Registered Cossacks ' onMouseout='HidePop("5029")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Polish_language">Polish
Polish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
:
Kozacy rejestrowi) is the term used for
UkrainianUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
Cossacks (mostly from the
Zaporizhian SichZaporizhian Sich original Ukrainian name "Zaporizhska Sich'" was the center of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were a power in the steppes north of the Black Sea from the 16th century to the 18th century. It was located on an island in the middle of the Dnieper River in what is now the Zaporizhia...
) who were part of the
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
armies.
Registered Cossacks ' onMouseout='HidePop("5029")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Polish_language">Polish
Polish is a West Slavic language and the official language of Poland. Its written standard is the Polish alphabet which corresponds basically to the Latin alphabet with a few additions...
:
Kozacy rejestrowi) is the term used for
UkrainianUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
Cossacks (mostly from the
Zaporizhian SichZaporizhian Sich original Ukrainian name "Zaporizhska Sich'" was the center of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, who were a power in the steppes north of the Black Sea from the 16th century to the 18th century. It was located on an island in the middle of the Dnieper River in what is now the Zaporizhia...
) who were part of the
Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed by the union of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569. The new Commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th-century Europe....
armies. Registered Cossacks were a part of Commonwealth army from 1582 until the year 1699. The idea came from Polish king
Stefan BatoryStephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyo branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...
and the first register had 500 names.
Registered Cossacks formed an elite among Cossacks, serving in the military under commanders (
starshyna) and main
otamanOtaman was a title of a leader among Cossacks, haidamaks, and in the Ukrainian Army meaning the commander. The title takes its roots from the military doctrine of the Zaporizhia Host. Otomans were usually elected by the Host Council or could have been appointed, especially during the military...
, who were responsible before Grand Crown
HetmanHetman was the title of the second highest military commander used in 15th to 18th century Poland, Ukraine and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, known from 1569 to 1795 as the Rzeczpospolita....
(Commonwealth highest military commander). A substantial percent of Cossacks formed skilled light
cavalryCavalry were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback in combat. Cavalry were historically the second oldest and most mobile of the combat arms...
units (
choragiewChorągiew was the basic administrative unit of the Polish army from the 14th century. An alternative name until the 17th century was Rota.The name may derive from Slavic word Khorugv ....
), excellent
skirmisherSkirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside of a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to either harass enemy troops or to protect their own troops from similar attacks by the enemy...
s trained in mounted
archeryArchery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
(and later using firearms), making lightning raids, harassing heavier, slower formations and disengaging. Those units were often used as support for heavy elite Commonwealth cavalry, the hussars, and were much cheaper to form than a hussar unit. Cossack units were also known for their tabor formation.
Registered Cossacks had many privileges, including personal freedom, exclusion from many
taxTo tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law.Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es and duties, and the right to receive wages (although the Commonwealth military was plagued with fiscal problems, leading to extremely delayed wages, often paid in items like clothes or weapons instead of coin).
Many Cossacks were skilled warriors, and Cossacks' major income source came from raids on the southern neighbors of the Commonwealth (
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
and its
vassalA vassal in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fief. By...
s). However only a small number were actually 'registered Cossacks' — the exact number was from few hundred to few thousands and varied in time, usually being increased during wartime. This has led to many social and political tensions, especially as
szlachtaSzlachta is the noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the increasingly polonized territories under their control . The nobility arose in the late Middle Ages and existed through the 18th century and into the 20th century...
(Polish and Ukrainian gentry) continually attempted to force Cossacks into submissions as peasants, while Cossacks demanded the significant expansion of the Cossack register. Furthermore, the Cossack-szlachta conflict was aggravated as Cossacks often supported Commonwealth
monarchA monarch is the person who heads a monarchy, a form of government in which the country or entity usually ruled or controlled by an individual who usually rules for life or until abdication...
s (like Wladyslaw IV Waza), who were often at odds with Polish szlachta, wishing to further limit the monarch's powers. The tensions between Cossacks and Polish szlachta grew and from the late 16th century resulted in several uprisings (the greatest of which was the
Khmelnytsky uprisingThe Khmelnytsky Uprising was a Cossack rebellion in Ukraine in 1648–1657 which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland. Under the command of Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the Zaporozhian Cossacks allied with the Crimean Tatars, and the local peasantry, fought several battles...
of 1648), with registered Cossacks often forced to choose sides between supporting their own people or the szlachta-backed Commonwealth forces.