Nalyvaiko Uprising
Encyclopedia
The Nalyvaiko Uprising was a failed Cossack
rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
. Headed by Severyn Nalyvaiko
, it lasted from 1594 to 1596. A second in a series of failed Cossack uprisings, the conflict was ultimately won by the Crown of Poland, but two years of warfare and scorched earth
tactics employed by both sides left much of right-bank Ukraine in ruins.
states (under influence from the Ottomans) and the Black Sea
was mostly under control of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth at least since the fall of Kiev Ruthenia. However, the control over such huge area was never direct and far from complete. The vast, scarcely populated areas of what is now Ukraine (the name itself could be translated as Borderlands) had been attracting all sorts of people: from adventurers to brigands, foreign merchant
s, landless gentry
and runaway serf
s. With time certain common identity started to form among them, giving birth to the Cossacks.
The Republic
tried to strengthen control over those lands by creating the so-called Cossack registry
, a small yet well-trained and well-equipped unit formed of local folk, tasked above all with policing and peace-keeping duties in the Kiev Voivodeship, and most importantly in the so-called Wild Fields
. Although in 16th century at no time the unit was stronger than 1000 men, it was nevertheless a formidable force in an area where no large settlements existed. In addition, unlike the force was fielded by and loyal to central authorities rather than local magnate
s, who often also fielded their own armies. The Registered Cossacks were to be paid in the same manner as other Polish-Lithuanian standing army
units: the local voivodes and castellan
s were to distribute salaries to them once a year. However, the salaries were being paid irregularly and the basic source of income for the armed Cossacks remained pillaging raids on Zaporizhian Sich
, Crimea
, Moldavia
and other lands under Ottoman control. The international situation of the Cossacks and Polish-Lithuanian control over the vast areas of Kiev Voivodeship was further complicated by the fact that the rulers of Muscovy and Austria
(Feodor I
and Rudolf II
, respectively) wanted to win the support of Cossacks in their struggle against the Turks.
In 1591 the so-called Kosiński Uprising
started. What started as a private quarrel between one disgruntled Polish noble and local Ruthenian magnates, soon turned into a full-scale civil war between local Ruthenian nobility and the Cossacks. Despite initial successes, soon Cossacks started to loose ground and were ultimately defeated by Polish-led levée en masse
in the battle of Piątek near Zhitomir. By 1593 the rebellion was quelled and Krzysztof Kosiński
killed. The Sejm
, or the parliament of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, declared all Cossacks to take part in the rebellion guilty of high treason
, but pardoned them soon afterwards and the Cossacks were allowed to keep their boats and arms. Meanwhile the Army of the Crown of Poland, led at the time by hetman
Stanisław Żółkiewski, started a new campaign in Moldavia and Transilvania in support of Ieremia Movilă
's claims to Moldavian throne.
, and raided several Moldavian and Hungarian
towns. Nalyvaiko led his men through Galicia, Volhynia
, and Belarus
. His cossacks and rebel Ukrainian
peasants took the cities of Bratslav
, Husiatyn
, Bar
, Lutsk
, Kaniv
, Cherkasy
, and Slutsk
, Babruisk, and Mahiliou in Belarus. The following year, Nalivaiko's Cossacks were joined by many run-away Ukrainian peasants and captured the town of Lutsk
where his men massacred Polish nobility
, Catholic clergy and local Greek-Catholics. From Volhynia
Nalivaiko's Cossacks moved into Belarus
, where they pillaged Mogilev.
Nalivaiko eventually offered peace to the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa
, conditioned that the Poles cede the lands between Southern Buh and Dniester
rivers south of Bratslav
to the Cossacks in exchange for their military service and loyalty to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
. Having refused these terms, the king recalled Hetman
Stanisław Żółkiewski from Moldavia.
In 1595 Żółkiewski and the royal army set out to end the rebellion. In response to this, Nalivaiko joined his forces with the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetman
Hryhory Loboda
(Polish: Hryhor Łoboda) but was forced to retreat to left-bank Ukraine
, even after defeating the Poles at Bila Tserkva
.
