Taras Fedorovych
Encyclopedia
Taras Fedorovych (died after 1636) was a prominent leader of the Dnieper Cossacks, a popular Hetman
(Cossack leader) elected by unregistered Cossacks.
Between 1629 and 1636, Fedorovych played a key role in the regional conflicts involving the rebellion of the Ruthenian
(Ukrainian) Cossacks and peasants against the Polish rule over the Dnieper Ukraine
territory as well as in the conflicts that included the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
, the Tsardom of Russia
and the Ukrainians torn between those two neighbors.
With many circumstances of his life remaining mysterious to this day, Fedorovych is a revered figure in both Ukrainian folklore
and in the Ukrainian national idea, a hero of poems by Taras Shevchenko
, a personage of the earliest Ukrainian motion picture and one of only four Cossack leaders explicitly mentioned in the Pavlo Chubynsky
poem that later became the basis of the modern National Anthem of Ukraine.
family in Crimea, his given name was Hassan. It is unclear when he converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and joined the Zaporozhian Cossacks Host. He is initially documented by references in the 1620s to his position as the Cossack Polkovnyk (Colonel) Hassan Tarasa in Hungarian chronicles, noted for considerable cruelty during his participation in the Thirty Year War as a Habsburg mercenary.
In 1629, after the pro-Polish Cossack Hetman
Mykhailo Doroshenko
was killed in Crimea
, the unregistered Cossacks elected Fedorovych to the Hetmanship and, under his leadership, participated in the subsequent Crimean campaign.
In March 1630, Fedorovych became the leader of a Cossack and peasant revolt, which became known as the Fedorovych Uprising
carried out by the unregistered Cossacks dissatisfied with the conditions of the 1625 Treaty of Kurukove
(also known as the Treaty of Lake Kurukove) signed earlier by Doroshenko, which restricted the number of the registry to only six thousand. In the meantime, the real numbers of Cossacks swelled by the constant flow of runaway peasants and, especially, at the end of the Polish-Swedish War (1625–1629), by the addition of a huge number of demobilized Ukrainians who refused to accept a return under Polish serfdom. The ranks of Cossacks who joined the resistance reached forty thousand.
The Cossack uprising fell on the fertile ground of the overall condition of Ukrainian peasantry who under Polish control were subject to continued enserfment
and exploitation by mostly Polish or polonized szlachta
(nobility). Particularly resented was the attempt to impose Roman Catholicism
on the unwilling Ukrainians, who had been traditionally Eastern Orthodox.
About ten thousand rebels proceeded from the Zaporizhian Sich
towards the upper Dnieper
territories, overrunning the Polish forces stationed there. The rebels captured and executed the Hetman of the registered Cossacks Hryhoriy Chorny for his pro-Polish stance and support of the Union of Brest, and subsequently came to an agreement on a new leadership by nominating Fedorovych for the position of Hetman.
Fedorovych addressed the Ukrainian commoners with several Universals
calling upon everyone to join his uprising against the Polish "usurpers". The turbulence spread over the nearby territories, with many Cossacks and peasants rising against the local Polish nobles as well as wealthy Jewish
merchants who, despite their limited involvement in the local power structure were also hated by the peasants as Polish land owners frequently gave to the Jews the role of arendators (see tax farming
) in the local taxation system. As religious services such as baptism
, wedding
ceremonies and funerals conducted in the Eastern Orthodox tradition customary for Ruthenians, were now to be taxed, with most of the commoners and especially the Cossacks being fiercely Orthodox, the Jews were perceived by many Ruthenians as a part of the oppressor/exploiter group.
As clashes increased, casualties rose on both sides. After a victory at Korsun
over the Polish army sent against them, the rebel Cossacks controlled a large territory that included Korsun, Pereiaslav, Kaniv
as well as other cities, with Pereiaslav becoming their main base.
In response to their successes, a large Polish army led by Stanisław Koniecpolski was sent to confront the Cossacks. The army, strengthened by German mercenary forces, was harassed by the rebels, and, in turn, plundered and massacred Lysianka, Dymer
and several other Ukrainian settlements, then crossed the Dnieper where they were met by the rebels, both front and rear, as more Ukrainians rose in what became an area-wide rebellion against the Poles. The indecisive skirmishes around Pereiaslav lasted three weeks until the . Koniecpolski laid siege to the Cossack stronghold, but lacking the support of artillery and infantry, he could not break its walls; the Cossacks, however, were lacking supplies and agreed to negotiations. Though the Polish army was not defeated, its inability to defeat the rebellious Cossacks meant that the latter gained an upper hand in the negotiations; Ukrainian historiography calls the battle at Pereiaslav a victory, but this is disputed by Polish historiography.
