Young Volyn gentry, study and teaching

Pyotr Konashevich Sahaydachny was born around 1570 in the village of Kulchitsy, Przemysl land of the Rus Voivodeship (Sambir district, Lviv region) into a noble Orthodox family. He led his family from the petty gentry Popel-Konashevich. He studied at the Ostroh school in Volyn together with Meletiy Smotrytsky, the author of the famous Grammar. The Ostroh school was the first and best Greek-Slavic Orthodox school of the highest level in Ukraine. The course of study consisted of the famous "seven free sciences" of the Renaissance - grammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. Melety Smotrytsky, Cyril Lukaris (later became Patriarch of Constantinople) and others shone among the teaching staff. From the walls of this educational institution came a galaxy of outstanding cultural, educational and socio-political figures who enriched various spheres of the spiritual life of the Ukrainian people. A circle of scientists formed around the school, which included Melety Smotritsky, Vasily Surazhsky, Timofey Mikhailovich, the brothers Nalivaiko and Ivan Fedorov. In this school, Sahaidachny not only received a high education for that time, but also formed his progressive, humanistic, patriotic worldview. After graduating, Sahaidachny moved to Lviv, and then to Kyiv, where he worked as a home teacher, as well as an assistant to the Kyiv judge Jan Aksak. Immediately after the Brest Church Union, Pyotr Sahaidachny wrote the work “Explanation about the Union” (the text has not been preserved).

Pyotr Sahaidachny was married to Anastasia Povchenskaya.

The first campaigns against the Crimeans and Turks (1606-1616)

At the end of the 16th or the very beginning of the 17th century. Pyotr Konashevich went to Zaporozhye (D. Yavornitsky claims that “here, around 1601, out of some family misunderstandings, he went to Sich”). Sahaidachny already in the early days of his stay in the Sich showed great political foresight. The Cossacks elect him as a convoy, instructing him to be in charge of all the artillery of the Sich. In 1605, Sahaidachny became the ataman at the head of the Sich. Regarding the question, when Sahaydachny was elected hetman for the first time, there is no definite answer. G. Konysky in "History of Rusiv" testifies that

regiments of Little Russia ... agreeing with the Zaporizhian Cossacks, in 1598 they chose the Obozny General, Pyotr Konashevich Sahaydachny, as hetman, and he was the first to be written by Hetman of Zaporozhye, and according to him, all former Hetmans began to add the Zaporizhian army in their titles.

G. Konisky, History of the Rus or Little Russia. - M., 1846. - S. 44.

Sea trips

With the development of the Zaporozhian Sich, the struggle of the Cossacks against the Turks and Tatars gained an active, offensive character. At the beginning of the 17th century, when the Cossacks, as Antonovich testifies, “there were more than forty thousand” (miracles: Antonovich V. The work is named. - P. 38), they not only repulsed the invasions of the Tatar hordes and Turkish troops, but also themselves launched an active attack on the possessions of Turkey and its vassal - the Crimean Khanate, trying to transfer military operations to the territory of the robbers. Dozens, and sometimes hundreds of Cossacks, "seagulls" made sea trips to the Crimea and the Black Sea coast. But the main direction of the Cossack sea campaigns was the coast of Turkey. In 1606, the Cossacks captured the Turkish fortress of Varna, which had previously been considered impregnable. 10 Turkish galleys were captured with food, goods and crews. The enraged sultan ordered to block the Dnieper near the island of Tavani with an iron chain and block the Cossacks. However, even such obstacles did not stop the winners. Already in 1607, the Cossacks carried out a large campaign against the Crimean Khanate, captured and burned two cities, Perekop and Ochakov. In the following 1608 and early 1609, the Cossacks, led by Sagaydachny, carried out a sea voyage in 16 boats - "seagulls", entered the mouth of the Danube and attacked Kiliya, Belgorod and Izmail. The time of heroic campaigns was called by historians the sea Cossack campaigns of 1612-1614, led by Peter Sahaidachny. Cossack "seagulls" dealt a lot of tangible blows to the mighty Turkish fleet. Sometimes more than 300 “gulls” came out of the Sich, in which up to 20 thousand Cossacks were accommodated. In 1614, the Cossacks took Sinop. The Cossacks stormed the mighty, with powerful fortifications, Turkish fortress of Kafa (Feodosia) in 1616, defeated the 14,000-strong garrison and freed the prisoners, and the Battle of Samara also took place in 1616.

After 1616, the Cossacks carried out a number of sea and land campaigns. Ochakov, Perekop, Trebizond, Tsargorod and other Turkish and Tatar fortresses and cities experienced powerful blows from the Cossacks under the command of Sahaidachny. According to contemporaries, the Cossacks almost completely reigned on the Black Sea and, in fact, controlled the navigation between the Bosphorus and the Liman.

Sagaidachny carried out a reform of the troops in the Sich. The main essence of which was to increase the organization, discipline and combat effectiveness of the Cossack troops. He turned the partisan detachments of the Cossacks into a regular army, eliminated the freemen from the army, instituted severe discipline, forbade drinking vodka during sea voyages, and for drunkenness it was often a "caravan for death."

Details of sea voyages can be found in various sources, in particular, in

For a map of the sea Cossack campaigns, see Zaporizhzhya_Sich # Land and sea campaigns of the Cossacks

Hetman of Ukraine and the Zaporozhye Host (1606)

Poland did not need wars with Turkey because of the Cossacks, especially since the country had a goal to put the Polish prince Vladislav on the Moscow throne. Therefore, Poland turned a blind eye to the apparent willfulness of Sahaidachny, who in 1606 declared himself Hetman of both sides of the Dnieper and the entire Zaporizhian army, and therefore fawned over Sahaidachny.

Let us note that after this Sahaidachny was deprived of the hetman's mace three times and for a long time (1610, 1617, 1620).

Moscow campaign (1618)

More promises from the Polish government

The Polish government needed an army of Cossacks to participate in its attempt to put the Polish prince Vladislav on the Moscow throne. Sahaidachny put forward the conditions for the participation of the Cossacks in the campaign:

• recognition by Poland of the judicial and administrative autonomy of Ukraine.
• removal of bans and restrictions on the Orthodox religion in Ukraine;
• increase in the number of Cossack troops;
• expansion of the Cossack territory;

The king and the Sejm agreed with all these demands of Sahaidachny and sent Kleinodes to his army, that is, a mace, a bunchuk, a seal and a flag. In the summer of 1618, 20,000 Cossacks, led by Sagaidachny, moved through Livny to Moscow, (capturing Putivl, Rylsk, Kursk, Yelets, Lebedin, Skopin, Ryazhsk along the way), cutting the space between Kursk and Kromy.

Capture Liven, Yelets. Cruelty of the Cherkasy

Livny was a second-rate fortress of the Zasechnaya line. The walls of the fortress were made of wood and earth. The Livny people put up fierce resistance, but the forces turned out to be too unequal: according to the painting of 1618, there were only 940 people in the Livny garrison. "Livensky ruin" is reflected in the annals. Here is how the massacre near Livny is depicted in the Belsk Chronicle: “And he, Pan Saadachnaya, came from Cherkasy near the Ukrainian city near Livny, and took Livny by storm, and shed a lot of Christian blood, killed many Orthodox peasants with their wives and children innocently, and He has defiled many Orthodox Christians and desecrated and destroyed the churches of God, and plundered all Christian houses and captured many wives and children. The Livensky governor Nikita Ivanovich Yegupov-Cherkassky was also captured, the second governor, Pyotr Danilov, was killed in battle. Leaving the ashes in the place of Liven, Sahaidachny went further to Yelets. Yelets was well fortified and the garrison consisted of 1969 people. Yelets kept the border defense against Tatar raids in a section of about seventy kilometers along the front and up to forty in depth. The Yelchane locked themselves in the fortress, heroically fought off the attacks. The defense of Yelets was led by the governor Andrey Bogdanovich Polev. Seeing that the city cannot be taken by force, Sahaidachny went to a trick. He lifted the siege and pretended to retreat. Voivode Polev believed and ordered to pursue the enemy, "with all the people he left the city." Fascinated by the persecution, the Yelchans moved away from the city, and at that time a detachment of Cossacks, sitting in ambush, burst into defenseless Yelets. The city was devastated and burned to the ground, its defenders and civilians, including women and children, were killed.

Siege of Moscow

Sahaidachny continued his campaign against Moscow. The government of Mikhail Romanov sent an army of 7,000 men to Serpukhov under the command of Pozharsky. This is all that the tsarist government could afford to remove from the main Polish front. But Pozharsky fell ill, his old wounds opened up, and he handed over command of the army to the second governor, Prince Grigory Volkonsky. With this detachment, Volkonsky was supposed to prevent Sahaidachny from crossing the Oka River and stop his advance on Moscow. Sahaidachny showed military skill and tried to deceive Volkonsky. He chose as the place of crossing the point where the Osetr river flows into the Oka, some 25 kilometers from impregnable Zaraysk, which remained in his rear. Volkonsky guessed the place of the crossing, and Sagaidachny took a risk. In case of failure of the crossing, he found himself in an operational environment. And at first, for two days, Volkonsky held out until Sagaidachny, sent bypassing part of his forces, crossed the Oka upstream, near Rostislavl-Ryazansky. Upon learning of this, Volkonsky, in view of the superiority of the enemy, left his positions and locked himself in Kolomna. But Sahaidachny did not even think of besieging Kolomna, the strongest fortress even against Zaraisk. He moved on, captured Yaroslavl, Pereyaslavl, Romanov, Kashira and Kasimov, and without interference on September 20 joined Vladislav and laid siege to Moscow.

The results of the trip to Moscow

Since the Polish government did not have money to continue the war, on December 1, the Deulino truce was concluded. Vladislav renounced the rights to the Moscow throne, for which Poland received the Smolensk and Chernigov-Seversk lands (29 cities in total). For the ruin of Muscovy, the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks received a payment from the Polish king - 20 thousand gold and 7 thousand pieces of cloth. Returning from the campaign, P. Sahaydachny did not go to the Sich, but came with a 20,000-strong army to Kyiv, where he was "voted by the Hetman over Kyiv Ukraine and the Hetman of the entire army of Zaporozky." After the Deulino truce, the Poles, having freed their forces, concentrated a significant part of them in Ukraine in order to restore order there. Sagaidachny again faced a choice. Either decide on a war with the Poles, or peaceful coexistence. He had to choose the second one and conclude the Rostavitsa agreement with the Poles in the village of Rostavitsa near Pavoloch in 1619. According to the Rostavitsi agreement, all Cossacks recorded in them over the past five years were to be removed from the registers .; the number of registered Cossacks was left to be determined by the king, and all other Cossacks were to return under the rule of the Polish landowners. This agreement caused a storm of indignation in the Cossacks. The dissatisfied were headed by Yakov Nerodich-Wart, who was proclaimed hetman. Sahaidachny's position was precarious. But he gathered an army and moved against the Tatars, inflicted a series of defeats on them and returned in triumph.

The reaction of the Jerusalem Patriarch Theophan

As M. Smotrytsky wrote, "... the hetman, tormented by remorse of conscience, on behalf of the entire Zaporozhye Host, asked the Jerusalem Patriarch Theophan "for the remission of the sin of spilling Christian blood in Moscow." According to reports from another source, Theophan's reaction to these words was harsh and unequivocal. He "... he scolded the Cossacks for going to Moscow, saying that they fell under a curse, indicating for this the reason that Moscow is Christians."

Kiev Brotherhood. Restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy in Kyiv (1620)

With the entire Zaporizhzhya army, Sahaidachny joined the Kiev (Epiphany) brotherhood. And although it was created without the permission of the king, they did not dare to ban the brotherhood, fearing the Cossacks.

It is possible that in February 1620, ataman Peter Odinets, on behalf of Sahaidachny, met with Patriarch Theophan III of Jerusalem in Moscow, where he outlined the position of the hetman on this issue. In March, Feofan arrived in Ukraine. At the border, he was met by Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, led by Sagaydachny, who, according to the Gustyn Chronicle, “turned him with guards, like bees, their mother”, escorted him to Kyiv. Here Feofan communicated with representatives of the local brotherhood, the Orthodox clergy. He visited the famous Cossack Trakhtemirovsky monastery. On October 6, 1621, in the fraternal Church of the Epiphany, the patriarch consecrated Abbot Isaiah Kopynsky of Mezhygorsk to the rank of Przemysl bishop, hegumen of the Kiev-Mikhailovsky monastery Job Boretsky to the rank of Kyiv metropolitan, Meletiy Smotrytsky to the rank of Polotsk archbishop, as well as five bishops in Polotsk, Vladimir-Volynsky, Lutsk, Przemysl and Holm. Subsequently, they all became famous fighters for the Orthodox faith, education and Ukrainian culture. Thus, thanks to the wise policy of P. Sahaidachny, the Orthodox hierarchy was revived on the territory of the former Kievan Rus and the Orthodox Church was saved from the danger of being left without the clergy. With the active participation of Sahaidachny in Ukraine in 1620, the Orthodox hierarchy was also restored, which was liquidated after the Brest Church Union of 1596. Under the direct influence of the pen of Job Boretsky, the treatise “Protestation and pious justice” comes out, the polemical work “Polynodia” by Zakharia Kopystensky, “The Book of Faith” and others appear. The authors of these works sought to recreate historically true pictures of the life of the Ukrainian people in the context of their ties with the Russian and Belarusian peoples. These were innovative works, on the pages of which, unlike the first polemical works, the idea of ​​the ancestral home of the three East Slavic peoples, the inseparability of their historical destinies, the proximity of language, and the unity of religion resounds in full voice. Job Boretsky proudly declared in his "Protestation": "with Moscow we have one faith and worship, one origin, language and custom." Paying tribute to the Cossacks, the authors of polemical writings called them “heirs of old Russia”, who “surpass those Roman Scipios and Carthaginian Hanibals with their firmness”, etc., etc.

