Potocki was a landowner, statesman and prolific writer who fought in the Polish-Swedish war and lost his estate as a result. An admirer of King Jan Sobieski, he wanted Poland to replace the free election of kings by hereditary monarchy. Educated in a Unitarian milieu, he married a Unitarian but eventually converted to Catholicism owing to political pressures. A colorful figure typical of the Time of Troubles, Polish style.