Fedorovych, uncertain of the decision that would be reached, over his head, by the "compromising" faction of Cossack leadership, left Pereiaslav along with other Cossacks dissatisfied with the agreement and headed for the Cossack stronghold of the Zaporizhian Sich. Meanwhile, the Cossack leadership faction inclined to a compromise with Poland, elected Timofiy Orendarenko whose Hetmanship was confirmed with Koniecpolski's agreement. Fedorovych, disgruntled with this turn of events, tried to raise the Cossack masses to start a new uprising, but the energy for such an undertaking was no longer forthcoming.
side in the Smolensk War
against Poland (1632–34). In the winter of 1634-35 he yet again tried to convince the Cossacks to turn against the Poles at the Kaniv Council, but received only very limited support.
In 1635 he negotiated with the Russians the resettlement of 700 Cossacks in Russian-leaning Sloboda territories
and, in 1636, suggested the creation of a pro-Russian Cossack regiment. His proposal was rejected by the Russians who did not want to endanger their new relationship with Poland after the recently concluded Treaty of Polyanovka.
Details of his later life are unknown.
Fedorovych is one of four Ukrainian hetmans mentioned in the original version (published in 1863) of Pavlo Chubynsky
’s poem "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" ("Ukraine Has Not Perished") which was later transformed into the Ukrainian national anthem. A quatrain of the poem reads: "Nalyvaiko
, Zalizniak
/ And Taras Triasylo / Call us from beyond the grave / To the holy battle".
In 1926, a feature film, Taras Triasylo, directed by Pyotr Chardynin
, was released by the All-Ukrainian Kino Foto Direction (BUFKU). It recounted the then nearly three hundred year old events through the silent-movie prism of the Soviet
film industry.
Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks
Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks as a title was not officially recognized internationally until the creation of the Ukrainian Hetmanate. With the creation of Registered Cossacks units their leaders were unofficially referred to as hetmans, however officially the title was known as the "Senior of His...
(Cossack leader) elected by unregistered Cossacks.
Between 1629 and 1636, Fedorovych played a key role in the regional conflicts involving the rebellion of the Ruthenian
Ruthenians
The name Ruthenian |Rus']]) is a culturally loaded term and has different meanings according to the context in which it is used. Initially, it was the ethnonym used for the East Slavic peoples who lived in Rus'. Later it was used predominantly for Ukrainians...
(Ukrainian) Cossacks and peasants against the Polish rule over the Dnieper Ukraine
Dnieper Ukraine
Dnieper Ukraine , was the territory of Ukraine in the Russian Empire , roughly corresponding to the current territory of Ukraine, with the exceptions of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and Galicia in the west, which was a province of the Austrian Empire. Galicians sometimes call it Great Ukraine...
territory as well as in the conflicts that included 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...
, the Tsardom of Russia
Tsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
and the Ukrainians torn between those two neighbors.
With many circumstances of his life remaining mysterious to this day, Fedorovych is a revered figure in both Ukrainian folklore
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...
and in the Ukrainian national idea, a hero of poems by Taras Shevchenko
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko -Life:Born into a serf family of Hryhoriy Ivanovych Shevchenko and Kateryna Yakymivna Shevchenko in the village of Moryntsi, of Kiev Governorate of the Russian Empire Shevchenko was orphaned at the age of eleven...
, a personage of the earliest Ukrainian motion picture and one of only four Cossack leaders explicitly mentioned in the Pavlo Chubynsky
Pavlo Chubynsky
Pavlo Chubynsky was a Ukrainian poet and ethnographer whose poem "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was set to music and adapted as the Ukrainian national anthem....
poem that later became the basis of the modern National Anthem of Ukraine.
Early life
Taras Fedorovych was born to a TatarCrimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
family in Crimea, his given name was Hassan. It is unclear when he converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity and joined the Zaporozhian Cossacks Host. He is initially documented by references in the 1620s to his position as the Cossack Polkovnyk (Colonel) Hassan Tarasa in Hungarian chronicles, noted for considerable cruelty during his participation in the Thirty Year War as a Habsburg mercenary.
In 1629, after the pro-Polish Cossack Hetman
Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks
Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks as a title was not officially recognized internationally until the creation of the Ukrainian Hetmanate. With the creation of Registered Cossacks units their leaders were unofficially referred to as hetmans, however officially the title was known as the "Senior of His...
Mykhailo Doroshenko
Mykhailo Doroshenko
Mykhailo Doroshenko was the Hetman of the registered Ukrainian Cossacks from 1623–1628.He was elevated to the rank of Cossack colonel in 1616, and he was active in Petro Konashevych's wars against Muscovy. He personally participated in the Battle of Khotyn in 1621...
was killed in 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...