In May of 1596 the Cossack tabor was surrounded by Poles near the town of Lubny
. The Cossacks fought for two weeks before running out of food and water. After two weeks of siege, there was unrest as the cossacks began to run out of food and water. Loboda was murdered, and on 7 July 1596 Nalyvaiko was handed over to the Poles as a condition of surrender in exchange for their own lives, but the agreement was not kept, and Cossacks were attacked by the Poles immediatedly after Nalivaiko's surrender.
Nalyvaiko was brought to Warsaw
, where he was tortured and quartered and put on public display. The popular stories about his being crowned with a white-hot iron crown or boiled alive in a copper cauldron are not verified by factual evidence. After the rebellion all Cossack lands were taken and given to the Polish magnates. Nalyvaiko became a legend and a hero of Ukrainian
folk lore.
Cossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
rebellion against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
. Headed by Severyn Nalyvaiko
Severyn Nalyvaiko
Severyn Nalyvaiko was a leader of the Ukrainian Cossacks who became a hero of Ukrainian folklore. He led the Nalyvaiko Uprising. The Decembrist poet Kondraty Ryleyev wrote a poem about him.-Biography:...
, it lasted from 1594 to 1596. A second in a series of failed Cossack uprisings, the conflict was ultimately won by the Crown of Poland, but two years of warfare and scorched earth
Scorched earth
A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
tactics employed by both sides left much of right-bank Ukraine in ruins.
Background
The steppe borderland between Poland-Lithuania, Muscovy, various TatarTatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
states (under influence from the Ottomans) and the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
was mostly under control of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth at least since the fall of Kiev Ruthenia. However, the control over such huge area was never direct and far from complete. The vast, scarcely populated areas of what is now Ukraine (the name itself could be translated as Borderlands) had been attracting all sorts of people: from adventurers to brigands, foreign merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
s, landless gentry
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
and runaway serf
SERF
A spin exchange relaxation-free magnetometer is a type of magnetometer developed at Princeton University in the early 2000s. SERF magnetometers measure magnetic fields by using lasers to detect the interaction between alkali metal atoms in a vapor and the magnetic field.The name for the technique...
s. With time certain common identity started to form among them, giving birth to the Cossacks.
The Republic
Rzeczpospolita
Rzeczpospolita is a traditional name of the Polish State, usually referred to as Rzeczpospolita Polska . It comes from the words: "rzecz" and "pospolita" , literally, a "common thing". It comes from latin word "respublica", meaning simply "republic"...
tried to strengthen control over those lands by creating the so-called Cossack registry
Registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks is the term used for Cossacks formations of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth armies.-Establishing:The registered cossacks were created on the King's edict of Sigismund II Augustus on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior ...
, a small yet well-trained and well-equipped unit formed of local folk, tasked above all with policing and peace-keeping duties in the Kiev Voivodeship, and most importantly in the so-called Wild Fields
Wild Fields
The Wild Field or the Wilderness is a historical term used in the Polish–Lithuanian documents of the 16th and 18th centuries referring to forest steppes and steppes of the Black sea and Azov sea regions...
. Although in 16th century at no time the unit was stronger than 1000 men, it was nevertheless a formidable force in an area where no large settlements existed. In addition, unlike the force was fielded by and loyal to central authorities rather than local magnate
Magnate
Magnate, from the Late Latin magnas, a great man, itself from Latin magnus 'great', designates a noble or other man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or other qualities...
s, who often also fielded their own armies. The Registered Cossacks were to be paid in the same manner as other Polish-Lithuanian standing army
Standing army
A standing army is a professional permanent army. It is composed of full-time career soldiers and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are activated only during wars or natural disasters...
units: the local voivodes and castellan
Castellan
A castellan was the governor or captain of a castle. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum "castle". Also known as a constable.-Duties:...
s were to distribute salaries to them once a year. However, the salaries were being paid irregularly and the basic source of income for the armed Cossacks remained pillaging raids on Zaporizhian Sich
Zaporizhian Sich
Zaporizhian Sich was socio-political, grassroot, military organization of Ukrainian cossacks placed beyond Dnieper rapids. Sich existed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the region around the today's Kakhovka Reservoir...
, Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, Moldavia
Moldavia
Moldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
and other lands under Ottoman control. The international situation of the Cossacks and Polish-Lithuanian control over the vast areas of Kiev Voivodeship was further complicated by the fact that the rulers of Muscovy and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
(Feodor I
Feodor I of Russia
Fyodor I Ivanovich 1598) was the last Rurikid Tsar of Russia , son of Ivan IV and Anastasia Romanovna. In English he is sometimes called Feodor the Bellringer in consequence of his strong faith and inclination to travel the land and ring the bells at churches. However, in Russian the name...
and Rudolf II
Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Hungary and Croatia , King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria...
, respectively) wanted to win the support of Cossacks in their struggle against the Turks.
In 1591 the so-called Kosiński Uprising
Kosinski Uprising
Kosiński Uprising is a name applied to two rebellions in Ukraine organised by Krzysztof Kosiński against the local Ruthenian nobility and magnates....
started. What started as a private quarrel between one disgruntled Polish noble and local Ruthenian magnates, soon turned into a full-scale civil war between local Ruthenian nobility and the Cossacks. Despite initial successes, soon Cossacks started to loose ground and were ultimately defeated by Polish-led levée en masse
Pospolite ruszenie
Pospolite ruszenie , is an anachronistic term describing the mobilisation of armed forces, especially during the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The tradition of wartime mobilisation of part of the population existed from before the 13th century to the 19th century...
in the battle of Piątek near Zhitomir. By 1593 the rebellion was quelled and Krzysztof Kosiński
Krzysztof Kosinski
Krzysztof Kosiński was a Polish noble from the Podlaskie region. He was a colonel of the Registered Cossacks and self-proclaimed Hetman of Ukraine. He led two consecutive rebellions against local Ruthenian nobility, known as the Kosiński Uprising....
killed. The Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
, or the parliament of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, declared all Cossacks to take part in the rebellion guilty of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
, but pardoned them soon afterwards and the Cossacks were allowed to keep their boats and arms. Meanwhile the Army of the Crown of Poland, led at the time by hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Stanisław Żółkiewski, started a new campaign in Moldavia and Transilvania in support of Ieremia Movilă
Ieremia Movila
Ieremia Movilă was a Hospodar of Moldavia between August 1595 and May 1600, and again between September 1600 and July 10, 1606.-Rule:...
's claims to Moldavian throne.
The uprising
Nalyvaiko left the Polish service in 1594, and organized a paramilitary unit of unregistered cossacks in the vicinity of BratslavBratslav
Bratslav |Breslov]] as the name of a Hasidic group, which originated from this town) is a townlet in Ukraine, located in the Nemyriv Raion of Vinnytsia Oblast, by the Southern Bug river. It is a medieval European city having dramatically lost its importance during 19th-20th centuries...
, and raided several Moldavian and Hungarian
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
towns. Nalyvaiko led his men through Galicia, Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
, and Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. His cossacks and rebel Ukrainian
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
peasants took the cities of Bratslav
Bratslav
Bratslav |Breslov]] as the name of a Hasidic group, which originated from this town) is a townlet in Ukraine, located in the Nemyriv Raion of Vinnytsia Oblast, by the Southern Bug river. It is a medieval European city having dramatically lost its importance during 19th-20th centuries...
, Husiatyn
Husiatyn
Husiatyn is a town in the Ternopil Oblast of western Ukraine. Alternate spellings include Gusyatin, Husyatin, and Hsiatyn. Husiatyn is the administrative center of the Husiatyn Raion , and is located on the west bank of the Zbruch River...
, Bar
Bar, Ukraine
Bar is a city located on the Rov River in the Vinnytsia Oblast of western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Barskyi Raion , and is part of the historic region of Podolia. The current estimated population is 17,200 .-History:The city was a small trade outpost named Row...
