Ivan Samoylovych
Encyclopedia
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....
of 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....
from 1672 to 1687. His term in office
The Ruin (Ukrainian history)
The Ruin is a period of Ukrainian history from the death of hetman Bohdan Khmelnitsky in 1657 and until ascension of hetman Ivan Mazepa in 1687. This period is characterised by continuous strife, civil war, and foreign intervention of Ukraine's neighbours...
was marked by further incorporation of the Cossack Hetmanate
Cossack Hetmanate
The Hetmanate or Zaporizhian Host was the Ruthenian Cossack state in the Central Ukraine between 1649 and 1782.The Hetmanate was founded by first Ukrainian hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Khmelnytsky Uprising . In 1654 it pledged its allegiance to Muscovy during the Council of Pereyaslav,...
into the nascent Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
and by attempts to win the Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine , a historical name of a part of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding with modern-day oblasts of Volyn, Rivne, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Kiev, as well as part of Cherkasy and Ternopil...
from Poland-Lithuania
Poland-Lithuania
Poland–Lithuania can refer to:* Polish–Lithuanian union from 1385 until 1569* Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569 until 1795See also: Polish-Lithuanian...
.
Rise to power
Samoylovych's father was a priest in a village near ZhytomyrZhytomyr
Zhytomyr is a city in the North of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Zhytomyr Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Zhytomyr Raion...
. Ivan first rose to prominence during Ivan Briukhovetsky
Ivan Briukhovetsky
Ivan Briukhovetsky was a pro-Russian hetman of Left-Bank Ukraine from 1663 to 1668. For background see The Ruin...
's revolt against 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...
. After Briukhovetsky's execution he supported Demian Mnohohrishny
Demian Mnohohrishny
Demian Mnohohrishny was the Hetman of Left-bank Ukraine from 1669 to 1672. See The Ruin His surname literally means "of many sins"....
as a new hetman and swore allegiance to the Russian Tsar. Securing Mnohohrishny's deposition, he was elected the 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....
of the 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....
in Konotop
Konotop
Konotop is a city in northern Ukraine within the Sumy Oblast. Konotop is the center of the Konotop Raion , and is located about 129 km from Sumy, the Oblast capital. It is host to Konotop air base.-History:...
on June 17, 1672.
Samoylovych's principal ambition was to control the Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine
Right-bank Ukraine , a historical name of a part of Ukraine on the right bank of the Dnieper River, corresponding with modern-day oblasts of Volyn, Rivne, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Kirovohrad and Kiev, as well as part of Cherkasy and Ternopil...
, where two rival hetmans, Petro Doroshenko
Petro Doroshenko
Petro Dorofeyevych Doroshenko was a Cossack political and military leader, Hetman of Right-bank Ukraine and a Russian voyevoda.-Earlier life:...
and Mykhailo Khanenko
Mykhailo Khanenko
Mykhailo Stepanovych Khanenko was a Ukrainian Cossack military leader, and nominal hetman of Right-bank Ukraine from 1669-74 in rivalry with Petro Doroshenko during The Ruin ....
, were active. In 1674 he joined his Cossacks with the Russian forces under Prince Grigory Romodanovsky
Grigory Romodanovsky
Prince Grigory Grigoryevich Romodanovsky was a leading Russian general of Tsar Alexis's reign who promoted the Tsar's interests in Ukraine.Romodanovsky belonged to the Rurikid clan of Romodanovsky...
against Doroshenko. After the latter's deposition, Samoylovych let him live in peace on the left bank of the Dnieper.
Zgon
In 1677 the Turkish sultan proclaimed Yuri Khmelnytsky a successor to Doroshenko, and invaded the right bank, and laid siege to its capital ChyhyrynChyhyryn
Chyhyryn is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast of central Ukraine. In 1648 to 1669 the city was the capital of Ukraine .- Location :...
. Although Samoylovych and Romodanovsky were generally successful in their operations against the Turks, the Russian army unexpectedly withdrew to the left bank on behest of the Tsar Alexis. By that time, the Russian government decided to de-populate the right bank altogether and to resettle its Cossacks in the areas controlled by Samoylovych. His son Semion was put in charge of these policies, known as zgon.
Conflict with Galitzine
In 1679 Poland invited Vasily Galitzine (prime-minister of RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) to join the Holy League
Holy League (1684)
Holy League of 1684 was initiated in by Pope Innocent XI, and composed of the Holy Roman Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Venetian Republic. Tsardom of Russia joined the League in 1686. This alliance opposed the Ottoman Empire in the Great Turkish War and lasted until the Treaty...
against the Turks. The Eternal Peace Treaty between Poland and Russia ran contrary with Samoylovych's plans to annex the right bank of the Dnieper, which still remained under Polish dominion since the Treaty of Andrusovo
Treaty of Andrusovo
The Truce of Andrusovo was a thirteen and a half year truce, signed in 1667 between Tsardom of Russia and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which were at war since 1654 over the territories of modern-day Ukraine and Belarus....
. Samoylovych attempted to persuade Russian boyars in the Polish treachery but, failing in his design, sent an angry letter to the king of Poland. Despite subsequent apologies, this incident would eventually contribute to his downfall.
In 1687 Galitzine and Samoylovych failed in their Crimean campaigns
Crimean campaigns
Crimean campaigns of 1687 and 1689 were two military campaigns of the Russian army against the Crimean Khanate. They were a part of the Russo-Turkish War and Russo-Crimean Wars. These were the first Russian forces to come close to Crimea since 1569...
against the Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate
Crimean Khanate, or Khanate of Crimea , was a state ruled by Crimean Tatars from 1441 to 1783. Its native name was . Its khans were the patrilineal descendants of Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan...
on account of steppe fires. It was rumoured that it was Samoylovych who had set the steppe on fire, because he preferred the Tatars to the Poles. Galitzine, meanwhile, was exasperated at Samoylovych's friendship with Prince Romodanovsky, his old political rival, and finally resolved to replace him with a more tractable Cossack.
In June 1687 Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa , Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, from 1687–1708. He was famous as a patron of the arts, and also played an important role in the Battle of Poltava where after learning of Peter I's intent to relieve him as acting Hetman of Ukraine and replace him...
used the popular discontent with Samoylovych's haughty manners and high taxes to accuse him of separatism. Thereupon his youngest son, Hryhory Samoylovych, was incriminated in slandering the Tsar and executed in Sevsk
Sevsk
Sevsk is a town in Sevsky District of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, located on the Sev River , away from Bryansk. Population: -History:...
. The old hetman and his family were arrested and exiled to Tobolsk
Tobolsk
Tobolsk is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh Rivers. It is a historic capital of Siberia. Population: -History:...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, where he died in 1690.