HOSIUS, STANISLAUS 0504-70, Polish cardinal, was born in Cracow on May 5, 1504. He studied in his native town, in Padua and Bologna, and, entering the church, became in bishop of Kulm, in 1551 bishop of Ermland, and in 1561 cardinal. Hosius had Jesuit sympathies and actively opposed the Protestant reformation, his Confessio fidei christiana catholica being adopted by the synod of Piotrkow in 1557. He was, however, supreme as a diplomatist and administrator. Besides carrying through many difficult negotiations in Brussels, Prague and Vienna, he founded the lyceum of Braunsberg, which still exists. He died at Capranica near Rome on Aug. 5, 79.
The best edition of his works appeared at Cologne in 1584. Hipler has published separately his letters (1879, foll.) and his sermons (1885). See his Life by A. Eichhorn, 2 vols. (Mainz, 1854).