Negotiations on the transition to the service of the Russian Tsar (1620)

In February 1620, Hetman Petro Sahaydachny sent ambassadors to Moscow, headed by Petr Odinets, to express the willingness of the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks to serve the tsar, as they had previously served his predecessors. The "former service" meant the campaigns of Dmitry Vishnevetsky (Baida) against the Crimean Tatars in the 1550s.

The ambassadors were received on February 26 in the Posolsky Prikaz. Their negotiations with the boyars and clerks continued throughout March and April. Before leaving Moscow, the ambassadors received a letter from Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich to Hetman Sahaidachny. In polite but careful words, the tsar thanked Sahaidachny and the Cossack army for their desire to serve him. He granted them a modest subsidy (300 rubles) and promised to give more in the future. In the meantime, as explained in the letter, Muscovy was at peace with the Crimean Tatars and the service of the Cossacks was not required.

Although Sagaidachny's mission in Moscow did not bring immediate results, when it became known, it worried the Poles as a signal of goodwill between the Cossacks and Moscow. At the same time, the Kiev Orthodox clergy took advantage of the visit of the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophan (on the way back from Moscow to the Middle East) to restore the Western Russian Orthodox hierarchy, violated by the Polish support of the Uniate Church.

Battle of Khotyn (1621)

The war with Turkey began, and everyone forgot about the Rostavitsky agreement: the Turks inflicted a terrible defeat on Poland near Tsetsora. A council was held in Warsaw, to which Sahaydachny was invited, as "a great and kind leader." During the negotiations, Sahaidachny discovered outstanding statesmanship and talent as a diplomat; he ensured that the government of the Commonwealth agreed to satisfy the demands of the Cossacks:

• recognize the power of the hetman elected by the Cossack Council over the whole of Ukraine;
• the Orthodox hierarchy (metropolitan, bishops), hung by the patriarch and recognized by the government, should not experience persecution from the authorities of the Commonwealth.
• abolish the decrees of the Sejm regarding the restriction of liberties and rights of the Cossacks;
• abolish the post of senior over the Cossacks from the Polish government;
• grant the population of Ukraine freedom of religion.

It was a significant success: in fact, an autonomous Cossack republic in Ukraine was recognized, headed by an elected hetman.

In 1621 the famous Battle of Khotyn took place; the combined forces of the Polish and Cossack troops (about 80 thousand people) were opposed by the 162 thousandth Turkish army (according to other sources, 250 thousand). The Turks were supposed to conclude an unfavorable peace for them, but the Zaporozhye Cossacks again did not get anything from their victories, but they saved Poland and gave a lot to the Polish king.

At the end of August 1621, a change of power took place in the Zaporozhian army. Hetman Borodavka lost his mace, was arrested, and later (September 8), according to the order of Sahaidachny, was executed. The latter was proclaimed hetman. The fact of the deposition and execution of the Wart caused conflicting opinions of his contemporaries. In particular, the Polish-gentry memoirists had a sharply negative attitude towards the personality of Wart, who, obviously, was a representative of the poor part of the Cossacks and was very popular among them. It is no coincidence that S. Zholkiewski characterized him as “the least virtuous among the Cossacks and the most prone to rebellion, who promised the Cossacks to go with them not only to the sea, but even to hell.” Apparently, later Sahaidachny felt guilty for the death of a man who did so much for the liberation movement in Ukraine (Wart was directly involved in the restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy in Ukraine, led the insurgency, etc.). That is why, already on his deathbed, Sagaydachny instructed to write the Wart in his monument under the name "Yakov Hetman." Obviously, this is how he wanted to express his belated remorse for his involvement in the death of this man.

Award sword to the ataman and neglect of the Cossacks

Sahaidachny received from the hands of Prince Vladislav in 1621 as a reward for successful actions near Khotyn - a premium sword encrusted with gold and diamonds depicting allegorical scenes of the trial of Solomon and the battle of ancient warriors. On it is an inscription in Latin: "Vladislav (as a gift) to Konashevich Koshevoy near Khotyn against Osman."

According to the Treaty of Khotyn, the Poles pledged to curb the willfulness of the Cossacks and prevent their attacks on Turkey. Deeply indignant at the terms of the peace, the Cossacks did not allow the Poles to disarm themselves and in an organized manner left Khotin for Zaporozhye.

Wounding and death of Sagaidachny (1622)

Sahaidachny was wounded in the arm near Khotyn. Severely wounded by a poisoned Tatar arrow, Sahaidachny rode to Kyiv, lying in a carriage, accompanied by the royal doctor.

"... on the same beach, that our hetman, shot to death, came to Kyiv, dead on the floor." In Kyiv, he suffered greatly from a wound, but continued to care about the fate of Ukraine and the Cossacks, their schools, brotherhoods, churches and hospitals. On April 20, 1622, the hetman died from his wounds. He was buried in Kyiv, in the Brotherhood Monastery. Before his death, Sahaidachny bequeathed his property for educational, charitable and religious purposes, in particular to the Kyiv brotherhood and the Lviv fraternal school. On the death of Sagaidachny, the rector of the Kyiv fraternal school K. Sakovich wrote "Verses", in which he glorified his merits in defending the homeland from Turkish-Tatar attacks.

Sagaidachny's wife Anastasia was a widow until 1624, when she married the gentry Ivan Pionchin.

Folk song about Sahaidachny

Due to the antiquity of the song, the large territorial distribution of the Cossack army and significant changes in phonetics and grammar, the song about Sagaidachny has several options.

Memory

In Kyiv, a monument was erected to Hetman Sahaydachny (Kontraktova Square, Podil) and the adjacent street (former Zhdanova) was renamed in his honor. The monument to Sagaidachny was also erected in Sevastopol.

An outstanding political and military figure, defender of the Orthodox Church, trustee of the Kyiv Epiphany Brotherhood,

Peter. Konashevich (Kononovich) Sagaydachny came from a poor gentry family and had his own coat of arms with the image of a kolchat for arrows - sagaydak. Obviously, his father's name was Konon (another form of this name is Konash), from which the hetman's surname, Konashevich, comes from. The family lands of the parents of the future hetman were the village of Kulchintsy near Sambibr in the Lviv region.

Sahaidachny received his primary education at the Ostroh Academy, where he wrote the work "Explanation about the Union", which the Lithuanian Chancellor L. Sapega mentions in a letter to the Uniate Bishop of Polotsk I. Kuntsevich. Around the end of the 16th century the future hetman moved to Kyiv, where he was a teacher in the family of the wealthy and influential Kyiv deputy voivode Y. Aksak. At the beginning of the XVII century. for unknown reasons (perhaps personal), Sahaidachny went to Zaporozhye. Under the leadership of Hetman S. Koshka, he fought in Moldova and Livonia (Prussia). As early as 1605, Sahaidachny was mentioned in documents as a ataman.

Having headed the Zaporizhzhya army, Sahaidachny carried out its cardinal reform, turning individual armed gangs into a regular army with strict discipline. The entire army was divided into regiments, and during the sea campaigns, the “dry law” came into effect, providing for the death penalty for drinking alcohol.

Hetman became famous for his sea campaigns against the Crimea and Turkey. In 1607, the army of Sahaidachny captured the Muslim fortresses of Ochakov and Perekop, in 1608-1609. an attack was made on the coast of the Turkish province of Anatolia. In 1613, the Cossacks of Sahaidachny twice entered the Black Sea, devastating several Crimean cities. Sultan Ahmed I sent a large squadron to the port of Ochakovo, where the Cossacks were returning from campaigns, but the Sich soldiers attacked the Turkish garrison at night and defeated it, capturing a lot of galleys. In the same year, Sahaidachny defeated the Tatars on Samara, a tributary of the Dnieper. In 1614, the Cossacks captured the Turkish port city of Sinop, where they destroyed the fortress, destroyed the garrison, seized the arsenal and freed the Christian slaves. The following year, Sahaidachny with the Cossacks on 80 seagull ships reached Constantinople, setting fire to its harbor and devastated the suburbs. In 1616, the Cossacks captured the Turkish fortress of Kaffa, located on the site of modern Feodosia. Having captured the city, the Cossacks burned the warships in the harbor and freed many captives. From Kaffa they moved towards Sinop and Trebizond and captured them by storm. Neither before nor after Sahaidachny (with the possible exception of the ataman I. Sirko) did the Cossacks achieve such military successes.

Under pressure from the Turks, Poland demanded that Sahaidachny stop attacks on the Ottoman Empire and limit the number of registered Cossacks.

In 1618, the Polish government turned to the hetman of the registered Cossacks, Sahaidachny, with a request to help Prince Vladislav in his campaign against Moscow in order to take the Russian throne. Soon Sahaidachny with 20 thousand Cossacks stormed the Russian cities of Livny and Yelets, defeating the Moscow militia of the princes Pozharsky and Volkonsky and saving the prince from certain defeat. Returning from the campaign, Sahaidachny actually became the hetman of the entire Ukrainian Cossacks.

The merit of Sagaidachny was not only in the outstanding military activity: he was the first of the Cossack hetmans to unite the interests of the most active groups of Ukrainian society - the Cossacks, the burghers and the clergy. Sahaidachny was also the first of the hetmans to extend his influence to Kyiv, which again became the political center of Ukraine.

In 1615, an Orthodox brotherhood was founded in Kyiv, into which the clergy, philistines and gentry "fitted", and in 1616 - the hetman Sagaidachny with the entire Zaporizhian Host.

At the same time, among the Ukrainian intelligentsia, a plan was born to save the Orthodox Church, which was in a distressed situation after the signing of the Brest Union - many Orthodox churches went to the Uniate priests. Sahaidachny and the elite of Kyiv society understood that only they could revive the Orthodox Church. In 1620, the hetman convinced the Jerusalem Patriarch Feofan, who was returning from Moscow, to renew the Ukrainian Orthodox hierarchy, which had been destroyed after the conclusion of the union. On the way back to Jerusalem, Feofan was met by the Cossacks of Sahaydachny and escorted to Kyiv, where on October 6, the patriarch elevated hegumen of the Mikhailovsky Monastery I. Boretsky to the rank of Orthodox Metropolitan of Kyiv, and six bishops to the cathedras of Ukraine and Belarus. Orthodox churches, monasteries and estates were returned to the new hierarchs.

The Uniate clergy declared Metropolitan I. Boretsky and the bishops impostors. The Polish government formally recognized the revival of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, since it needed the help of the Cossacks in the war with Turkey, because it was in 1620 that the Ottoman army defeated the Poles in the battle of Tsetsora in Moldova.

In 1620, Sahaidachny, as the leader of the Ukrainian army, was invited to the Sejm in Warsaw, where he achieved the following requirements from the government of the Commonwealth: 1) the elimination of the position of "senior" over the Cossacks, who was appointed by the Polish government; 2) recognition of the power of the hetman elected by the Cossack council over the whole of Ukraine; 3) cancellation of the decision of the Seimas on the restriction of the rights of the Cossacks; 4) granting freedom of religion to the population of Ukraine. Only under these conditions did the Cossacks agree to fight with Turkey on the side of Poland.

In the autumn of 1621, a 5-week war between the Polish and Turkish troops took place near the Khotyn fortress in Podolia, in which the Cossacks, with their bold offensive, saved the allies from defeat. During the decisive battle on September 28, Sahaidachny was ambushed and wounded by an arrow that turned out to be poisoned. On the occasion of the victory, Prince Vladislav, who led the army, arranged a feast and sent a lot of treats and drinks to the Cossack camp. On October 21, he arrived to say goodbye to Sagaydachny and presented him with a gold medal, on one side of which was depicted a royal portrait framed in rubies, and on the other the coat of arms of Poland - an eagle adorned with sapphires. Seeing a simple wagon with hay prepared for the wounded hetman, the prince ordered to bring his carriage and personal doctor.

King Sigismund III, highly appreciating the contribution of the Cossacks to the victory over Turkey, in 1622 sent a banner to the Zaporizhian Army, and personally to the hetman in Kyiv, a precious mace, a gold chain and a royal letter, which noted the merits of the Cossacks to the Polish crown.

The hetman devoted the last five months of his life to the internal affairs of Ukraine. He donated several thousand zlotys for the resumption of the activities of the Kyiv Brotherhood monastery, and the maintenance of its school, sent 15,000 chervonets to the brotherly school in Lvov, bequeathed money to other Ukrainian monasteries and churches. Sahaydachny appointed Metropolitan of Kyiv I. Boretsky and his successor Ataman O. Golub as guardians of his property.

P. Sahaidachny died on April 10, 1622. He was buried with honors in the Epiphany Church of the Fraternal Monastery (during the restructuring of the church at the end of the 17th century, the grave was lost). The head of the funeral ceremony, the rector of the Bratsk Skoda K. Sakovich, dedicated this sad co; life of "Verse on the pitiful funeral of the glorious knight Peter Sahaydachny", which tells about the life path and exploits of the hetman. In the same year, "Verses" was published as a separate book, Na. one of the illustrations depicts Sahaidachny sitting on horseback and holding a mace in his hand! Next to the figure of the hetman is his coat of arms of the gentry. Another engraving depicts the battle of 1616 near the Turkish fortress of Kaffa.

The short hetmanship of Sahaydachny - 6 years - was of great importance for the history of Ukraine. The Cossacks became the leading social force, while the Ukrainian gentry, Polonized and Catholicized, lost its former authority and role as the defender of Orthodoxy. P. Sahaidachny returned to Kyiv the significance of the cultural and religious center of Ukraine, the true heir to the glory of the ancient Russian capital of princely times.