, the unregistered Cossacks elected Fedorovych to the Hetmanship and, under his leadership, participated in the subsequent Crimean campaign.
Hostilities
Fedorovych Uprising
The Fedorovych Uprising was a rebellion headed by Taras Fedorovych against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1630.-The uprising:In March 1630 Fedorovych became the leader of a Cossack and peasant revolt which became known as the Fedorovych Uprising...
carried out by the unregistered Cossacks dissatisfied with the conditions of the 1625 Treaty of Kurukove
Treaty of Kurukove
The Treaty of Kurukove was an agreement between Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Mykhailo Doroshenko of the Ukrainian Cossacks. After four days of negotiations, it was signed on 5 November 1625 near Lake Kurukove and what is now Kremenchuk. The treaty was a...
(also known as the Treaty of Lake Kurukove) signed earlier by Doroshenko, which restricted the number of the registry to only six thousand. In the meantime, the real numbers of Cossacks swelled by the constant flow of runaway peasants and, especially, at the end of the Polish-Swedish War (1625–1629), by the addition of a huge number of demobilized Ukrainians who refused to accept a return under Polish serfdom. The ranks of Cossacks who joined the resistance reached forty thousand.
The Cossack uprising fell on the fertile ground of the overall condition of Ukrainian peasantry who under Polish control were subject to continued enserfment
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
and exploitation by mostly Polish or polonized szlachta
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...
(nobility). Particularly resented was the attempt to impose Roman Catholicism
Union of Brest
Union of Brest or Union of Brześć refers to the 1595-1596 decision of the Church of Rus', the "Metropolia of Kiev-Halych and all Rus'", to break relations with the Patriarch of Constantinople and place themselves under the Pope of Rome. At the time, this church included most Ukrainians and...
on the unwilling Ukrainians, who had been traditionally Eastern Orthodox.
About ten thousand rebels proceeded from the 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...
towards the upper Dnieper
Dnieper Ukraine
Dnieper Ukraine , was the territory of Ukraine in the Russian Empire , roughly corresponding to the current territory of Ukraine, with the exceptions of the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and Galicia in the west, which was a province of the Austrian Empire. Galicians sometimes call it Great Ukraine...
territories, overrunning the Polish forces stationed there. The rebels captured and executed the Hetman of the registered Cossacks Hryhoriy Chorny for his pro-Polish stance and support of the Union of Brest, and subsequently came to an agreement on a new leadership by nominating Fedorovych for the position of Hetman.
Fedorovych addressed the Ukrainian commoners with several Universals
Universal (act)
Universal is a historic term that means an official proclamation or legal act. In several historic periods Universals were issued by the Polish and Ukrainian authorities. The name originates from Latin litterae universales, meaning universal publication directed to all...
calling upon everyone to join his uprising against the Polish "usurpers". The turbulence spread over the nearby territories, with many Cossacks and peasants rising against the local Polish nobles as well as wealthy Jewish
History of the Jews in Ukraine
Jewish communities have existed in the territory of Ukraine from the time of Kievan Rus' and developed many of the most distinctive modern Jewish theological and cultural traditions. While at times they flourished, at other times they faced periods of persecution and antisemitic discriminatory...
merchants who, despite their limited involvement in the local power structure were also hated by the peasants as Polish land owners frequently gave to the Jews the role of arendators (see tax farming
Tax farming
Farming is a technique of financial management, namely the process of commuting , by its assignment by legal contract to a third party, a future uncertain revenue stream into fixed and certain periodic rents, in consideration for which commutation a discount in value received is suffered...
) in the local taxation system. As religious services such as baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
ceremonies and funerals conducted in the Eastern Orthodox tradition customary for Ruthenians, were now to be taxed, with most of the commoners and especially the Cossacks being fiercely Orthodox, the Jews were perceived by many Ruthenians as a part of the oppressor/exploiter group.
As clashes increased, casualties rose on both sides. After a victory at Korsun
Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi
Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine. The city rests on the banks of the Ros' River, and is the administrative center of the Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi Raion ....
over the Polish army sent against them, the rebel Cossacks controlled a large territory that included Korsun, Pereiaslav, 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...
as well as other cities, with Pereiaslav becoming their main base.
