Registered Cossacks
Encyclopedia
Registered Cossacks is the term used for Cossacks formations of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth armies.
on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior (later hetman) was Jan Badowski. The registered cossacks were the only military cossack formation recognized by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
.
Registered Cossacks were a military formations of Commonwealth army from 1572 until the year 1699 when were abolished. The most notorious of the first recorded cossack reforms came from the Polish king Stefan Batory
on September 16, 1578 when register was increased to 500 names. The new senior was appointed the starosta of Cherkasy and Kaniv Prince Michał Wiśniowiecki, while his deputy was Jan Oryszowski. Batory tried to control cossack forces who waged their own wars in Moldavia and Wallachia as well as other parts of the Ottoman Empire. As the headquarters of the cossacks was picked a town of Trakhtemyriv (today's a village of Kaniv Raion
) with its monastery where was located the cossack's hospital. Cossacks were getting paid on the Saint Nicolas Day (see Saint Nicolas
) in Cherkasy
by a scribe who, at time, was Jancz Bereg. That Batory's military reform, however, was not effective. The Polish government promised to pay the cossacks salary, but often did not follow that promise. Cossacks often proudly pledged their allegiance to serve the King of Poland and hoped for the same financial compensation at least as the regular army. Due to some hold ups in pay-ups cossacks continued their military engagements with Tatars and Moldavians.
Number of registered cossacks
In 1590 the Sejm issued a new declaration of recreating the cossack units. On July 25, 1590 there was issued another King's edict on which were registered 1,000 cossacks for policing purposes to prevent uncontrolled attacks from cossacks onto neighboring countries. Cossacks were paid from 5 to 12 zloty each quarter, while for the headquarters was picked the Zaporizhian Sich. In 1590s, however, as the Polish interests were aimed in securing the Swedish crown, the cossack movement came somewhat out of control, particularly, the one led by Kosynsky and, later, Nalyvaiko who also was assisted by the Kosh Otaman Hryhoriy Loboda.
(Commonwealth highest military commander). A substantial percent of Cossacks formed skilled light cavalry
units (choragiew
), excellent skirmisher
s trained in mounted archery
(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 husaria, 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 tax
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 Empire
and its vassal
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 szlachta
(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 monarch
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 uprising
of 1648), with registered Cossacks often forced to choose sides between supporting their own people or the szlachta-backed Commonwealth forces.
, signed on August 17, 1649, the number of Registered Cossacks increased up to 40 thousand.
Table. The Seats and the Number of Registered Cossacks in 1649.
Establishing
The registered cossacks were created on the King's edict of Sigismund II AugustusSigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior (later hetman) was Jan Badowski. The registered cossacks were the only military cossack formation recognized by 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...
.
| Year | Hetman | Notes | |
| 1572 | Jan Badowski | ||
| 1575 | Bohdan Ruzhynsky | ||
| 1578 | Michał Wiśniowiecki | ||
| 1583 | |||
| 1590 | |||
| 1600 | Havrylo Krutnevych | ||
| 1603 | Ivan Kuchkovych | ||
| 1618 | Petro Konashevych Petro Konashevych Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachnyi, , was a Hetman of Registered Cossacks and the Kosh Otaman of Zaporozhian Host from 1601–1618, a brilliant military leader both on land and sea. While being a Cossack Hetman, he transformed the Cossack Host into a regular military formation and imparted a statist... |
||
| 1622 | Olifer Holub | elected by cossacks | |
| 1623 | 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... |
the last senior, replaced by commissar | |
Registered Cossacks were a military formations of Commonwealth army from 1572 until the year 1699 when were abolished. The most notorious of the first recorded cossack reforms came from the Polish king Stefan Batory
Stefan Batory
Stephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...
on September 16, 1578 when register was increased to 500 names. The new senior was appointed the starosta of Cherkasy and Kaniv Prince Michał Wiśniowiecki, while his deputy was Jan Oryszowski. Batory tried to control cossack forces who waged their own wars in Moldavia and Wallachia as well as other parts of the Ottoman Empire. As the headquarters of the cossacks was picked a town of Trakhtemyriv (today's a village of Kaniv Raion
Kaniv Raion
Kaniv Raion is a raion of Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. Its administrative centre is located at Kaniv....
) with its monastery where was located the cossack's hospital. Cossacks were getting paid on the Saint Nicolas Day (see Saint Nicolas
Saint Nicolas
Saint-Nicolas may refer to the following places:-In Belgium:*Saint-Nicolas, Belgium, in the Province of Liège*The French name for Sint-Niklaas, in Province of East Flanders-In France:*Saint-Nicolas, Pas-de-Calais...