Participation in wars: Campaigns against the Turks and Tatars. Moscow trip. Turkish-Polish war.
Participation in battles: Capture of Sinop. Capture of Kafa. Samara battle. Capture of Lieven and Yelets. Siege of Moscow. Khotyn battle

(Petro Sahaidachnyi) Outstanding military and political figure, trustee of the Kyiv Epiphany Brotherhood, defender of the Orthodox Church

Petr Konashevich ( Kononovich) Sahaidachny was born into a poor noble family. The family had a personal coat of arms, which depicted a kolchat for arrows - sagaidak. His father's name was Konon (another form of this name is Konash). Hence the name of the hetman - Konashevich. The parents of the future hetman owned the land of the village of Kulchintsy near Sambir in the Lviv region.

While receiving his primary education at the Ostroh Academy, Sahaidachny wrote the work “ Explanation about the union». Lithuanian Chancellor L. Sapieha mentions him in a letter to the Polotsk Uniate Bishop I. Kuntsevich.

At the end of the 16th century, Sahaidachny moved to Kyiv. Here the future hetman worked as a teacher in the family of an influential wealthy Kyiv deputy governor Ya. Aksaka.

At the beginning of the 17th century, for unknown reasons (most likely personal) he moved to Zaporozhye.

Sahaydachny fought in Livonia (Prussia) and Moldova under the command Hetman S.Koshka. Already in the documents of 1605, he was noted as a ataman.

Having become the head of the Zaporizhzhya army, Sahaidachny radically reformed it. From separate armed gangs, the army turned into a strictly disciplined regular army. The army was divided into regiments. For the use of alcoholic beverages during sea voyages, the death penalty was due. Sagaidachny became famous for his sea campaigns against the Crimea and Turkey.

In 1607 Sahaidachny occupied the Muslim fortress of Perekop and Ochakov. In 1608-1609, his troops attacked the coast of the Turkish province of Anatolia.

Twice entering the Black Sea in 1613, the Cossacks of Sahaidachny devastated several cities of the Crimea. Sultan Ahmed I sent a large squadron to Ochakov. After all, Ochakov was a permanent place for the return of the Cossacks from campaigns. However, at night the Sich Cossacks attacked and defeated the Turkish camp. At the same time, many war galleys were captured from the Turks. The same year was marked by the defeat of the Tatars on the tributary of the Dnieper Samara.

Capturing the Turkish port city of Sinop in 1614, the Cossacks of Sahaydachny destroyed the fortress, destroyed the garrison, captured the arsenal, and freed the Christian slaves.

In 1615, on 80 seagull ships, Peter Sahaidachny reached the city of Constantinople. The city's harbor was burned and the suburbs devastated.

In 1616, the Cossacks captured the Turkish fortress of Kaffa (now the city of Feodosia). The Cossacks captured the city and burned warships in the harbor. The Cossacks freed the slaves.

Further, the army of Sahaidachny moved to Sinop and Trebizond, which were also captured by storm. The Cossacks never achieved such military successes either before or after Sagaidachny. The exception, perhaps, will be the military achievements of the ataman I. Sirko.

Some time later, together with 20 thousand Cossacks, Sagaidachny stormed the cities of Yelets and Livny, defeating the militia of the Moscow princes. Volkonsky and Pozharsky. With the help of Sagaidachny, the prince avoided certain defeat. Returning from the campaign, Sahaidachny became the de facto hetman of the entire Cossacks Ukraine.

However, the merit of Sagaidachny was not only in the outstanding military activity. He turned out to be the first Cossack hetman who united the interests of the Cossacks, the townspeople and the clergy, that is, the most active groups of Ukrainian society. With his influence, the hetman of all Ukrainian Cossacks again made Kyiv the political center of Ukraine.

In 1615, an Orthodox brotherhood was founded in the city of Kyiv, which included the bourgeoisie, the clergy and the gentry. And in 1616, Hetman Sahaidachny, together with the Zaporizhian Army, “fitted” into it.

It was then that a plan arose among the Ukrainian intelligentsia to save the Orthodox Church, which had been in distress since the signing of Union of Brest. Many Orthodox churches went to the priests of the union. The elite of Kievan society and Sahaidachny realized that only they would be able to revive the Orthodox Church.

Hetman managed to convince in 1620 Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophan heading from Moscow to restore the Ukrainian Orthodox hierarchy. The hierarchy was previously destroyed after the conclusion of the union. On the way to Jerusalem, the Cossacks met Feofan and escorted him to Kyiv. Here, on October 6, the patriarch personally erected I. Boretsky(abbot of the Mikhailovsky Monastery) to the rank of Orthodox Metropolitan of Kyiv. Six bishops were appointed to the sees of Belarus and Ukraine. The new hierarchs received back Orthodox churches, estates and monasteries. However, the clergy of the union called Metropolitan I. Boretsky and the bishops impostors.

The government of Poland formally recognized the revival of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, since Poland needed the help of the Cossacks for the war with Turkey. After all, in 1620 the Ottoman army in battle near Cezora in Moldova defeated the Poles.

In 1620, the leader of the Ukrainian army Sagaidachny was invited to the Sejm in Warsaw. At the Seimas, the government of the Commonwealth fulfilled the following requirements of Hetman Sahaydachny: the position of “senior” over the Cossacks, appointed by the Polish government, was eliminated, the power of the Hetman of all Ukraine, elected by the Council of Cossacks, was recognized, the decision of the Seimas, restricting the rights of the Cossacks, was canceled, the population of Ukraine received the right to freedom of religion.

Only in this case did the Cossacks agree to participate in the war with Turkey on the side of Poland.

Autumn 1621 under the Khotyn fortress in Podolia there was a 5-week war between the Poles and the Turks. The Poles escaped defeat only thanks to the bold offensive of the Cossacks. After being ambushed during the decisive battle on September 28, Saigaidachny was wounded by a poisoned arrow.

Prince Vladislav, celebrating the victory, called a feast and sent many treats and drinks to the Cossack camp. On October 21, he came to say goodbye to Sahaidachny and presented the hetman with a gold medal. One side of the medal depicted a portrait of the king in a ruby ​​setting, and the other side depicted the coat of arms of Poland (an eagle decorated with sapphires). Seeing a simple wagon with hay for the wounded Sagaidachny, the prince gave the order to provide his personal doctor and crew.

The king highly appreciated the contribution of the Cossacks to the victory over Turkey Sigismund III. He sent a gonfalon to the Zaporizhzhya Host, and personally sent the hetman to Kyiv a precious mace, a chain of gold and a letter in which he noted the merits of the Cossacks to the crown.

The last months of his life, Hetman Sahaidachny was engaged in the internal affairs of Ukraine. He donated several thousand zlotys for the restoration of the activities of the Fraternal Monastery in Kyiv, allocated money to the monastery school. Sahaidachny sent 15,000 chervonets to the Lvov fraternal school. He bequeathed money to other monasteries and churches in Ukraine. Sahaidachny made Metropolitan of Kyiv I. Boretsky and his successor his guardians ataman O. Golub.

On April 10, 1622, P. Sahaidachny died. He was buried with honors in the Epiphany Church of the Fraternal Monastery. However, during the rebuilding of the church at the end of the 16th century, the grave was lost.

Rector of the Fraternal School K.Sakovich led the funeral ceremony, dedicating this mournful event "Verse at the pitiful funeral of the glorious knight Peter Sahaidachny." The work told about the exploits of the hetman and his life path. " Verses”published as a separate book, one of the illustrations of which depicted Sahaidachny riding a horse and holding a mace in his hand! Near the figure of the hetman, his gentry coat of arms was displayed. Another engraving depicts the battle of 1616 near the Turkish fortress of Kaffa.

The six-year hetmanship of Sahaidachny had a huge impact on the history of Ukraine. The Cossacks became the main force of society, while the Ukrainian gentry, Catholicized and Polonized, lost its authority and image as a defender of Orthodoxy.

It was Petro Sahaydachny who returned to Kyiv the role of the center of culture and religion of Ukraine. Kyiv again became the true heir to the glory of the ancient Russian capital of princely times.

PETER KONASHEVICH-SAGAYDACHNY

Petro Konashevich (Sagaydachny) became the first Ukrainian hetman in the full sense of the word. That is, he was not just the leader of the registered Cossacks, but also played a prominent role in the political life of Ukraine. He defended national and religious interests in the face of tough opposition from the Commonwealth, and often acted as a completely independent leader. Peter Sahaidachny is little known in Russia, like the whole era before Bogdan Khmelnitsky. Meanwhile, he was one of the most prominent, bright and iconic figures in the history of Ukraine in the 17th century.

It is no coincidence that the title of hetman acquired an important political significance precisely under Sahaidachny. He received an excellent education for his time, which allowed him to discuss serious philosophical and humanistic topics and think about the problems of the Commonwealth and Ukraine at the beginning of the 17th century. Sahaidachny was not satisfied with military campaigns (although he succeeded in them), did not limit himself to obtaining rich booty, but was drawn to a philosophical understanding of contemporary realities. Or maybe just the era of the Ukrainian spiritual revival put forward such a leader of the Cossacks, who was able to acquire national significance.

The future hetman was born around 1570 in the village of Kulchitsa, Sambir povet, Ruska voivodship, in Galicia 1 . Sahaidachny (this is his nickname) came from the family of the Ukrainian gentry 2 Konon from the Konashevich-Popel clan of the Pobug 3 and Pelageya 4 coats of arms. He received his nickname later, already in Zaporozhye: the Tatars called a quiver for bows and arrows “sagaydak”.

Hetman P. Konashevich-Sagaydachny. 17th century portrait

After the usual home education in those days, the young man entered the famous Ostroh Collegium, founded at his own expense by Prince K. Ostrogsky. During the years of Sahaidachny's studies, it was the largest Orthodox scientific and educational center in Ukraine, which brought together the best teachers and theologians. The school was created on the basis of the principle of the “seven arts” borrowed from ancient times and then fashionable in Europe: “trivium” (grammar, rhetoric, dialectics) and “quadrivium” (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy). At the same time, unlike Western European and Polish schools in Ostrog, teaching was based on the active use of the Greek-Byzantine tradition. The school taught Church Slavonic, Greek and Latin, which gave students the opportunity to get acquainted with ancient originals.

It was at the Ostroh school that Sahaidachny met his colleague and future Metropolitan of Kyiv Job Boretsky.

Konashevich-Sagaidachny turned out to be a talented student. He completed the full course of the collegium and even wrote in his student years the polemical work "Explanations about the union", which caused a great response. In particular, it was mentioned by the Lithuanian chancellor Lev Sapega in his letter to Polotsk Archbishop Iosif Kuntsevich.

From Ostrog, Sahaidachny moved to Kyiv, where for some time he worked as a home teacher for the city judge Yan Aksak. Then, due to circumstances unknown to us, Peter quit his job and left for Zaporozhye, forever linking his fate with the Cossacks. It happened around 1601 5 .

It must be said that the beginning of the 17th century was a disturbing time for Ukraine. The Brest Church Union of 1696 legally outlawed the Orthodox Church in the territory of the Commonwealth. A widespread offensive against Orthodoxy began on the part of the Uniates and Catholics with the serious support of the Vatican and the fanatical Catholic of the Polish King Sigismund III (an iconic figure from the time of the Russian Troubles). The Cossacks, who acted under the leadership of Severin Nalivaiko in 1695 against the union and the Polish order, were defeated. Nalivaiko was executed, and the registered ones were sharply limited in their rights and numbers. Disorder and vacillation began in the ranks of the Cossacks. Over the course of ten years, fifteen different "hetmans" were replaced, which in no way contributed to the unification and rallying of the Cossacks.

Hetman P. Konashevich-Sagaydachny. Engraving of the 17th century.

King Sigismund III Vase. 17th century portrait

The weakening of the Cossacks made the position of the Uniates and Poles in Ukraine even more free. Part of the Cossacks went to Zaporozhye, others dispersed to the cities. It was to those who, not wanting to submit, lived in a free Sich, and Sagaidachny joined.

Zimovnik, that is, a permanent camp of the Cossacks, at that time was located at the mouth of the Chortomlyk River (the old Bazavlutskaya Sich). It was necessary to get there through thirteen insidious rapids of the Dnieper. The life of the Cossacks in the camp was unpretentious; huts made of brushwood and covered with horse skins from the rain served as housing 6 . The Zaporizhzhya region still keeps the memory of the famous hetman in the names "Sagaydak's settlement" and "Sagaydak's armchairs" 7 .

Sagaidachny received his first baptism of fire during campaigns in Moldova (1600), and then against the Swedes in Livonia. In these enterprises, organized by the Poles, the Cossacks were commanded by Samoilo Kishko, in Livonia and who died 8 .

Around 1606, the Cossacks elected Sahaidachny as hetman. It should be noted that he significantly stood out from the Cossack environment. Educated, in all likelihood familiar with ancient models of military tactics, having in his plans much broader horizons in addition to momentary booty, he managed to captivate and lead the Cossacks. As Jakob Sobieski, a contemporary of the events, wrote, “in general, this man of great spirit, who was looking for danger, did not value life, went into battle first, went out last, always quick, always active. In the camp he was on his guard, slept little and did not get drunk, as was the custom among the Cossacks. At the councils he was cautious and laconic in all conversations.

This amazing combination of an intellectual and a flexible politician, on the one hand, and the audacity of a brave warrior and commander, on the other, made Sagaidachny an outstanding figure of his time, before whom even enemies bowed.

Cossack camp. Engraving of the 17th century.

Realizing that in opposition to the Polish government one needs to have weighty arguments, and at the same time realizing the need to engage the Cossacks in the war, Sahaidachny actively organizes campaigns to the south 10 . The fight against the "infidels" has always been one of the main occupations of the Cossacks. These campaigns brought booty, glory, strengthened the authority and increased the role of the Cossacks in the eyes of the Polish government. The popularity of the Cossacks among the Ukrainian population also grew.

