Jeremi Wisniowiecki
Encyclopedia
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
of 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...
, Prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
at Wiśniowiec, Łubnie
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...
and Chorol
Khorol
Khorol is a city in Poltava Oblast, Ukraine. Population is 14,753 . Notable natives of Khorol include Ben-Zion Dinur and Aryeh Dvoretzky....
and a father of future Polish king Michał I. A notable 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...
(of Lithuanian/Ruthenian origin) and military commander, Wiśniowiecki was an heir of one of the biggest fortunes of the state and rose to several notable dignities, among others he was made the Palatine of Ruthenia after 1646. He owned 38,000 homesteads, inhabited by 230,000 of his subjects.
Orphaned at the age of seven, he was raised by his uncle, Konstanty Wiśniowiecki
Konstanty Wisniowiecki
Prince Konstanty Wiśniowiecki , Wojewoda Belski 1636, Wojewoda Ruski 1638, and Starosta Czerkaski i Kamionecki was a wealthy, powerful and influential magnate, experienced in both politics and warfare....
. Attended a Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
college, briefly an academy in Italy, gained military experience in the Netherlands. In 1631 he returned to the 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...
and took over from his uncle the management of the huge estates of his father, which included a large part of what is now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. The capital of his estate was located at a fortified manor at 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...
. Because of its size, Wiśniowiecki's estate was often named the Łubnie state, as it exceeded in size most of the states of Europe of that time. There he fielded a private army of between 2000 and 6000 soldiers and from there he headed the colonisation of the steppes on the eastern side
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....
of the Dnieper River.
He gained military experience in several wars and campaigns. During the Smolensk Campaign of 1633-1634, he accompanied Aleksander Piaseczyński's southern army and took part in several battles, among them the siege of Putyvl
Putyvl
Putyvl or Putivl is a town in north-east Ukraine, in Sumy Oblast. Currently about 20,000 people live in Putyvl.-History:One of the original Siverian towns, Putyvl was first mentioned as early as 1146 as an important fortress contested between Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversky principalities of...
. The following year he served in the units of Adam Kisiel
Adam Kisiel
Adam Świętołdycz Kisiel was the Voivode of Kiev and castellan or voivode of Czernihów . He was the last Orthodox senator of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
and Łukasz Żółkiewski. After the war he engaged in a conflict for the estate of Dowmontów against another notable magnate, Samuel Łaszcz. Although Jeremi was victorious, the conflict caused much opposition to his - almost independent - rule in much of Ukraine. It was one of the reasons why in 1636 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 ....
opposed the marriage of Polish king Władysław IV Waza with Wiśniowiecki's sister, Anna. Jeremi himself married Gryzelda Zamoyska, daughter of Chancellor Tomasz Zamoyski
Tomasz Zamoyski
Tomasz Zamoyski was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman and magnate.Tomasz was the 2nd Ordynat of the Zamość estates. He was voivode of Podole Voivodeship in 1618, voivode of Kijów Voivodeship in 1619, starost of Kraków in 1628, Deputy Chancellor of the Crown in 1635, as well as starost of Knyszyn,...
in 1639. At that time he also engaged in a political campaign to preserve ancient nobility titles and nullify the newer ones, which gained him the enmity of another powerful magnate, Jerzy Ossoliński
Jerzy Ossolinski
Prince Jerzy Ossoliński was a Polish szlachcic, Crown Court Treasurer from 1632, voivode of Sandomierz from 1636, Reichsfürst since 1634, Crown Deputy Chancellor from 1639, Great Crown Chancellor from 1643, starost of Bydgoszcz , Lubomel , Puck and Bolim , magnate, politician and diplomat...
.
In 1637 he fought under Hetman Mikołaj Potocki against a Cossack rebellion of Pavel Pavluk and the following year against the rebellion of Dymitr Hunia. In 1641, after the death of his uncle Konstanty Wiśniowiecki, Jeremi became the last adult male of the Wiśniowiecki family and inherited all the remaining estates of the clan, despite a brief conflict with Aleksander Ludwik Radziwiłł who also claimed the inherited land. He also fought against the Tatars in 1640-1646. In 1644 together with 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 Koniecpolski he took part in the victorious battle of Ochmatów, in which they dealt a terrible defeat to the Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars
Crimean Tatars or Crimeans are a Turkic ethnic group that originally resided in Crimea. They speak the Crimean Tatar language...
of Toğay bey
Togay bey
Tugay Bey sometimes also spelled as Tugai Bey was a notable military leader and politician of the Crimean Tatars.Toğay descended from the Arğıns - one of noble Crimean families, and his full name is Arğın Doğan Toğay bey...
(Tuhaj Bej).
