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Post by Bonobo on Sept 16, 2017 8:19:54 GMT 1
Hetmans were chief commanders of the army. Most of them were great warriors and charismatic leaders who won many battles and wars for Poland and Lithuania. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hetman Hetman of Poland and Lithuania Main article: Hetmans of Poland and Lithuania Hetman is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders.
It was the title of the second-highest military commander (after the monarch) in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, or (in Polish) Rzeczpospolita.
For much of the history of the Principality of Moldavia, the Hetman (Romanian: hatman) was the second in rank in the army after the ruling prince (who held the position of Voivode).
The first Polish title of Grand Crown Hetman dates from 1505. The title of Hetman was given to the leader of the Polish Army and until 1581 the Hetman position existed only during specific campaigns and wars. After that, it became a permanent title, as were all the titles in the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. At any given time the Commonwealth had four Hetmans – a Great and Field (deputy) Hetman for each of both Poland and Lithuania. From 1585 the title couldn't be taken away without a proven charge of treachery, thus most Hetmans served for life, as illustrated by the case of Jan Karol Chodkiewicz literally commanding the army from his deathbed (1621). Hetmans were not paid for their job by the Royal Treasury. Hetmans were the main commanders of the military forces, second only to the monarch in the army's chain of command. The fact that they could not be removed by the monarch made them very independent, and thus often able to pursue independent policies. This system worked well when a Hetman had great ability and the monarch was weak, but sometimes produced disastrous results in the opposite case. The contrast with states bordering the Commonwealth, where sovereigns could dismiss their army-commanders at any time, was immense. In 1648 the Zaporizhian Host (the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth subject) elected a Hetman of their own (Bohdan Khmelnytsky) igniting the Ukrainian struggle for independence.
The military reform of 1776 limited the powers of the Hetmans. The Hetman office was abolished after the third partition of Poland in 1795.
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 16, 2017 8:24:18 GMT 1
Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski (1634–1702) was a Polish nobleman, magnate, Grand Guardian of the Crown since 1660, the Grand Camp Leader of the Crown since 1661, voivode of the Ruthenian Voivodship since 1664, Field Crown Hetman since 1676, Great Crown Hetman since 1683 and castellan of Kraków since 1692. Jabłonowski was a candidate for the Polish Throne following the death of King John III Sobieski.[1]
slowopolskie.org/dab-petlury-obok-pomnika-polskiego-hetmana-stanislawa-jana-jablonowskiego-w-mariampolu/
A talented and skillful political and military leader, Jabłonowski participated in the War with Sweden during The Deluge, then with the Cossacks and Muscovy. He took part in the Chocim campaign of 1673 and participated in the Vienna expedition of 1683. He led the right wing of Polish cavalry forces at the Battle of Vienna. He also stopped the Tatars at Lwów in 1695. In 1692 Jabłonowski built the stronghold and the neighbouring town of Okopy Świętej Trójcy. During the Royal election of 1697, he supported Augustus II, later in opposition to the King.
His daughter Anna Jabłonowska, who married Rafał Leszczyński, was the mother of King Stanisław I.[1]
Contents
1 Biography 1.1 Early life, studies and first commands 1.2 Professional military career 2 Battle of Vienna and relationship with Sobieski 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 External links
Biography Early life, studies and first commands
Stanisław was son of the Lord Sword-Bearer Jan Jabłonowski (1600–1647) and Anna Ostroróg, the daughter of author and scholar Jan Ostroróg. Jabłonowski began his military career in 1655, leading several battles against Russia and the Cossacks. In 1657 he took part in the war against Moldavia and George II Rákóczi. Later he distinguished himself during the war with Sweden (1656), known as "The Deluge", fighting under the command of the great general Stefan Czarniecki. In 1659 he fought in Polish occupied Ukraine under the command of Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski. From 1664 he was the voivode (governor) of Ruthenia and in later years he fought against the invading Turks and Tatars, alongside with Hetman John Sobieski (future King John III). He took part in the Polish-Cossack-Tatar War of 1666–71, he commanded a unit belonging to Sobieski, most notably, at the battle of Podhajce.[2] Professional military career
After the unexpected abdication of King John II Casimir in 1668, Jabłonowski supported the candidacy of the French prince Louis, Grand Condé to the Polish crown. In 1673 he led the successful charge of the Polish winged hussars at Chocim and in 1674 he successfully defeated the Turkish garrison in Kamieniec Podolski. In 1675 Jabłonowski defended the city of Złoczów against the Turks and in 1676 he commanded a part of the Polish army near Żurawno.