Although there are few authentic testimonies about the early sea campaigns, they characterize the hetman as a talented and daring commander, who was far ahead of his time.

Back in 1606, at the request of the Poles, the hetman made a trip to Moldavia. Returning, Sahaidachny deployed his troops in the royal estates of the Bratslav region, claiming administrative power in this territory. He carried out further campaigns without any permission or coordination from the Polish authorities.

In 1607 Sahaidachny devastated the Turkish fortresses of Ochakov and Perekop. In 1609, his Cossacks burned Izmail and Kiliya 11 . In 1613, the hetman with his Cossacks twice went to the Black Sea, where he devastated a number of settlements on the Tavria peninsula. The Turkish sultan sent a squadron against the Cossacks, consisting of galleys and seagulls. However, the Cossacks not only were not afraid, but, on the contrary, attacked the Turks stationed in the Ochakov port at night and defeated them, capturing many seagulls and six large galleys.

Sahaidachny did not fail to send a message about his glorious victory to the Polish Sejm and personally to the Crown Hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski. It was not a gesture of a loyal subject, but rather a daring challenge of a Cossack who wanted to live by his own laws. After all, the Commonwealth categorically forbade such campaigns.

In the same 1613, Sahaidachny attacked the Tatars who invaded Zaporozhye and won a brilliant victory over them on the banks of the Samara River 13 .

The year 1614 began unsuccessfully for the Cossacks. Once again they went out to sea, they got into a strong storm. Seagulls scattered in different directions. Many Cossacks drowned, others were thrown ashore, where they were killed by the Turks.

This did not bother Sahaidachny, and at the end of August he again went to sea at the head of two thousand Cossacks. Turkish captives (“apostate slaves” who converted to Islam under pain of death, but managed to escape from captivity) acted as pilots. They knew perfectly well all the approaches to the Turkish coastal cities, the features of their fortifications, the typography of the area, etc. The Cossacks went out into the open waters on forty gulls, crossed the Black Sea, reached Asia Minor and unexpectedly landed on Sinop - well fortified, populous and fabulously rich harbors.

It was like a bolt from the blue, because none of the enemies reached Sinop for more than 250 years - "since the Turks took over Asia, there has never been anxiety and danger there." In addition, the "city of lovers", as Sinop was called for its excellent location, lovely surroundings and excellent climate, was guarded by an impregnable fortress built of stone, with iron double-leaf gates, which had 6100 loopholes and a citadel with several towers. Sinop was a powerful naval base in the Ottoman Empire, the largest Black Sea shipyard.

The attack on Sinop was planned and executed brilliantly. It was undertaken at night, and it came as a complete surprise to the Turks. The sudden appearance of Sahaidachny's detachments caused panic among the soldiers of the local garrison, crews of ships and the population. With the help of ladders, the Cossacks broke into the fortress, captured the citadel, the shipyard, the galleys and the city, destroyed the Sinop castle and burned its storehouse, causing huge material damage to the Turks. They just burned them! Several mosques and private houses also burned down. The garrison was almost completely destroyed, large stocks of weapons, ships were captured, numerous Christian slaves were released, whose joy was beyond description. The booty of the Cossacks, according to contemporaries, reached forty million zlotys. Having loaded the trophies and liberated captives onto seagulls, the Cossacks left the harbor of Sinop and disappeared from sight.

Hetman S. Zholkevsky. 17th century portrait

As the well-known historian of the 19th century I. Kamanin wrote about the raids of Sagaidachny, “the courage, speed and destructiveness ... of the raids surpass all descriptions; they did not have such strength either before or after Sagaidachny and must be attributed to his military genius. They raised the whole of Turkey to its feet.”

The reaction of the Turkish government to such audacity on the part of the Cossacks was predictable. The Sultan beat his grand vizier with a buzdykhan 15 and then ordered him to be hanged. The vizier was saved only by the intercession of his wife and daughter 16 . After that, the Sultan sent his governor, Ahmet Pasha, to the sea with an order to hang all the Cossacks who met on his way. In addition, it was decided to build fortresses at the mouth of the Dnieper on the Black Sea to prevent such attacks.

Ahmed Pasha gathered up to four thousand Janissaries, put them on galleys and headed to the mouth of the Dnieper, waiting for the Cossacks returning from the campaign. At the same time, he began to build new fortresses. At the same time, Ahmet Pasha demanded from the Polish king that during this work he supplied his army with food and the necessary building materials. It is worth noting that the Poles considered such actions of the Turks threatening the security of the Commonwealth. Instead of fulfilling the demands of Ahmed Pasha, Crown Hetman Stanislav Zolkiewski marched on the southern border of Poland, thus making it clear by force that the Commonwealth was fully capable of defending its borders.

The return of the Cossacks home from Sinop was sad. Having learned about the Turkish squadron waiting for them at the mouth of the Dnieper, Sahaidachny ordered to land on the shore, not reaching the ambush. There they dragged the seagulls to land and intended to drag the Turks along the shore, and then again launch their ships into the water. But the Turks overtook them, in a fierce battle they killed about two hundred people and captured twenty Cossacks. The rest, throwing part of the prey into the water, nevertheless managed to lower the gulls and sail away with the most valuable good. The captured Cossacks were executed in Tsargrad 17 .

From this sad incident, Sahaidachny drew the right conclusions and in further campaigns did not allow the Turks to take him by surprise on the way back.

The intentions of the Turks to make war on the Cossack lands and put an end to this freemen, bringing so much trouble to the Sultan, ran into the firm position of the Polish government, which promised to personally deal with the Cossacks, but was categorically opposed to the Turks invading the Commonwealth.

Ignoring the threats from the Ottoman Empire and the Commonwealth, in the spring of 1615 Sahaydachny attacked Constantinople on eighty gulls. There he burned the ports of Mizevna and Archioka in the vicinity of the Turkish capital, devastated the area full of palaces of Ottoman dignitaries, trading shops and warehouses, and left with the richest booty, frightening the sultan himself, who was hunting nearby and saw "smoke from his chambers."

Having come to their senses, the Turkish fleet chased the Cossacks, caught up with them near the mouth of the Danube, but the Cossacks, under the cover of darkness, rushed to the attack and, in the best traditions of real pirates, boarded the galleys. A fierce and bloody hand-to-hand fight took place. But from the moment the Cossacks broke into the decks of Turkish ships, their victory was predetermined. Part of the Turkish ships sank. The other galleys were taken by the Cossacks to Ochakiv and there, “in derision,” they burned them in front of the Turkish garrison (it was not possible to take them away to Zaporozhye). During the battle near the Danube, the commander of the Turkish fleet was captured. This time the winners safely returned to Zaporozhye with rich booty and glory.

No less luck in the same year was brought by the land action of the Cossacks. With a large force they attacked the outskirts of Ochakov, reached the city castle itself, took away a lot of livestock and successfully returned home 18 .

The campaigns of 1615 seemed like insane audacity, carried out almost under the nose of the Sultan himself. But everything was executed so delicately and professionally that their success became more of a pattern than simple luck.

The following year, Sahaidachny again won a victory on the Dnieper estuary, attacking the new Turkish fleet commander Ali Pasha. This flotilla was sent by the Sultan in retaliation for the Bosphorus campaign of 1615. Not afraid, Sahaidachny went out to meet the fleet and completely destroyed it. Dozens of galleys and about a hundred small ships were captured. After that, the hetman, without encountering obstacles on his way, attacked and burned Corfu, one of the largest slave markets in the Black Sea. All the captives were released and joined the Cossack flotilla. Constantinople was in confusion and fury.

Not stopping there, in the autumn of 1616 Sahaidachny went to Miner and Trebizond, taking both cities by storm and receiving priceless booty. A Turkish squadron was sent against him, consisting of six large galleys and many small ships. But the Cossacks also defeated her, sinking three galleys in the process.

On the way back, the Turks, led by Ibrahim Pasha, as usual, waited for the Cossacks at the mouth of the Dnieper, but the hetman deceived them by passing the mouth of the Don, and then, dragging the ships overland, successfully returned to Zaporozhye 19.

There, unpleasant news awaited him: during his absence, without waiting for the Cossacks at the mouth of the Dnieper, Ibrahim Pasha broke into the Zaporozhian Sich. It was almost empty, since the Cossacks were mostly on the march or dispersed due to the autumn time in the cities. The garrison, which consisted of several hundred Cossacks, retreated, and Ibrahim Pasha was content to burn the winter quarters, seize cannons, boats, and capture part of the Cossacks.

Sahaidachny immediately made a lightning maneuver, caught up with the Turks near the river Horse Waters, killed them and freed all the prisoners. A very characteristic episode for a hetman!

The brilliant victories of Sagaydachny on the Black Sea were unparalleled practically throughout the rest of the history of Zaporozhye. The Cossack name gained fame throughout Europe. To inflict such tangible blows to Porte seemed incredible.

The Turkish threat at the beginning of the 17th century was of paramount importance for Europe. The capture of Constantinople made the Ottoman Porte a powerful power. It was no longer a horde, but a state capable of fielding an army of 250,000 people. In 1459, she conquered and turned into a Turkish pashalik (a region subject to the pasha. - T. T.) all of Serbia. In 1460, the Turks conquered the Duchy of Athens and, following it, almost all of Greece, with the exception of some coastal cities that remained in the power of Venice. In 1462, the island of Lesbos and Wallachia were conquered, in 1463 - Bosnia. Then the Turks devastated Moldova and made it a vassal. By the 16th century, Porte belonged to the entire Balkan Peninsula to the Danube and the Sava, almost all the islands of the archipelago and Asia Minor to Trebizond, as well as Wallachia and Moldavia. Everywhere was ruled either directly by Turkish officials, or local rulers, who were approved by the Sultan and were completely subordinate to him. In 1521, Turkish troops took Belgrade, the next year captured the island of Rhodes. According to the truce of 1547, the entire southern part of Hungary turned into a Turkish province. In the war with Persia, Porta occupied Baghdad in 1536, and Georgia in 1553. After that, Cyprus was captured, and in 1574 - Tunisia. Algeria and Tripoli have previously recognized their dependence on the Sultan. With this, the Porte reached the apogee of its political power. The Turkish fleet plied freely throughout the Mediterranean up to Gibraltar, and in the Indian Ocean it often plundered the Portuguese colonies. Turkish galleys even appeared on the Thames.

Other powerful European powers joined the struggle of Venice against the Ottoman Porte. The Christian Caesar himself led the struggle against the Turks. During 1593-1606 there was a war between the Porte and the Holy Roman Empire (Zaporozhye Cossacks also took part in it). The war ended with a truce, but no one had any illusions about the further plans of the Turks.

Against the backdrop of victories on a European scale, the influence of the Cossacks in the Commonwealth increased dramatically. They were increasingly becoming a force that even the king had to reckon with. The Polish Sejm has repeatedly noted with concern that the Cossacks themselves establish laws for themselves, elect commanders themselves, manage the territories subject to themselves and practically create their own republic within the framework of the Commonwealth.

The main opponent of the Cossacks was the great crown chancellor and hetman Stanislav Zholkevsky (participant of the Russian Troubles). Having gathered representatives of magnates and gentry in Zhytomyr in the autumn of 1614, he insisted on the adoption of the "Ordination", which practically eliminated all Cossack freedoms and privileges. The Cossack hetman was supposed to be appointed by Zholkievsky himself with the consent of the king, the Cossacks were supposed to be located exclusively in Zaporozhye and not settle in Ukrainian cities, not undertake campaigns against the Ottoman Empire, submit to the jurisdiction of state, spiritual and private courts, and not their own military, etc. 20

The Cossacks ignored this "Ordination", and, as we have already noted, Sahaidachny continued his successful sea voyages.

However, it should be noted that the negative attitude towards the Cossacks on the part of the Polish authorities was not groundless. It is impossible to idealize the Cossacks and represent them all as noble fighters for the Orthodox faith. Among the Cossacks there were also those who had little interest in the fight against the union and the defense of Orthodoxy, and even more so in the ideas of national identity and enlightenment. Robbery and booty - that's what attracted many adventurers in the Cossack rank, and they were completely indifferent to whom to rob - Turks, Poles, Russians or their own Ukrainians.

Under the conditions of the offensive of the Polish authorities on the Cossack liberties, it was precisely such adventures that became popular among the Cossacks for some time. They removed Sahaidachny (after his return from the campaign) and elected Dmitry Barabash as hetman. As a result, the conflict with the Poles only escalated. At the end of 1616, Zholkiewski again banned campaigns against the Turks. In Zaporozhye it was impossible to send supplies from the cities and towns of Ukraine.

But in the spring of 1617, the Commonwealth was shocked by a rumor about the planned campaign of Alimazor-bashi against border towns and castles. Hastily gathering troops, Zholkiewski demanded that the Cossacks join the Polish detachments for the defense of the country, declaring that they "brewed this beer themselves." The Cossacks did not come, giving an angry and categorical answer. Moral values, the need to protect the native land - all this was alien to adventurers.

True, the campaign of the Turks did not take place. Moreover, the Poles managed to conclude a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire near Yaruga. The first point was the ban on the "robbers-Cossacks" to go to the Black Sea. Having finished with the Turkish threat, Zholkiewski intended to deal with the Cossacks as well. But the external position of the Commonwealth and the limited military forces of the Poles made such a task very problematic. Therefore, Zholkiewski, having learned about the differences between the Cossacks, decided to take advantage of the situation 21 .