In 1644 after a false news of the death of Adam Kazanowski
Adam Kazanowski
Adam Kazanowski was a noble of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1633. Greater Crown Stolnik from 1634, Court Chamberlain and castellan of Sandomierz from 1637, Court Marshall from 1643, żupnik of Wieliczka from 1642, starosta barcicki, borysowski, kozienicki, rumieński, solecki,...
he besieged and captured his estate of Rumnia. For this he was sentenced to exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
. After he presented strong claims to Rumnia, he gained support from local sejmik
Sejmik
A sejmik was a regional assembly in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and earlier in the Kingdom of Poland. Sejmiks existed until the end of the Commonwealth in 1795 following the partitions of the Commonwealth...
s and then from 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 ....
and the king. In 1646, after the death of Koniecpolski, he became the voivode of Ruthenia. He invaded and took over the town of Hadiach
Hadiach
Hadiach is a historic city in Poltava Oblast in the central-east part of Ukraine. Located on the Psel River the city is an administrative center of the Hadyatskyi Raion...
which was also being claimed by a son of Koniecpolski, Aleksander Koniecpolski
Aleksander Koniecpolski (1620-1659)
Prince Aleksander Koniecpolski was a Polish nobleman. He became the Grand Standard-Bearer of the Crown in 1641, the Palatine of Sandomierz Voivodeship in 1656, and the Starost of Perejasław, Korsun, Płoskirow and Dolina. He was the son of the famous hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski....
. Then, together with Janusz Tyszkiewicz
Janusz Tyszkiewicz
Janusz Tyszkiewicz may refer to:* Janusz Skumin Tyszkiewicz, 1570–1642, voivode of Mścisław , Trakai , and Vilnius * Janusz Tyszkiewicz Łohojski, 1590–1649, voivode of Kiev...
, he invaded and took over the starostwo kaniowskie from Samuel Łaszcz. After a threat of civil war he negotiated a settlement with Aleksander Koniecpolski over Hadziacz.
Transdnieper
Transdnieper is a historical steppe region from the right bank of Dnieper and beyond.It approximately corresponds to Right-bank Ukraine.-External links:...
(Zadnieprze) which led to many conflicts with Cossacks inhabiting this area. He fought against the Cossacks again during Khmelnytsky Uprising
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, was a Cossack rebellion in the Ukraine between the years 1648–1657 which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland...
in 1648-1651, commanding defence of Zbaraż in 1649, and in the battle of Berestechko
Battle of Berestechko
The Battle of Berestechko was fought between rebellious Zaporozhian Cossacks, led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, aided by their Crimean Tatar allies, and a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army under King John II Casimir. It was the largest land battle of 17th century.Lasting from June 28 to June 30,...
in 1651. He also took considerable efforts to protect his Jewish subjects. His military prowess earned him the nickname "Uzhas Kozachij" (Cossack's Fear). He was the owner of large estates in Volhynian, Ruthenian and Kiev Voivodships. Under his management the estate flourished. However, his conversion to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
from the Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
religion, the religion of the Ukrainian Cossacks, increased tensions in Ukraine.
Popular culture
Jacek KaczmarskiJacek Kaczmarski
Jacek Kaczmarski was a Polish singer, songwriter, poet and author.Kaczmarski was a voice of the Solidarity trade union movement in 1980s Poland, for his commitment to a free Poland, independent of Soviet rule. His songs criticized the ruling communist regime and appealed to the tradition of...
dedicated one of his songs, Kniazia Jaremy nawrócenie to Jeremi Wiśniowiecki.
Andrzej Seweryn
Andrzej Seweryn
Andrzej Seweryn is a Polish and French actor and director. One of the most successful Polish theatre actors, he starred in over 50 films, mostly in Poland, France and Germany. He is also one of only three non-French actors to be hired by the Paris-based Comédie-Française.- Biography :Andrzej...
played Jeremi Wiśniowiecki in the 1999 film With Fire and Sword
With Fire and Sword
With Fire and Sword is a historical novel by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, published in 1884. It is the first volume of a series known to Poles as the Trilogy, followed by The Deluge and Fire in the Steppe , also translated as Colonel Wolodyjowski...
He is also lauded strongly in the Trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
of Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
which describes the history of the Polish-Lituanian Commonwealth (Rzeczpospolita
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"...
) in the 1640–80 years.
See also
- Lithuanian nobility
- Wiśniowiecki familyWisniowieckiWiśniowiecki is the name of a family notable in the history of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They were powerful magnates in Ruthenia of Rurikid or Gediminids descent. The family traditions traces their descend to Gediminids, but modern historians believe there is more evidence for the Rurikid...
- List of szlachta