, Lutsk
Lutsk
Lutsk is a city located by the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutskyi Raion within the oblast...
, Kaniv
Kaniv
Kaniv is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine. The city rests on the Dnieper River, and is also one of the main inland river ports on the Dnieper...
, Cherkasy
Cherkasy
Cherkasy or Cherkassy , is a city in central Ukraine. It is the capital of the Cherkasy Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Cherkasky Raion within the oblast...
, and Slutsk
Slutsk
Slutsk is a town in Belarus, located on the Sluch River south of Minsk. As of 2010 its population is of 61,400).-Geography:The town is situated in the south-west of its Voblast, not too far from from the city of Soligorsk.-History:...
, Babruisk, and Mahiliou in Belarus. The following year, Nalivaiko's Cossacks were joined by many run-away Ukrainian peasants and captured the town of Lutsk
Lutsk
Lutsk is a city located by the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutskyi Raion within the oblast...
where his men massacred Polish nobility
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
, Catholic clergy and local Greek-Catholics. From Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
Nalivaiko's Cossacks moved into Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, where they pillaged Mogilev.
Nalivaiko eventually offered peace to the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...
, conditioned that the Poles cede the lands between Southern Buh and Dniester
Dniester
The Dniester is a river in Eastern Europe. It runs through Ukraine and Moldova and separates most of Moldova's territory from the breakaway de facto state of Transnistria.-Names:...
rivers south of Bratslav
Bratslav
Bratslav |Breslov]] as the name of a Hasidic group, which originated from this town) is a townlet in Ukraine, located in the Nemyriv Raion of Vinnytsia Oblast, by the Southern Bug river. It is a medieval European city having dramatically lost its importance during 19th-20th centuries...
to the Cossacks in exchange for their military service and loyalty to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
. Having refused these terms, the king recalled Hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Stanisław Żółkiewski from Moldavia.
In 1595 Żółkiewski and the royal army set out to end the rebellion. In response to this, Nalivaiko joined his forces with the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetman
Hetman
Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....
Hryhory Loboda
Hryhory Loboda
Hryhory Loboda , was a Kosh Otaman of the Zaporizhian Host of Romanian descent. In 1594 and 1595 he and Severyn Nalyvaiko took part in the anti-Turkish campaign in Moldavia as allies of Rudolf II...
(Polish: Hryhor Łoboda) but was forced to retreat to left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine
Left-bank Ukraine is a historic name of the part of Ukraine on the left bank of the Dnieper River, comprising the modern-day oblasts of Chernihiv, Poltava and Sumy as well as the eastern parts of the Kiev and Cherkasy....
, even after defeating the Poles at Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva
Bila Tserkva is a city located on the Ros' River in the Kiev Oblast in central Ukraine, approximately south of the capital, Kiev. Population 203,300 Area 34 km².-Administrative status:...
.
In May of 1596 the Cossack tabor was surrounded by Poles near the town of Lubny
Lubny
Lubny is a city in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Lubensky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
. The Cossacks fought for two weeks before running out of food and water. After two weeks of siege, there was unrest as the cossacks began to run out of food and water. Loboda was murdered, and on 7 July 1596 Nalyvaiko was handed over to the Poles as a condition of surrender in exchange for their own lives, but the agreement was not kept, and Cossacks were attacked by the Poles immediatedly after Nalivaiko's surrender.
Nalyvaiko was brought to Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, where he was tortured and quartered and put on public display. The popular stories about his being crowned with a white-hot iron crown or boiled alive in a copper cauldron are not verified by factual evidence. After the rebellion all Cossack lands were taken and given to the Polish magnates. Nalyvaiko became a legend and a hero of Ukrainian
Culture of Ukraine
Ukrainian culture refers to the culture associated with the country of Ukraine and sometimes with ethnic Ukrainians across the globe. It contains elements of other Eastern European cultures as well as some Western European influences. Within Ukraine, there are a number of other ethnic groups with...
folk lore.