In response to their successes, a large Polish army led by Stanisław Koniecpolski was sent to confront the Cossacks. The army, strengthened by German mercenary forces, was harassed by the rebels, and, in turn, plundered and massacred Lysianka, Dymer
Dymer
Dymer is a narrative poem by C.S. Lewis in 1926 under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton. Lewis worked on this poem, his most important poem, as early as 1916, when still only 17 years old, and completed it in 1925. It was Lewis's second published work.He thought of himself writing in the tradition of...
and several other Ukrainian settlements, then crossed the Dnieper where they were met by the rebels, both front and rear, as more Ukrainians rose in what became an area-wide rebellion against the Poles. The indecisive skirmishes around Pereiaslav lasted three weeks until the . Koniecpolski laid siege to the Cossack stronghold, but lacking the support of artillery and infantry, he could not break its walls; the Cossacks, however, were lacking supplies and agreed to negotiations. Though the Polish army was not defeated, its inability to defeat the rebellious Cossacks meant that the latter gained an upper hand in the negotiations; Ukrainian historiography calls the battle at Pereiaslav a victory, but this is disputed by Polish historiography.
Negotiations
Fedorovych's military successes forced Koniecpolski to start negotiations with the Cossack leadership, which resulted in the 1630 Treaty of Pereiaslav. Many of the demands of the non-registered Cossacks and Fedorovych, their leader, were discarded in the treaty negotiations by other Cossack leaders. The main demand voiced by Fedorovych and his supporters—that the Cossack privileges routinely guaranteed to the limited number of registered Cossacks should be granted to all runaway peasants who claimed Cossackdom—was rejected and, according to a narrow compromise, the Cossack register was enlarged from six to eight thousand. In return, Koniecpolski demanded that Fedorovych be delivered into Polish custody.Fedorovych, uncertain of the decision that would be reached, over his head, by the "compromising" faction of Cossack leadership, left Pereiaslav along with other Cossacks dissatisfied with the agreement and headed for the Cossack stronghold of the Zaporizhian Sich. Meanwhile, the Cossack leadership faction inclined to a compromise with Poland, elected Timofiy Orendarenko whose Hetmanship was confirmed with Koniecpolski's agreement. Fedorovych, disgruntled with this turn of events, tried to raise the Cossack masses to start a new uprising, but the energy for such an undertaking was no longer forthcoming.
Russia's ally
Fedorovych fought on the RussianTsardom of Russia
The Tsardom of Russia was the name of the centralized Russian state from Ivan IV's assumption of the title of Tsar in 1547 till Peter the Great's foundation of the Russian Empire in 1721.From 1550 to 1700, Russia grew 35,000 km2 a year...
side in the Smolensk War
Smolensk War
The Smolensk War was a conflict fought between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia.Hostilities began in October 1632 when Tsar forces tried to recapture the city of Smolensk, a former Russian possession. Small military engagements produced mixed results for both sides, but the surrender...
against Poland (1632–34). In the winter of 1634-35 he yet again tried to convince the Cossacks to turn against the Poles at the Kaniv Council, but received only very limited support.
In 1635 he negotiated with the Russians the resettlement of 700 Cossacks in Russian-leaning Sloboda territories
Sloboda Ukraine
Sloboda Ukraine was a historical region which developed and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the southwestern frontier of the Tsardom of Russia....
and, in 1636, suggested the creation of a pro-Russian Cossack regiment. His proposal was rejected by the Russians who did not want to endanger their new relationship with Poland after the recently concluded Treaty of Polyanovka.
Details of his later life are unknown.
Legacy and place in history
Documentation of most of the details of Taras Fedorovych's life has been lost in time, including the year and circumstances of his death. There is no specific record of his activities before the mid- to late-1620s, and after 1636. The brief period, however, in which he played one of the leading roles in the region's history, established his name as an ancient and lasting source of inspiration to future generations of Ukrainians.Fedorovych is one of four Ukrainian hetmans mentioned in the original version (published in 1863) of Pavlo Chubynsky
Pavlo Chubynsky
Pavlo Chubynsky was a Ukrainian poet and ethnographer whose poem "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" was set to music and adapted as the Ukrainian national anthem....
’s poem "Shche ne vmerla Ukraina" ("Ukraine Has Not Perished") which was later transformed into the Ukrainian national anthem. A quatrain of the poem reads: "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:...
, Zalizniak
Maksym Zalizniak
Maksym Zaliznyak - Zaporizhian Cossack, leader of the Koliivshchyna rebellion.-History:Zaliznyak was born in a poor peasant family...
/ And Taras Triasylo / Call us from beyond the grave / To the holy battle".
In 1926, a feature film, Taras Triasylo, directed by Pyotr Chardynin
Pyotr Chardynin
Pyotr Ivanovich Chardynin was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Pyotr Chardynin, one of the pioneers of the film industry in the Russian Empire, directed over a hundred silent films during his career.-Biography:...
, was released by the All-Ukrainian Kino Foto Direction (BUFKU). It recounted the then nearly three hundred year old events through the silent-movie prism of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
film industry.