The confrontation among the Cossacks between the foreman and the mob was already gaining momentum. It was not just a conflict of social strata - rich, poor. The "poor" Cossacks usually became because of drunkenness, gambling or cowardice, which did not allow them to claim prey. But their voices loudly and furiously sounded at the gladiators. Not recognizing any values ​​other than "liberty", interpreted in this case as freedom from all authority and order, they represented a terrible and dark force. As for the foreman, she was preoccupied with the legal status of the Cossacks, obtaining concessions from the king, expanding her influence in Ukraine, defending Orthodoxy, etc. - things that are completely alien, incomprehensible and superfluous in the representation of the "mob".

Given the disagreements among the Cossacks, Zholkiewski sent a letter to the Cossacks in September 1617, offering to send commissars for negotiations. Instead, the entire Cossack army came out to meet the Poles. The personal detachments of the magnates of Volyn arrived in time for Zholkievsky, and together they approached the White Church. It was not easy to explain to the violent minds the benefits of a policy of compromise instead of open war. As a result, the Cossacks sent their deputies, who announced that they did not want to fight with Zholkiewski. Sahaidachny was again elected hetman.

In preparation for the negotiations, the Poles drew up an even more severe declaration than in 1614. According to its terms, the number of registrants was limited to a thousand, and it was proposed to punish all disobedient by death. Even the Polish commissars themselves hesitated to voice this absurdity. Only for the defense of the borders a much larger number of Cossacks was required. As for the annual salary and confirmation to the Cossacks of their liberties "given by the former kings", it was decided that after the next Sejm the Cossacks would send delegates with these requests to the king, and the commissars promised to support these requests. As a result, nothing really was decided, and all agreements had vague wording.

Various renegades who had joined the Cossacks in recent years were to be excluded from the registry. “Craftsmen, merchants, tavernsmen, voits, burmisters, kafanniks, talkers, cattle slaughterers, tailors and other restless people should be driven out and excluded from the registers (“write out”), as well as all newly arrived burghers who, in recent years, having left the rank and file jurisdiction , stuck to our army - so that they would no longer be called Cossacks, and for the future, without the will of the king of his grace and pan hetman of the crown, we will not accept such people in the army. only a landowner could become 23. In addition, the Cossacks stubbornly insisted that the hetman should first be elected by the entire army in the council (“free votes”), and only then the king would approve.

The secret dreams of the Poles were to turn the Cossacks into a sentry guard numbering up to a thousand people, who also live outside the Commonwealth, in Zaporozhye. Such a stubborn and inflexible position of the Polish government sharply posed the eternal question for the Cossacks: "What to do?" Do not betray the plans of the Poles, hoping that it will "somehow settle down"? Actively participate in the external campaigns of the Polish crown and try to win over to your side the powers that be? Or should one immediately go into open conflict and demand from the government the recognition of liberties? They were not ready for the latter - the forces were still too unequal to resist the military and economic power of the Polish-Lithuanian state. But there was no need to hope for a voluntary rejection by Polish circles of the basic ideas of the Commonwealth. Even half a century later, in much more difficult times for themselves, making concessions to the Cossacks, the Polish gentry still hoped for revenge and cruel retribution. Ultimately, such inflexibility led the Commonwealth to death. But then it was still far from that.

For the development of the Cossacks, strengthening their influence, a large and successful war was required in the interests of Poland. And in order to expand the influence of the Cossacks among the population, it was necessary to prevent the "scribes" from pogroms. In this sense, the Cossacks were interested in the Poles constantly participating in military conflicts, which means they felt the need for Cossacks.

Realizing that only a strong professional army, free from adventurers and anarchists, would become a serious force in the eyes of the Poles, Sahaidachny paid great attention to the reorganization of the registered Cossacks.

It was not an easy process. Back in 1604 - 1612, Ukrainian Cossacks took an active part in the events of the Russian Troubles, only with Dmitry the Pretender in 1604, twelve thousand Cossacks went to Moscow. These campaigns also had a downside. Tens of thousands of those “shown” took part in the war, and, of course, it was not possible to include them in the register upon their return from the campaign. As a result, at the end of hostilities, they were all left without income and means of subsistence. Robberies and robberies began, which did not bring glory to the Cossack name. Sahaidachny had to stop the anarchy among the Cossacks and create a regular army that would become a formidable military and political force in the Commonwealth.

Sagaidachny began his work on the reorganization of the troops by using some of the provisions of the agreement with the Poles of 1617, trying to get rid of all the "stray". He included a gun in the equipment of the registry, replacing them with bows, demanded that each Cossack had a horse. Regular reviews of the troops begin. Strict discipline was maintained, the guilty were punished up to the death penalty. The Poles noted that, strengthening discipline, the hetman shed a lot of blood. But he got the result on 24 .

As a result of the reform, instead of fifty or sixty thousand self-willed people, according to the register of 1619, ten thousand six hundred people of the regular army remained. As needed, Sagaidachny could increase this number. So, twenty thousand Cossacks took part in the Moscow campaign of 1618, and forty-one thousand five hundred in the Khotinsky campaign of 1621. But the core from now on was made up of registered regiments - disciplined, trained. They set the tone for the entire army and did not allow self-will to prevail over order.

The strengthening of the role of the Cossacks became a decisive factor in resolving the religious issue, namely, in the legal restoration of Orthodoxy, which was deprived of all rights after the Union of Brest.

Understanding the significance of the Cossacks for their foreign policy plans, the Polish government was forced to make some concessions in relation to Orthodoxy. Back in 1607, at a congress near Sandomierz, the Ukrainian gentry decided to ask the king to abolish the union, deprive the Uniates of episcopal positions and replace them with Orthodox ones. The king promised, but he did not fulfill his promise. However, a special article “on the Greek religion” was introduced into the constitution of the Warsaw Seim in 1607, it promised not to violate the rights of the Ukrainian people in relation to faith and not to prohibit them from freely practicing church rites. This indulgence was not slow to take advantage of the supporters of Orthodoxy.

Kyiv became the center of the struggle against the union. It is there that the efforts of Hetman Petro Sahaydachny and Archimandrite of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Elisey Pletenitsky, a prominent scholar and polemicist, one of the leaders of the Ukrainian spiritual revival, unite. The combination of the military strength of the Cossacks and the material resources of the Lavra, the largest and richest monastery in Ukraine, gave excellent results. Pletenitsky bought an old Kyiv printing house, refurbished it, and in 1616 published the first book there. Other well-known Orthodox polemicists also come to Kyiv - Zakhary Kopistensky, Joseph Kurtsevich-Buliga. Together they organize a circle of enlightened fighters for Orthodoxy.

In 1615, the widow of Marshal of Mozyr, Galshka Gulevich, presented "the faithful and pious Christians" of the provinces of Kyiv, Volyn and Bratslav with a plot in Kyiv. On the lands donated by Galshka, it was planned to build a monastery, a hotel for spiritual wanderers, as well as a school for gentry and petty-bourgeois children. At the end of 1615, the Kiev Brotherhood was established, which included the local clergy, the townspeople and the gentry, as well as the entire circle of Pletenitsky. Sagaidachny joined the brotherhood with all his army. So the Kyiv Brotherhood got a powerful patron and protector.

Founded on the land of Gulevich, the Epiphany Monastery turned into a patronal monastery of the brotherhood, and the first rector of the brotherly school that began work in 1617 was Sagaidachny's classmate at the Ostroh school, Job Boretsky. The school taught Greek, Latin, Polish, Church Slavonic and Ukrainian 25 languages, as well as grammar, rhetoric, philosophy, arithmetic, history, music, geometry and astronomy. Boretsky invited prominent scientists, writers, and public figures to teach these subjects. The pupils of the school were the children of Kyiv philistines, clerics and Ukrainian gentry.

Fraternal Epiphany Monastery in Kyiv. 19th century image

Interestingly, it is with the Kyiv fraternal school of the times of Sagaidachny that the emergence of one of the most striking theatrical performances in Ukraine, the nativity scene, is associated. This was the name of the marching theater in which Christmas was played. It was organized by the students of the Kyiv School, who either used puppets or became artists themselves 26 . The text of the play was written by one of the Orthodox hierarchs and was aimed at maintaining the Orthodox faith among the common people. Along with biblical characters, angels, Satan, death, etc. acted in the den. The performance was accompanied by sound effects, smoke and fire.

The Kiev brotherhood gradually grew stronger and grew. The Orthodox under the protection of the Cossacks felt more and more confident in Kyiv, which could not but cause displeasure on the part of the Uniates. Their Metropolitan Joseph Rutsky considered the new Kiev brotherhood the greatest obstacle to the spread of the union in Kyiv. However, attempts to launch an offensive against Orthodoxy in Kyiv ended in failure. When in 1618 the Uniate abbot of the Vydubitsky monastery A Grekovich began to obstruct the Orthodox clergy, the Cossacks broke into him, seized him and drowned him in the Dnieper.

The foreign policy situation also did not favor the Uniate Church, since the Polish authorities increasingly needed the services of the Cossacks and, accordingly, made concessions to them on the religious issue.

The Sejm was supposed to meet in the fall of 1618 and consider, in particular, questions about Orthodoxy and the Registered Cossacks. But while Rutskoy was fighting the Kyiv Brotherhood, and Zholkevsky was negotiating with the Cossacks near Russia, Prince Vladislav was marching with a small army to Smolensk, confirming his claims to the Moscow throne. The Polish-Lithuanian army, which was not paid, rebelled, declared a confederation, 27 and Vladislav had to spend the winter in Vyazma. There was an objective need to involve the Cossacks in the campaign, and in significant numbers (certainly not "a thousand").

The Poles found themselves in a dilemma: to offend the Cossacks, on whom there was only hope in connection with the campaign against Moscow, or to yield to them on some serious point. I didn't want to do either. Ultimately, it was decided to create a new commission to negotiate with the Cossacks. In the meantime, they demanded that the Cossacks burn the canoes and even decided to pay them six thousand zloty compensation for this.

The Seimas, on the initiative of Leo Sapieha, allocated twenty thousand zlotys to the Cossacks, and the recruitment of Cossack regiments began in Ukraine. Having gathered an army of twenty thousand, Sahaidachny set out on a campaign.

The Moscow campaign is a little-known page in the history of the Ukrainian Cossacks in Russia. First of all, Sahaidachny besieged and took the cities of Putivl and Livny, capturing the last governor, Prince Nikita Cherkassky. Then Yelets took by cunning. During the battle, governor Andrey Polev died, and his wife was captured. In the same place, the Cossacks also captured the Moscow embassy, ​​sent to the Crimea, with Stepan Khrushchev and clerk Semyon Bredikhin.

The second detachment of Cossacks passed through the Ryazan and Tambov lands, taking Dankov, Skopin and Ryazhsk, slaughtering many inhabitants, including women, children and even babies.

The only city where the army of Sahaidachny met stubborn resistance was Mikhailov. The siege of the city lasted two days and two nights. Despite the fact that the hetman was extremely annoyed by the failure, he could no longer linger under a small town, since he had to rush to connect with Vladislav 28 .

In addition, Tsar Mikhail Romanov sent the liberator of Moscow, Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Grigory Volkonsky, from the Pafnuty Monastery to meet Sahaidachny. But there was a discord in the Russian army, the soldiers took up robbery. The Don Cossacks, who were in the army, fled. Prince Pozharsky fell seriously ill and, by order of the tsar, returned to Moscow, and Sagaidachny, while crossing the Oka, defeated the Moscow army of Prince Volkonsky and marched unhindered to Moscow along the Kashirskaya road. On September 17, he was already in Bronnitsy. From there, the advance detachments of the Cossacks reached the Donskoy Monastery and appeared near Moscow itself.

On September 20, Sagaidachny near Tushino united with the remnants of the Polish army, who were seven miles from Moscow 30 . The son of the Polish king was saved. Vladislav showered gifts on the Cossack ambassadors who announced the approach of the hetman, and sent generous gifts to Sahaidachny, a mace, banner and timpani. The next day, “at dawn”, the Poles, to their joy, saw a densely moving forest of spears. These were the Cossacks. During the solemn audience, the hetman handed over to the prince the captured Moscow commandants Yelets and Liven and the Moscow ambassadors intercepted along the way, who were sent with letters to the Crimea. Perhaps it was from that moment that Vladislav retained warm feelings for the Ukrainian Cossacks for the rest of his life.

The siege of Moscow was entrusted to Sahaidachny. The general assault was scheduled for October 1, the night before the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos. The position of the king and his capital was extremely difficult. There were not enough troops, betrayals of the boyars during the Time of Troubles became commonplace, and the youth and inexperience of Mikhail Romanov himself did not allow him to control the situation.

At midnight, Sagaidachny approached Moscow and stopped near the Arbat Gate. The order to storm was already sounded, the Ostrog gates were broken down, but unexpectedly the hetman stopped all actions and retreated 31 .

In historiography, there are many different explanations of this event, including quite idyllic ones: they say that the religious Cossacks, having heard the church bells in honor of the Feast of the Intercession, stopped the bloodshed of the Orthodox 32 . Most likely, the truth was more prosaic. Sahaidachny, like his Cossacks, considered himself a subject of the Polish king (to whom they swore allegiance). The Muscovite state, despite the unity of faith, was very alien to them. But, on the other hand, the hetman was afraid of the excessive strengthening of the Commonwealth in the event of the fall of Moscow. He knew well the swagger of the Polish lords and could foresee their reaction in the event of such a significant victory - first of all, the Cossacks themselves would suffer, or rather their liberties and the church. The Orthodox Moscow state was a good deterrent to the exorbitant ambitions of Catholic Poland, although the possibilities of such protection from Moscow then, in 1618, were still very illusory. These are the political reasons for the retreat. From a military point of view, the retreat also looked logical. It was impossible to capture Moscow quickly, and a long siege of the city was not part of the plans of the Ukrainian hetman 33 .

Sahaidachny preferred the status quo. He retreated to Kaluga and took possession of it, as well as Serpukhov 34 .

