of the mission that negotiated the
Treaty of Oliwa (1660). He fought in
The Deluge and in the
Chmielnicki Uprising. In politics he represented the pro-French faction, promoting the French candidate in the
royal election of 1668, and become a vocal supporter of French policies in the Commonwealth. He accepted French pension and citizenship. When king
John III Sobieski distanced himself from France, and allied with
Austria, he was accused of treason and emigrated to France in 1683, where he assumed the title of
comte de Châteauvillain and spent the last years of his life as a royal secretary. The Sejm of 1686 stripped him of all offices and titles and banned him from the country. Jan Morsztyn died 8 January 1693 in
Paris. ==Family==