During the 1673 election, Jabłonowski, being fierce supporter of John Sobieski, greatly contributed to Sobieski's election as king. In 1676 Jabłonowski was nominated as the Field Hetman of the Polish forces and from then on became the protector the south-eastern provinces of the Kingdom of Poland, known as Kresy or Kresy Wschodnie (lit. Eastern Borderlands). In 1683 the Sejm (parliament) granted him the Hetman's baton. Previously, however, because in 1681 he was active in political life, he was accused of being part of several intrigues against King John III. For this reason, the king didn't allow the parliament to grant him any titles. In the following years he participated in all the battles on the south-eastern fringe; in 1685 he led the unsuccessful expedition to Bukovina and in 1686 he took part in an expedition to Wallachia. In 1692 he became the castellan of Kraków. In the same year he unsuccessfully besieged Kamieniec Podolski, which has previously fallen into enemy hands. In 1694 he took part in the campaign near the town of Uścieczko where he crushed the allied Tatar and Turkish forces. In 1695 he took part in the great defeat of the last Tatar army at the Battle of Lwów, for which the people of the city erected a monument and a statue with the likeness of Hetman Jabłonowski. In his honor, one of the main streets of the city was renamed to Hetmańska – literally meaning Hetman's Avenue. After the death of King John III Sobieski (1696) he was one of the leading candidates for the crown, however due to the intervention of the Russian and Saxon forces, the Elector of Saxony, Augustus II the Strong, was chosen instead.
In 1699 the Ottomans returned the city and fortress of Kamieniec Podolski, which was again lost during the unsuccessful reign of Michael I.
Jabłonowski's long life was marked by a large sacrifice, primarily as a warrior, and for the purposes of the war he did not spare any of his own, private money, for which he enjoyed great success and popularity among his soldiers and political allies.[2]
He died on April 3, 1702.
In the Battle of Vienna Jabłonowski commanded the right wing of the Polish army. In the subsequent years, the heavy burden of command in the expedition against the Turks and Tartars affected both Jabłonowski and the King. Popular among his soldiers, he spent large sums of money on military expeditions and from his own resources maintained garrisons and frontier fortresses. These fortresses not only protected the country's eastern borderlands, but also protected his own assets located within the Ruthenian Voivodeship. During the reign of John III, Jabłonowski believed that after the death of the monarch he would receive the crown. In 1687, during the long illness of John III, Queen Maria Kazimiera hinted that while widowed she could marry the Hetman. After the death of Sobieski in the year 1696, Jabłonowski supported the candidacy of Prince James Sobieski, but the majority of the nobility at the election in 1697 was in the favour of the Saxon Elector Frederick Augustus I, later crowned as Augustus II.[2]
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Post by Bonobo on Dec 15, 2018 19:48:37 GMT 1
My father`s mother lived in Chodkiewicz Street. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Karol_Chodkiewicz Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (c. 1560 – 24 September 1621; Belarusian: Ян Караль Хадкевіч, Jan Karal Chadkievič, Lithuanian: Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius) was a military commander of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army who was from 1601 Field Hetman of Lithuania, and from 1605 Grand Hetman of Lithuania, and was one of the most prominent noblemen and military commanders of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of his era. His coat of arms was Chodkiewicz, as was his family name.
He played a major role, often as the top commander of the Commonwealth forces, in the Wallachian campaign of 1599–1600, the Polish–Swedish War of 1600–11, the Polish–Muscovite War of 1605–18, and the Polish–Ottoman War of 1620–21. His most famous victory was the Battle of Kircholm in 1605, in which he dealt a major defeat to a Swedish army three times the size of his own. He died on the front lines during the battle of Chocim, in the besieged Khotyn Fortress, a few days before the Ottomans gave up on the siege and agreed to negotiate.