Vladislav also retreated from Moscow and began peace negotiations with the tsar. As a result, the Moscow campaign of the Poles ended with the Deulino truce, concluded on December 1, 1618 for fourteen years and six months. According to this truce, Vladislav renounced his claims to the Moscow throne, had to return from captivity Metropolitan Filaret (father of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich), Shein and other captured Russian nobles. For this, Poland received the Ukrainian cities of Chernigov, Starodub, Novgorod-Seversky, as well as Smolensk, Dorogobuzh, Roslavl, and others.

At the end of the Moscow campaign, the Cossacks demanded that the Polish government fulfill their promises. The negotiations were held with great difficulty. As has happened more than once, after the successful completion of the war, the Poles hastened to abandon their promises. With great difficulty, the Cossacks received in the form of compensation thirty thousand zlotys and seven hundred bundles of cloth. As for all other conditions, they were not met. On the contrary, verbally expressing gratitude to the hetman for his participation in the campaign and for the policy of restraint against the "volunteers", in fact, Zholkiewski hatched a plan of reprisal against the Cossacks. The secret didn’t remain secret for long: the Cossacks intercepted Zholkiewski’s letters to the Ottoman Empire and learned about his plans for repression.

Sahaidachny gathered almost ten thousand troops near Belaya Tserkov, threatening the Poles with weapons in their hands to defend the Cossack liberties. In response, the crown army approached Pavolochi. It didn't come to a collision. Difficult negotiations began, dragging on for a whole week. The agreement concluded between the parties clearly could not satisfy the hetman: it provided for the prohibition of sea campaigns and the destruction of boats. But a significant achievement was the acquisition of the right to live in the "royal domain", where the Cossacks could use their "liberties", that is, not submit to anyone's jurisdiction. Thus, they could legally be in Ukraine, and not be cut off in Zaporozhye. Cossacks were forbidden to live in spiritual and private possessions. All those who had joined the Cossacks in the last five years were to be struck off the list. But the exact number of the registry was not called - it was later announced by the king himself. Zholkiewski received the right to appoint a hetman (this clause was not implemented in reality). Annual earnings were quadrupled, up to forty thousand zlotys in addition to cloth 35 .

Wishing to make a corresponding impression on the Poles, Sahaidachny invited the Polish commissars to his place and held a review of the troops before their eyes. Eleven regiments, all with guns, with their own artillery and infantry serving it. Only ten thousand six hundred people.

Many Cossacks were dissatisfied with the policy of compromise. At the end of 1619, Sagaidachny's rival, the leader of the anarchist wing and "scribes" Yakov Borodavka, was elected hetman of the registry. However, he did not last long in power.

Subsequent events showed that Sahaidachny himself was not going to adhere to the terms of the agreements with the Poles. Already at the end of 1619, five thousand Cossacks raided the Crimea and defeated the Tatars under the very wall of Perekop. They destroyed and took into captivity up to five thousand people. From there, the Cossacks reached the European coast of Porta and devastated the city of Varna 36 .

Taking advantage of this pretext, Sahaidachny, once again becoming a hetman, sent his ataman Peter Odinets to Moscow at the end of February 1620. The embassy was supposed to inform the tsar about the successful actions of the Cossacks against the Turks and offer to serve him against the common enemy of Christianity 37 . Cossack ambassadors arrived in Moscow with a hetman's letter and two Tatar languages. On the twenty-sixth of February, the Cossacks were solemnly received by the head of the Ambassadorial order, the Duma clerk Ivan Gramotin and the clerk Savva Romanchukov. At the reception, the Cossacks announced their desire to "serve the great sovereign." Odinets recalled that the Cossacks had previously served the Moscow tsars, and spoke about the recent campaign of the Cossacks against the Crimean Tatars. After listening to the ambassadors, Gramotin praised them for their desire to serve the sovereign and promised to report on the results of the meeting to the Boyar Duma. After some time, the Cossacks were received in the Boyar Duma, where they were greeted by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, as well as the Duma embassy clerk Ivan Kurbatov and Savva Romanchukov. True, the Cossacks did not get to the king. They were told that Maslenitsa was in the courtyard, fasting was coming soon, and during fasting the tsar did not receive ambassadors and foreigners. The Cossacks were given money, taffeta, cloth, hats, and a small salary of three hundred rubles for the Zaporizhian Army. The agreement was not concluded, moreover, the Putivl governors, who let the embassy to Moscow, received a severe reprimand and an order "from now on such great deeds without a decree do not dare" and "do not be so stupid" 38 .

The attitude of the royal court to the Ukrainian Cossacks in general and to Sagaidachny in particular after the Moscow campaign was unambiguously negative. The ideas of defending Christians and Orthodox unity at that time did not fit into the foreign policy doctrine of the Muscovite state at that time. The recent events of the Troubles made it impossible to risk violating the Deulin Agreement.

On the contrary, at the Council of 1620, Patriarch Filaret established the practice of re-baptizing Ukrainians leaving Poland and Lithuania, not considering them to be truly Orthodox 39 . In 1627, the persecution of Ukrainian books that circulated in Russian churches began.

But, perhaps, Sagaidachny, sending the embassy, ​​did not count on much. It was enough for him that his envoys were accepted and rewarded in Moscow. By doing this, he increased his own authority among the Cossacks, and more importantly, he gave the Poles an unambiguous signal where he would go if the repressions became excessive.

Leaving for a while the struggle for Cossack liberties, the hetman focused on the problems of the Orthodox Church 40 .

Considering that after the Union of Brest the king handed out the highest spiritual positions only to the Uniates, the Orthodox clergy were thinning out, there were no bishops, for the ordination of priests, one had to turn to Lviv Bishop Joseph Tissarovsky. Gradually, the leaders of the Kyiv Brotherhood matured the idea of ​​restoring the Orthodox hierarchy.

Sahaidachny and Boretsky developed a bold and daring plan. They decided to take advantage of the arrival in Moscow of the Jerusalem Patriarch Feofan on the occasion of the consecration of Metropolitan Philaret to the rank of Moscow Patriarch. From Moscow, Job Boretsky invited Feofan to Kyiv. In February 1620, the patriarch crossed the border of the Moscow state and reached the Gustinsky monastery near Priluki, where he was met by Sagaidachny with a regiment of Cossacks 41 .

On March 22, 1620, the patriarch arrived in Kyiv and was settled in the Fraternal Epiphany Monastery, where he was also guarded by the Cossacks “like bees in their queen”? according to the Gustinsky chronicle. Such precautionary measures were explained by the suspicious attitude towards Feofan in Polish circles. The Poles even had intentions to arrest the patriarch.

From all over Ukraine and Belarus, from churches, monasteries and brotherhoods, delegates arrived, to whom the patriarch distributed blessings and letters. The hetman announced to the patriarch his desire to consecrate a metropolitan and bishops. At first, Feofan refused, fearing the wrath of the Polish king, but the Cossacks promised to provide him with complete security. The guarantees given by the Cossacks and the gentry became decisive. On August 13, the patriarch turned to the Orthodox of the Commonwealth, asking them to choose their own bishops 42 . Then the process of consecration of the elected hierarchs began.

On October 6, 1620, in the Church of the Epiphany, Isaiah Kopinsky, hegumen of the Fraternal Epiphany Monastery, was consecrated to the Przemysl and Sambir bishopric. On October 9, they consecrated Job Boretsky as Metropolitan of Kyiv. This was done with great precautions, at night. The windows of the church were boarded up and hung so that the light would not attract anyone's attention, and outside the building was surrounded by Cossacks. Then the Greek Abraham, who arrived in Kyiv together with Feofan, was appointed to the Turov and Pinsk bishoprics. Melenty Smotrytsky 43 became Archbishop of Polotsk, Vitebsk and Mstislav.

Patriarch Feofan. Engraving of the 17th century.

At the end of his stay in Ukraine, the patriarch visited the churches and monasteries of Kyiv, visited the White Church (the consecration of Isaac Boriskevich to the bishops of Lutsk and Ostrozh took place there), the Cossack monastery in Terekhtemirov (where he consecrated Prince Kurtsevich to the bishops of Vladimir and Brest). Paisiy Ippolitovich became Bishop of Kholmsky and Velsky. With a special letter, Theophanes gave the Kyiv brotherhood the rights of stavropegy 44 and confirmed the creation of a fraternal school for "the sciences of the Hellenic-Slavic and Latin-Polish writing."

The restoration of the Orthodox hierarchy was met with extreme indignation by the Polish and Uniate authorities. Feofan was declared a Turkish spy. On March 22, 1621, Sigismund III signed universals to the authorities of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the order to catch and bring to justice the bishops consecrated by the Jerusalem Patriarch.

However, the implementation of these generalists faced great difficulties. Lev Sapieha, the chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, hesitated for a long time before putting the state seals on the universals mentioned. The chancellor justified his delay before the king with the fear of "universal indignation and great bloodshed, which can be produced in Poland and Lithuania by Orthodox inhabitants, and especially Cossacks, for whom strength means a lot" 45 .

True, Sigismund III himself was forced to change his hostile attitude towards the restored Orthodox hierarchy in view of the coming war with the Ottoman Empire, in which, more than ever, he needed the help of the Cossacks. Sagaidachny also understood this and calmly waited for a convenient time to address the king. He was not even embarrassed by the fact that an anarchist wing again came to power among the Cossacks, electing Wart as hetman.

Sagaidachny's assumption that the Polish government would soon need the services of the Cossacks turned out to be correct. The Sultan began military operations against the Commonwealth. Hetman Great Crown S. Zholkiewski, still irreconcilable to the Cossacks and dreaming of catching Feofan, who was returning from Ukraine, did not want to make any concessions, despite warnings from Sahaidachny. As a result, Zholkiewski was forced to oppose the Turks with a small Polish army and a small detachment of Cossacks. On October 7, 1620, he was defeated in the battle of Tsetsora and died. In the same battle, the father of Bogdan Khmelnitsky was killed, and the future great hetman himself was captured by the Turkish.

The defeat of the Polish army and the death of the famous commander caused panic in Poland. Tatar pens appeared in Podolia, Galicia and Volhynia. The extreme situation again forced the king to turn to the Cossacks. Sigismund turned to Patriarch Theophan (whom he had previously called a spy and an impostor) with a request to influence the Cossacks to help Poland. He was even ready to appoint an Orthodox hierarch to the empty cathedra of the Bishop of Lutsk!

Keeping the Cossacks from participating in the campaign, Sahaidachny convened a large council on June 15, 1621 in the Dry Dubrova tract. Sagaidachny and Job Boretsky went there, accompanied by three hundred priests and fifty monks. The meeting lasted three days. Boretsky delivered a fiery speech about the violence and abuse perpetrated by the Polish government on the faith and the Orthodox clergy. The Metropolitan read out a message about the pogrom of the Orthodox, perpetrated by the Uniates in Vilna. The speech aroused great enthusiasm on the part of the Cossacks. They promised to defend the faith without sparing their lives. It was decided to send Sahaidachny and Bishop Kurtsevich (a graduate of the University of Padua) to the king to ask for recognition of the rights of the clergy, ordained by Feofan 46 .

The envoys arrived in Warsaw and announced their conditions at the Sejm. Many Poles who spoke at the Sejm called for resolving the religious issue in order to provide military support for the Cossacks. Sahaidachny also had a personal meeting with the king. In addition to the demand to recognize the dedicated metropolitan and bishops, he insisted on extending the power of the Cossack hetman to the whole of Ukraine, on obtaining freedom of religion for the population, etc. Only when Sigismund promised to fulfill these conditions, Sahaidachny returned to Kyiv.

However, without waiting for Sagaidachny, the Cossacks under the command of Wart went to war. The thugs-adventurers were not interested in spiritual problems and the task of restoring the church hierarchy. The prospect of a large military campaign under the flag of the king attracted them much more. This, of course, weakened the position of Sahaidachny in negotiations with Sigismund. Wasting no time, he himself went to the army.

Sultan Osman II threatened to sack Krakow, the ancient capital of the Polish kings, destroy the Catholic faith and trample their saints under horse hooves. The huge army of the Sultan consisted of one hundred and fifty thousand Turks (including all the servants, this figure doubled) and several tens of thousands of Tatars. The Poles were able to oppose this only thirty-five thousand people, so the participation of the Cossacks became decisive.

Officially, the Khotyn campaign was headed by Prince Vladislav, whom the Cossacks had already once saved near Moscow. His assistant was the new crown hetman Karl Khodkiewicz, who replaced Zholkiewski. On July 22, the Poles crossed the Dniester and settled down near Khotyn. More than forty thousand Cossacks came with Wart (forty-one thousand five hundred and twenty people according to the surviving register). The artillery consisted of twenty-two guns.

When Sahaidachny arrived at the Polish camp, he discovered that the Cossacks were not there yet. The Poles greeted him with joy, rewarded him with gifts and sent him with two detachments to meet the Cossacks. On the way to the camp, Sahaidachny mistook the Turkish camp for Zaporozhye. With a shot through his hand, having lost a lot of blood, he miraculously escaped the chase, took refuge in the nearest forest and reached the Cossack camp at night.

His arrival immediately changed the balance of power. The message about negotiations with the king, about the promises received, greatly weakened the position of the Wart, against whom discontent was already growing.

Ultimately, on September 8, Borodavka was arrested, and then, on the orders of Sahaidachny, he was executed. So Sahaidachny again became a hetman. Note that this episode is ambiguously interpreted by historians. All contemporaries spoke of the Wart as a shameless adventurer who sought only robbery and booty. Nevertheless, Sagaidachny himself, although he became famous for his harsh measures in relation to violators of discipline, apparently survived the execution of Wart. This is evidenced by the fact that, when he died, he left in his will an order for memorial services for Wart 47 .

