Jakub Świnka, whose parents are unknown, is probably a descendant of a peasant family from Greater Poland or Silesia that had started a career in Greater Poland, but with a limited success.

It is known that his elder brother Sulek did not hold any official posts while his uncle Jan Świnka will be mentioned in 1286 as the castellan of a tiny town of Spicymierz.

Jakub Świnka must have joined the Catholic Church and it is also probable that he graduated from a law school (probably in Cracow or Prague).

He had in the 1270s been promoted to the post of a cantor of the chapter in Gniezno.

The German archbishop of Gniezno Henry of Bremen had abdicated n early 1271 and soon afterwards Świnka had been chosen by the chapter as his successor.

However, due to strong opposition to his rule, it is not until twelve years afterwards when he is officially named the archbishop.

Świnka is consecrated in Kalisz on July 30, 1283 and the results of the voting are accepted by Pope Martin IV on December 19 of the same year.

The election of a Polish archbishop is seen by the rulers of Greater Poland as a chance to break the links with the Holy Roman Empire.