War in the North
A year later, in 1601, Chodkiewicz accompanied Zamoyski north, to the Duchy of Livonia (Inflanty), where he commanded Lithuanian units on the right wing of the Commonwealth army in a victorious battle of Kokenhausen in late July that year in the war against Sweden.[2] He oversaw the fighting in the Livonia theater after Zamoyski's return to Poland in 1602.[2] In April 1603, he captured Dorpat (modern Tartu) and defeated the Swedish forces at Biały Kamień (the Battle of Weissenstein) on 23 September 1604.[2] His crowning achievement was the great victory near the Dvina River in the Battle of Kircholm (modern Salaspils) on 27 September 1605, when, with barely 4000 troops, mostly the heavy cavalry of Polish hussars, he annihilated a Swedish army three times the size of his force.[2] For that feat he received letters of congratulation from Pope Paul V, most of the Catholic royalty of Europe, and even the sultan of Turkey and the shah of Persia.[2] Soon afterward, he was rewarded with the rank of Grand Lithuanian Hetman, in addition to a number of royal land grants and leases.[2]
Yet this great victory was virtually fruitless, owing to the domestic dissensions; the Sejm (Commonwealth parliament) failed to agree on raising the funds needed for the war effort.[2] Chodkiewicz was one of the magnates who remained loyal to king Sigismund III, and helped him to defeat the Sandomierz rebellion (rokosz of Zebrzydowski) in 1606–1607.[2] He commanded the right wing of the royal army during the Battle of Guzów on 6–7 July 1607, in which the insurgents were defeated, and then quelled the unrest in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, fighting against another rebellious magnate, Janusz Radziwiłł, until Radziwiłł negotiated a settlement with the king in 1608.[2] A fresh invasion of Livonia by the Swedes recalled him thither once more, and in 1609 he relieved Riga and recaptured Pernau.[2] He improvised a small fleet and dealt a surprise blow to the Swedish Navy at the Battle of Salis.[3]
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Assessment and remembrance
In 1937, Polish historian Wanda Dobrowolska, wrote in her Polish Biographical Dictionary entry on Chodkiewicz that he was one of the chief members of the "Great Hetman era", renowned for his talent as a strategist and organizer.[3] She notes that Chodkiewicz possessed an iron will, which he was able to impose on the troops under his command, and that he was an efficient commander, although more respected and feared than beloved by his troops.[3] Dobrowolska notes that he was an energetic and explosive antithesis of the composed Żółkiewski, another great hetman of this era, whom Chodkiewicz disliked and competed with throughout his life.[7]
Chodkiewicz was not particularly involved in the politics of the Commonwealth, although his high office and wealth gave him significant influence; for the most part he used his political influence, and base of support in Lithuania, to gather support for his military plans, increased the size of the army, and personal gratifications.[7] His life was dominated by warfare, if not on the front lines, then on the political scene against other Lithuanian magnates, particularly the Radziwiłł family and the Sejm politicians whom he held responsible for not passing enough taxes to support the army he wanted.[7]
Over his career he acquired significant wealth, and funded a number of churches and other prestigious buildings.[7] He often worked with the Jesuits, including funding their College in Kražiai.[7] He strongly believed his service for the state should be rewarded with land grants, but at the same time he would often use his own money to pay for the army's military expenses.[7] In his private life he is remembered as a very proud individual, and for stressing his identity as a member of the Lithuanian nobility.[7] He was a family man, devoted to his family, but his only son, from his marriage in 1593 to Zofia Mielecka, died aged 16 in 1613, and she died in 1618.[7] He remarried in 1620, wedding Anna Alojza Ostrogska in November 1620, shortly before departing on his final campaign.[6] Also that year his daughter Anna married a Lithuanian magnate, Jan Stanisław Sapieha.[6]
Some poems and other works praising him were written during his lifetime, and a religious work was dedicated to him by the Jesuit Piotr Skarga.[7] More works on Chodkiewicz were written in the years after his death.[7] He was one of Wacław Potocki's characters in his epic novel on the Chocim war (Polish: Transakcja wojny chocimskiej), and he also appeared in the works of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz and Zofia Kossak-Szczucka, usually portrayed as a patriot and military genius.[6]
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