Y. Brand. Battle of Khotyn. 19th century

Wasting no time, Sahaidachny assumed command and marched through the Turkish positions. On September 1, the Cossacks reached the Polish camp and stood at a distance of "a shot from a bow", having built a battle camp. This was their usual tactic, which is believed to have come to them from the Huns and other nomads. Something similar was used by the squads of the Kyiv princes. To strengthen their camp, the Cossacks used a convoy. Usually they took on a campaign at the rate of one cart of fodder, provisions and ammunition for every five to ten people. For maneuverability, carts were made in such a way that horses could be harnessed to them from either side. When creating a camp, carts were placed in several rows, linking them with chains. All this was surrounded by a rampart and a network of connected trenches. Wolf pits and other traps were dug on the approaches. During a long defense, earth was poured into the wagons, and the wheels were buried. The wagons perfectly protected from Turkish-Tatar arrows and also created a safe position for return firing at the enemy.

Fierce fighting began near Khotyn. The Sultan set out to put an end to the Polish-Cossack army. He vowed not to eat anything "until he sends every last Pole to hell for dinner." Without giving rest to his people, he immediately rushed into battle from the march. The main blow fell on the Cossack detachments, fortified in the camp. Sahaidachny made a bold maneuver, practically exposing the central positions, which were hit by artillery fire, and placing the Cossack infantry on both flanks. As a result, the Turks were unable to inflict serious damage on the enemy with artillery shelling, but they themselves came under heavy gunfire from the flanks.

Sagaidachny was always at the head of the Cossacks. Showing miracles of courage and heroism, he broke into the camp of the enemy. He sent a captive pasha as a gift to Khodkevich.

Only in the evening the battle stopped. The Cossacks got rich trophies - horses with harness, clothes, weapons, ammunition. The Turks had many dead, panic seized them, many were ready to flee. It was rumored that the Sultan wept with anger.

At dawn on September 8, the Janissaries again rushed to the attack. The Cossacks in the trenches waited for the enemy to approach, and only then did they return fire on command. As a result, more than three thousand Janissaries died in the ditch in front of the camp, and the losses of the Cossacks were insignificant.

Sahaidachny not only successfully organized the defense, but also constantly annoyed the Turks with sorties. The Cossack sortie was especially successful on the night of September 12, when the Cossacks broke into the Turkish convoy. They fired cannons, collected booty and captured prisoners. Panic began in the ranks of the Turkish army, more than six hundred Janissaries died. The Sultan himself fled with the Murzas. However, it was not possible to develop success, since Khodkevich did not send reinforcements in time.

After that night, the demoralized Turks stopped fighting and proceeded to lay siege to the camp. But it was also restless in the Polish-Cossack camp. The Cossacks openly expressed their indignation at the actions of the Poles, who did not support them during the attack. Vladislav ordered an investigation that calmed the Cossacks. However, the troubles did not end there. Prince Vladislav and Khodkevich fell seriously ill with a fever. The crown hetman died on 24 September.

Raising the mood of the Cossacks, Sahaidachny undertook another sortie. They beat the Turks, captured several pashas. The former vizier Hussein Pasha was also almost taken prisoner, but he fled into the forest and, dying of fear, lay in the pit all night. The Cossacks triumphantly brought his sable fur coat to the camp.

The Polish gentry contemporary I. Yerlich wrote about the Khotyn war that Sahaidachny “took all the burdens of war on himself and led everything. And as he advised, so did their lordships, pan hetmans, and the king's son, his lordship.

The Turks did not take any action for some time. Only on September 28, after the arrival of reinforcements, Osman II gave a new battle, which lasted all day. And again the whole matter was decided by Sagaidachny, who, striking from the rear, forced the Turks to flee.

The long military confrontation, which lasted thirty-nine days, ended on October 8, 1621 with the conclusion of peace between the Ottoman Empire and the Commonwealth 48 .

At a brilliant banquet in honor of the victory, Vladislav presented forty-eight barrels of honey, twenty-four kufas (one kufa - forty buckets) of vodka and twenty-five bottles of Moldavian wine for the Cossacks. Personally, Sahaidachny received food, sweets, seven antals (one antal - five buckets) of the best Hungarian wine, a barrel of Rhine wine, a bottle of Katnar and a dozen gilt-silver flasks with medicinal vodka from the king. But Sagaidachny was able to use only one gift from Vladislav - a wonderful tent of crimson cloth. Hetman lay seriously ill, suffering from his wounds.

The banquet lasted eight days, and then the captains hit the cauldrons, and the army began to gather home. Before leaving, Vladislav went to Sagaidachny's. The hetman struggled to his feet, and the prince hung around his neck a gold ornament with a royal portrait adorned with rubies, and a Polish coat of arms with an eagle studded with sapphires. Seeing a simple wagon prepared for Sagaidachny, Vladislav ordered his carriage with a canopy to be brought. He also sent his own French doctor.

The king sent the hetman a precious mace and banner, four thousand chervonets and a gold chain, as well as forty thousand beaten thalers (one thaler is one silver ruble).

The Polish government could not but understand that the Cossacks saved the country from a difficult war. The Cossacks returned as heroes and received awards. Their exploits were sung, the Pope himself ordered a solemn mass in honor of the Khotyn victory. But the Poles did not want to fulfill the main condition of the Cossacks - to restore the Orthodox Church. As for Sahaidachny, he came to Kyiv mortally ill 49 .

On the example of Sahaidachny, a man who many times saved the Commonwealth in the literal sense of the word, who reached the heights of fame and fortune, the abyss of neglect that separated the Polish gentry from the Ukrainian gentry and Cossacks is especially clearly visible. Yakub Sobieski, who knew the hetman well from the Moscow and Khotyn campaigns and sincerely admired him, still writes about Konashevich's “simple origin”. Meanwhile, Sobieski himself was a Polish gentry, although he held high positions in the Commonwealth (it was only much later that his son, Jan Sobieski, would become the Polish king thanks to military merit). But, despite the "gentry democracy", Yakub still considered the Orthodox Ukrainian nobleman a person who was much lower than himself on the social ladder. And another contemporary of the Khotyn epic, the chronicler Petrciy, generally expressed surprise at how Sahaidachny could give such valuable military advice when he was "unlearned in the sciences" 50 . This is about a graduate of the Ostroh school, who published polemical works! How then were the arrogant pans to look at ordinary Cossacks or the Orthodox gentry?

At the beginning of 1622, a Cossack embassy went to Warsaw, asking for the abolition of the union and for the "calming of the Orthodox." The seriously ill Sahaidachny personally sent letters to the king, asking him to stop the persecution of the Cossacks and the spread of Uniatism in Ukrainian lands.

The second problem remained unresolved - what to do with the participants in the campaign. Sahaidachny proposed a demobilization plan, according to which the Commonwealth was to pay one hundred thousand zlotys a year for the maintenance of twenty thousand registered Cossacks, that is, almost half of the participants in the Khotyn campaign. In order to prevent clashes and violence, the hetman proposed to designate places for the location of the Cossacks. The plan also provided for an increase in the amount for the maintenance of the hospital and permission for the Cossacks to be hired for foreign service, which was especially important in the conditions of the Thirty Years' War in Europe.

Capture of Kafa. Engraving of the 17th century.

The disappointed Sahaidachny did not wait for the last blow - the failure of the Cossack embassy and died from wounds received near Khotyn on April 10, 1622. A few days before his death, while still "with a good memory and sound mind", in the presence of Metropolitan Job Boretsky and his successor in the hetman's rank Olifer Golub Sahaydachny bequeathed fifteen thousand zlotys to the Lvov fraternal school, as well as large sums to the Kyiv brotherhood, churches, monasteries and schools.

The conditions of his last will, according to which he left only a small part of his fortune to his wife (she met him in Kyiv upon her return from the Khotyn campaign), give reason to believe that family life did not bring happiness to the glorious hetman. History has not kept us the name of his wife. Apparently he had no children. A Cossack song conveyed to us from time immemorial a mention that Sahaidachny "traded a woman to tyutyun that cradle 51". He probably really loved freedom and danger more than his wife 52 .

The hetman was buried at the cemetery of the Epiphany Brotherhood "with great lamentation of the Zaporizhian Army and all Orthodox people." His grave existed until the 30s of the 20th century, until the destruction of the Fraternal Monastery and the church by the Bolsheviks.

On the death of Sagaidachny, the rector of the Kyiv fraternal school, Kasyan Sakovich, wrote a famous panegyric, which became a model of Ukrainian poetic baroque. The panegyric was decorated with the first Ukrainian engraving of civil content with a portrait of the hetman and the image of the capture of Kafa. At the funeral of Sagaidachny, twenty students of the Kyiv school read the panegyric. “And the harrows of the oh-clean world died ...” (“And he died defending the fatherland ...”. - T.T.).

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100 great Ukrainians Team of authors

Petro Sahaydachny (1570–1622) Hetman of the Zaporozhye Host

Petr Sahaidachny

hetman of the Zaporizhian Army

The strengthening of Polish oppression and Catholic expansion at the end of the 16th century stimulated the consolidation of the Ukrainian people, but not so much under the auspices of the princes (who often converted to Catholicism), but around the Cossacks and the Zaporozhian Sich.

The Polish authorities legally recognized the Cossacks as a special estate. But the status of the Cossacks officially had a meager number of persons included in the register of those who were in the border service of the Commonwealth. These Cossacks were called registered.

The formation of the registered Cossacks began with the wagon of Sigismund II August (1572), according to which a detachment of 300 Cossacks was accepted into the state military service. In 1578, the next king, Stefan Batory, increased the roster to 500 people. They were officially released from the power of landowners and elders, had their own military court and received a salary for their service. To maintain an arsenal, a hospital with a home for the disabled and the elderly (however, few of the Cossacks lived to old age), they were given the town of Trakhtemirov. The registered Cossack army was provided with military regalia: a crimson banner (banner), an army seal, a bunchuk, a hetman's mace, tambourines and trumpets.

At the same time as the consolidation of the Cossacks, the activity of the Ukrainian philistinism, the gentry and the clergy, who fought for the preservation of traditional rights, increased. The Orthodox cultural and educational movement in Ukraine in the 70s-90s of the 16th century unfolded in the form of the organization of urban fraternities. Their representatives consciously sought to preserve their religious and spiritual identity.

In the second half of the 16th century, the Cossack and educational movements were still weakly connected with each other. They developed, as it were, on different planes, although the cases of graduates of the Ostroh school joining the Cossacks are well known. Among them is the legendary leader of the Cossack uprising, Severin Nalivaiko, brother of the Orthodox scholar Demian Nalivaiko, who taught at the Ostroh Academy.

However, a special role in rallying the leading forces of the Ukrainian people to fight for the rights and national interests (first of all, the Cossacks, the Kyiv burghers and part of the educated clergy who remained faithful to Orthodoxy) belongs to the glorious hetman of the Zaporozhian Host, Petro Konashevich-Sagaydachny.

Petr Konashevich, better known by the nickname Sahaidachny given to him by the Cossacks (“sagaidak” in Ukrainian means “quiver”), is one of the most iconic figures in Old Ukrainian history. He had to fight on the Black Sea and near the walls of Moscow, together with the Poles to block the Turks' way to Europe and, against the will of the Polish king, restore the Orthodox hierarchy in the Ukrainian-Belarusian lands. But as a true Cossack, he put personal freedom, the Orthodox faith, military camaraderie and the Zaporozhian brotherhood above all else. These qualities are sung in folk songs dedicated to him, which are still popular today.

Little is known about Sagaidachny's early years. He was born approximately in 1570 near the town of Sambir, not far from Lvov, in an Orthodox gentry (noble) family. Perhaps, after Lvov or some other fraternal school, he went to study in Volhynia at the Ostroh Slavic-Greek-Latin Collegium (Academy), which was under the patronage of Prince and Kyiv governor Konstantin-Vasily Ostrozhsky.

After graduating from the collegium, young Petr Konashevich was engaged in teaching practice in Kyiv. In particular, it is known that for some time he was a teacher in the house of the city judge Jan Aksak. However, peaceful work in the field of public education clearly did not correspond to his energetic and resolute character. The fierce struggle against the Tatar raids, which was waged by the Zaporozhye Cossacks and detachments of the elders of the border fortress cities (Cherkasy, Chigirin, Uman), did not subside. At the same time, in connection with the proclamation of the Church Union of Brest in 1596, the situation in Ukraine sharply escalated. Remaining faithful to Orthodoxy, the nobility, inspired by the appeals of Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky, was ready to fight with arms in hand for the preservation of the paternal faith. Piotr Konashevich could not remain aloof from these landmark events for Ukraine.

By this time, the Zaporizhzhya Sich, which arose behind the Dnieper rapids (hence its name), became a school of chivalrous courage for Orthodox Ukrainian youth of all classes. At its origins in the middle of the 16th century was the famous prince-ataman Dmitry Vishnevetsky. The Cossacks, on a democratic basis, created an Orthodox military brotherhood, which some researchers tend to compare with Western knightly orders. Women were not allowed in the Sich. All major issues were resolved by election and at a general meeting of the Cossacks. A person of any rank and origin could become a member of the Commonwealth. The conditions for admission were only loyalty to Orthodoxy and courage proven in battle.

The Sich Cossacks, who defended Ukraine from the Tatar-Turkish troops, were beyond the reach of the Polish administration. Here they gathered from well-born Orthodox gentry to runaway serfs - everyone who, having military prowess, did not want to put up with the orders imposed by the Poles. Getting to the Sich, everyone became equal, and the position and promotion in military service was determined solely by the personal qualities of a person.