) in 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...
by a scribe who, at time, was Jancz Bereg. That Batory's military reform, however, was not effective. The Polish government promised to pay the cossacks salary, but often did not follow that promise. Cossacks often proudly pledged their allegiance to serve the King of Poland and hoped for the same financial compensation at least as the regular army. Due to some hold ups in pay-ups cossacks continued their military engagements with Tatars and Moldavians.
Number of registered cossacks
| Year | Number |
|---|---|
| 1572 | 300 |
| 1578 | 600 |
| 1583 | 600 |
| 1590 | 1,000 |
In 1590 the Sejm issued a new declaration of recreating the cossack units. On July 25, 1590 there was issued another King's edict on which were registered 1,000 cossacks for policing purposes to prevent uncontrolled attacks from cossacks onto neighboring countries. Cossacks were paid from 5 to 12 zloty each quarter, while for the headquarters was picked the Zaporizhian Sich. In 1590s, however, as the Polish interests were aimed in securing the Swedish crown, the cossack movement came somewhat out of control, particularly, the one led by Kosynsky and, later, Nalyvaiko who also was assisted by the Kosh Otaman Hryhoriy Loboda.
Organization
Registered Cossacks formed an elite among Cossacks, serving in the military under commanders (starshyna) and main otaman, who were responsible before Grand Crown HetmanHetman
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....
(Commonwealth highest military commander). A substantial percent of Cossacks formed skilled light cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
units (choragiew
Choragiew
Chorągiew was the basic administrative unit of the Polish cavalry from the 14th century. An alternative name until the 17th century was Rota.The name may derive from Slavic word Khorugv ....
), excellent skirmisher
Skirmisher
Skirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to harass the enemy.-Pre-modern:...
s trained in mounted archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. 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 husaria, 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 tax
Tax
To 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 Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
and its vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
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 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...
(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 monarch
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally 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 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...
of 1648), with registered Cossacks often forced to choose sides between supporting their own people or the szlachta-backed Commonwealth forces.
Cossack Hetmanate
According to the Treaty of ZborivTreaty of Zboriv
The Treaty of Zboriv was signed on August 17, 1649, after the Battle of Zboriv when the Crown forces of about 25,000 led by king John II Casimir of Poland clashed against a combined force of Cossacks and Crimean Tatars, led by hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky and khan İslâm III Giray of Crimea...
, signed on August 17, 1649, the number of Registered Cossacks increased up to 40 thousand.
Table. The Seats and the Number of Registered Cossacks in 1649.
| # | Seat of a Cossack regiment | Number of Registered Cossacks |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 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:... |
2990 |
| 2 | 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... |
2662 |
| 3 | 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... |
2990 |
| 4 | Chernihiv Chernihiv Chernihiv or Chernigov is a historic city in northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Chernihiv Oblast , as well as of the surrounding Chernihivskyi Raion within the oblast... |
998 |
| 5 | Chyhyryn Chyhyryn Chyhyryn is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast of central Ukraine. In 1648 to 1669 the city was the capital of Ukraine .- Location :... |
3220 |
| 6 | Kalnyk | 2050 |
| 7 | 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... |
3167 |
| 8 | Kiev Kiev Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press.... |
2002 |
| 9 | 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 .... |
3470 |
| 10 | Kropyvna | 1993 |
| 11 | Myrhorod Myrhorod Myrhorod or Mirgorod is a city in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Myrhorodskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the river Khorol.-History:The town was founded either in the 12th... |
3009 |
| 12 | Nizhyn Nizhyn Nizhyn is a city located in the Chernihiv Oblast of northern Ukraine, along the Oster River, north-east of the nation's capital, Kiev. It is the administrative center of the Nizhynsky Raion, though the city itself is also designated as a district in the oblast... |
991 |
| 13 | Pereyaslav | 2986 |
| 14 | Poltava Poltava Poltava is a city in located on the Vorskla River in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Poltava Oblast , as well as the surrounding Poltava Raion of the oblast. Poltava's estimated population is 298,652 .... |
2970 |
| 15 | Pryluky Pryluky Pryluky or Priluki is a city located on the Udai River in the Chernihiv Oblast, north-central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Prylutsky Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate municipality within the oblast... |
1996 |
| 16 | Uman Uman Uman is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia. The city rests on the banks of the Umanka River at around , and serves as the self-governing administrative center of the Umanskyi Raion .... |
2977 |