bp (poznański) Andrzej Bniński

Andrzej Bniński herbu Łodzia, lub Andrzej Opaliński z Bnina (1396-1479) – biskup poznański, sekretarz królewski. Wikipedia PL

According to Wikipedia, Opalenica is mentioned in a document issued by Wladyslaw Jagiello in 1393. The village apparently had been pledged as ransom for its owner, named Ticha (or Dietrich or Thietmar) Bar (the name is also found in the documents as Ber, Baer and Beer), who may have been captured during war. The king redeemed the pledge and gave the village back to Ticha. The grant of a town charter under Magdeburg law (often to an individual or group, with rights of limited self government) was probably between 1399 and 1401, but town charter has not survived). Around the year 1439, the city of Opalenica became the property of the Bishop of Poznan, Andrzej z Bnina, h. Lodzia, who soon gave it to his cousin, Piotr z Bnina, Castellan of Santok. In 1453, Piotr first took the name Opalinski, and Opalenica remained in the hands of his descendants for three centuries, until the death of Wojciech/Adalbert Opalinski in 1775. The Opalinskis had a castle located outside the city, on the banks of the river Mogilnicy, combined with a moat surrounding the canal lock.