Since the time of Bayda-Vishnevetsky, the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks have become famous for their bold campaigns against the Crimean Khanate and the Turkish fortified cities of the Northern Black Sea region. From the end of the 16th century, Zaporozhye also became the center of the struggle of the Orthodox population of Ukraine against the Polish-Catholic expansion. From here, detachments of K. Kosinsky and S. Nalivaiko came out to fight against the royal troops. The fame of the Sich reached the courts of Western Europe, which, in particular, is evidenced by the embassy to the Zaporozhye Cossacks in 1594 of the German emperor. The goal of Erich Lasota, who headed it, was to conclude an alliance with the Cossacks for a joint fight against the powerful Ottoman Empire.

Approximately in 1600, Peter Konashevich fell into the Zaporozhian Sich and very soon became one of the recognized Cossack leaders. He was about 30 years old and, presumably, he already had sufficient combat experience, although where and with whom he had to fight in his youth remains unclear. He could take part in the fight against the Tatar detachments, which continued to disturb the border Ukrainian lands, and in the mentioned anti-Polish Cossack uprisings of the 90s of the 16th century. But true fame came to him precisely in the Sich, and he went down in history first of all as an ataman, and then as a hetman of the Zaporozhye Host.

In the early years of the 17th century, Petr Konashevich was one of the organizers and leaders of the brilliant Cossack campaigns in the Tatar-Turkish possessions. In 1601, the Cossacks broke through Perekop and devastated the Northern Crimea. The following year, on their light and maneuverable boats (“seagulls”), they made a sea raid into the lower reaches of the Dniester and Danube, striking at Turkish possessions near Akkerman (Belgorod-Dnestrovsky) and Izmail. This was followed by a campaign in Moldavia, subject to the Turkish Sultan, and after it, Sahaidachny, on the side of the Polish troops, at the head of a Cossack detachment, took part in the war in the Baltic states.

In these difficult campaigns, Peter showed extraordinary courage and military organizational talent. His authority steadily increased, and in 1605 he was for the first time elected hetman of the Zaporizhian Army. At the same time, the Zaporizhian Cossacks, led by Sagaidachny, made a brilliant sea raid into the Black Sea and took the Turkish fortress city of Varna on the Bulgarian coast, and the following year they delivered painful blows to Ochakov and Perekop for the Turks and Tatars, devastating the areas adjacent to them.

These successes brought Sagaidachny all-European fame. The Zaporozhye Cossacks, as in the time of Baida-Vishnevetsky, turned the tide of the struggle against the Turkish-Tatar forces in the Northern Black Sea region in their favor. From that time, until the death of the illustrious hetman, the military initiative invariably belonged to the Cossacks. In 1609, the Cossacks, led by Sagaydachny, on their "seagulls" again entered the Black Sea and burned the powerful Turkish fortress cities of Izmail, Kiliya and Akkerman, freeing, as usual, many Christian slaves languishing in captivity.

However, Petr Konashevich could not take full advantage of the fruits of his victories. During these years, in connection with the troubles and unrest in the Moscow kingdom, many Zaporozhye, like the Don or Terek Cossacks, sought prey and glory for themselves in the troops of impostors - False Dmitry I and False Dmitry II, acted in alliance with the leader of the rebel forces Bolotnikov, Cossack chieftains like "Tsarevich Peter" or Zarutsky.

Participation in these, in fact, predatory operations distracted a significant part of the Ukrainian Cossacks from consolidating the success achieved by Sagaidachny in the Northern Black Sea region. Sagaidachny himself did not get involved in these scams. Moreover, the actions he led against the Tatars and Turks objectively benefited the Muscovite state, since they aggravated relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Commonwealth. However, each Cossack, at his own peril and risk, chose where, for what and with whom to fight.

The Polish king Sigismund III, who was behind all these adventures, wanted to subjugate the Moscow kingdom and put his son, Prince Vladislav, on the throne in the Kremlin. Fearing a war with Turkey, he resolutely opposed the actions of the Zaporozhye Cossacks in the Black Sea region. However, his orders and threats were of little concern to the Cossacks. The Ukrainian people, represented by the Sich chivalry (and the Zaporozhye Cossacks often called themselves "knights" - knights in official documents) formed their own, completely independent armed forces.

In 1612, Sahaidachny again invaded the Crimean Khanate, ravaged Kozlov (Gizleu, present Evpatoria), then, rounding the peninsula, struck at the Cafe (Feodosia) belonging to the Turks. However, at this time he received news that the Tatar horde had invaded the lands of Podolia. The Zaporizhian hetman turned his troops to the north, lay in wait for the Tatars returning from Ukraine, and suddenly attacked them at Horse Waters. As a result of the victory, the Cossacks took possession of the property looted by the Khan's troops and freed many prisoners.

Zaporizhzhya attacks on the Turkish strongholds of the Black Sea resumed with new force after the end of the Time of Troubles in the Muscovite state and the influx of new masses of Cossacks from the north to the Sich. The real triumph of the Zaporizhian Army was the 1614 naval campaign on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Sahaidachny managed to take one of the largest Turkish port cities - Sinop, exterminate the local garrison, free Christian slaves and return to Ukraine with rich booty, almost without loss.

This success was followed the next year by a daring and no less successful raid of 80 Zaporizhzhya "gulls" on Istanbul. The Cossacks managed to quickly burn down two metropolitan piers, and then, in a battle with a Turkish squadron, capture several galleys and put to flight (and, according to some reports, even capture) the Turkish commander.

But Sahaidachny did not stop there and did not give the enemies a break. In 1616, he led a sea trip to Kafa, where the largest slave market in the Northern Black Sea region was located and thousands of Christian slaves languished in anticipation of their fate. Rapidly bursting into the harbor, the Cossacks burned the Turkish fleet stationed there and captured the fortress. And the released captives spread the glory of the valiant hetman to all parts of Eastern and Central Europe.

The last of the Turkish ports of the Black Sea taken by the Zaporizhian Otaman was the city of Trabzon (Trabzon) on the southern coast of the Black Sea. After its ruin by the Cossacks, the enraged Sultan ordered the execution of the Grand Vizier and many of his military leaders. The final chord in this victorious struggle was the campaign of 1619 led by Sagaidachny against the Crimean Khan.

The main forces of the Cossacks for 20 years were sent, as we see, to fight the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. King Sigismund III was often extremely dissatisfied with this, but he could not prevent the actions of the Cossacks. But for all the independence of the Cossacks in relation to the Polish authorities, they did not officially renounce citizenship of the Commonwealth, and they had to reckon with the interests of Krakow. Indeed, in order to fight the Turks, the Cossacks needed an organized supply of food, weapons and ammunition from the Ukrainian cities where the royal garrisons were stationed. In addition, in the event of an all-out war with the Ottoman Empire (which soon began), the enemy could only be stopped by joint Polish-Ukrainian forces.

Therefore, Sahaidachny, like the crown hetman Stanislav Zholkievsky, who commanded the Polish troops in Ukraine, in the event of rising Cossack uprisings, sought to find a peaceful solution and not bring the situation to an open war with the Commonwealth. Turkey, which had a huge military potential, would immediately take advantage of such a war.

One of the compromises was reached during the negotiations between Sahaydachny and the Crown Hetman in October 1617, when they met in the Dry Olshanka tract near Bila Tserkva. The Poles agreed to expand the Cossack register, and in response to this, the Cossacks undertook an obligation not to arbitrarily attack the Crimea and Turkish possessions.

Moreover, the Polish authorities, who needed the support of the Ukrainian Cossacks in the ongoing war with the Muscovite state, were forced to make significant concessions on the religious issue. The king, in principle, agreed to officially recognize within the boundaries of the Polish-Lithuanian state the Orthodox Church, legally abolished and replaced by the Uniate clergy, with its hierarchy and land holdings.

But the relationship of the Cossacks with the government of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov did not develop in the best way. The Kremlin administration, considering the Commonwealth as its main enemy, after the expulsion of the Poles from Moscow entered into friendly relations with the Turks and Crimean Tatars, intending to involve them in the war with King Sigismund III. However, the resumption of such a large-scale operation endangered the Sultan's hordes, primarily Ukrainian lands. Therefore, the Cossacks, led by Sagaydachny, in the first years of the reign of Tsar Michael, found themselves in the camp of his opponents.

In such a complex context of international relations, the reasons for the joint campaign of the Polish army under the command of Prince Vladislav (who later became the king of the Commonwealth) and the Zaporizhzhya Cossacks, led by Sagaidachny to Moscow (1618), become clear. The prince, moving to the Russian capital by the shortest route from Smolensk, held by the Poles, was clearly in a hurry. Approaching the walls of the city, he was surrounded. However, Sagaidachny arrived in time (who took Yelets, Livny and a number of other cities along the way) managed to save the Polish army.

This episode had far-reaching consequences for the development of Ukrainian-Polish relations. The ardent Catholic Sigismund III, for all his colonial policy towards Ukraine, feeling gratitude to Sahaidachny for saving his son, officially approved his hetman's dignity in relation to the Ukrainian Cossacks (thus, in fact, recognizing his real power over most of the Dnieper Ukraine). An agreement with the Crown Hetman Zholkiewski in October 1619 on the Rastavitsa River near the town of Pavoloch further strengthened the position of the leader of the Cossacks.

However, despite the royal promise to restore the Orthodox church hierarchy officially liquidated by the Union of Brest, the Polish government was not going to make real concessions to the Ukrainians on the religious issue. Therefore, already at the beginning of 1620 (after the return of the Cossacks from the campaign in the Crimea), the confrontation escalated so much that the Cossacks, with the support of the Kyiv clergy, were ready to leave the citizenship of the Commonwealth and enter the service of Tsar Michael. The terms of a possible transition were discussed in Moscow by Sagaidachny's ambassador Petr Odinets.

In the same 1620, with the decisive support of the people of Kiev and the direct active participation of Sagaidachny, under the protection of detachments of the Cossacks, in Kyiv, in accordance with church canons, the restoration of the Orthodox metropolis was carried out. It was headed by an outstanding ecclesiastical and cultural figure, polemicist and educator Job Boretsky, who was close to the illustrious hetman.

It is also worth noting the hetman's personal participation in the creation in Kyiv on Podil, at the Fraternal Epiphany Monastery of the Collegium, which became the basis for the famous Kiev-Mohyla Academy - one of the first Orthodox higher educational institutions of the European type. When the Polish authorities began to interfere with the work of this school, Sahaidachny in 1616 personally and with the entire Zaporizhian Army enrolled in the number of "brothers". With this gesture, he placed the newly formed collegium under the armed protection of the Sich.

The action to restore the Kyiv Orthodox Metropolis, carried out against the royal will, led to a sharp aggravation of relations between Krakow and Zaporozhye. However, it did not last long. A big war began between the Ottoman Empire and the Commonwealth, the arena of which could become the lands of Ukraine.

In September 1620, the Turkish army inflicted a heavy defeat on the Polish army (which also included Ukrainian Cossacks, but without Sahaidachny) in Moldova, on the Tsetsor fields. Here, in particular, the Crown Hetman Zholkiewski and many other soldiers of the Polish-Lithuanian state, including the Chigirinsky underage Mikhail Khmelnitsky, died heroically, and his son Bogdan (the future Hetman of Ukraine) was captured by the Ottomans for three years.

The defeat on the Tsetsor Fields opened the way for the enemies to Ukraine, and the Tatars were not slow to take advantage of this opportunity. Already in October 1620, the Budzhak horde subjected Podolia to a cruel robbery. Therefore, with all the aggravation of Ukrainian-Polish relations, both sides, in the interests of joint defense, had to seek reconciliation and unification of forces.

Under the circumstances, the Polish government could not afford a confrontation with Zaporozhye, and the Cossacks themselves were well aware of the scale of the threat looming over Ukraine. In November 1620, the State Sejm was convened in Warsaw, at which Sahaidachny managed to convince the Polish authorities to come to terms with the revival of the Kyiv Metropolis. The king made official promises regarding the speedy "calming of the Greek faith."

With the news of the new offensive of the huge Turkish army, in June 1621, the Cossack Council in the Dry Dubrava tract, with the participation of the Orthodox clergy and Metropolitan Job Boretsky himself, decides on the immediate action of the Cossacks and the entire Ukrainian Cossacks to help the Polish army, the commander of which was appointed new crown hetman J. Khodkevich.

The united Slavic troops (30 thousand Polish soldiers and 40 thousand Ukrainian Cossacks) at the beginning of September 1621 stopped more than 150 thousand (according to other sources, up to 250 thousand) Turkish hordes near the Khotyn fortress and inflicted a number of defeats on them over the next month. The enemy was forced to retreat to the territory of Moldova. The danger of the Turkish conquest of Ukraine was eliminated, but the losses of the allies were impressive.

In the battles near Khotin, Sahaidachny was mortally wounded. In a serious condition, the illustrious hetman was brought to Kyiv in a wagon provided by Prince Vladislav and accompanied by his personal doctor, where he lived for several more months without getting out of bed. On his behalf, on behalf of the entire Ukrainian Cossacks, philistinism and Orthodox clergy, at the beginning of 1622, a delegation went to the Sejm in Warsaw demanding to abolish the union and fully recognize the Kyiv Metropolis restored a year and a half earlier. The king was ready to go for it, but the deputies of the Sejm, under the influence of the Catholic hierarchy, once again blocked the adoption of the relevant resolution.

The forces of the already elderly hetman were running out, and in April 1622 he died. In his will, Petr Konashevich-Sagaydachny distributed personal funds for the needs of the Kyiv and Lviv Orthodox fraternal schools, a number of churches and monasteries in Ukraine. His death was perceived by the Orthodox Church and the Zaporizhian Cossacks, the people of Kiev and the entire Ukrainian people as a bitter loss. The poet and rector of the Kyiv fraternal school, Kasiyan Sakovich, composed majestic and touching poems in honor of the deceased hetman, which were recited in turn by twelve students at the funeral. The hero was buried in the Epiphany Cathedral of the Kyiv Fraternal Monastery near the building of the fraternal school, benefited by him.

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