Mykhailo Krychevsky
Encyclopedia
Mykhailo Krychevsky or Stanisław Krzyczewski or Krzeczowski (died 3 August 1649) was a Polish noble, military officer and Cossack commander.
), polonized around the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries in the Brest Litovsk Voivodeship. His year of birth is unknown, but in mid-1640s he likely served in the Commonwealth army for 10 to 20 years. Hence it can be conjectured that he was close to 30 years old if not older at this time. Thus he was likely born no later than mid-1610s, and possibly earlier.
Little is known about his early life. Polish historian, Wacław Lipiński, in his 1912 biography of Krychevsky, speculated that with the rank of rotmistrz he fought in the Polish-Swedish wars
(1627-1629) under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, where he led a chorągiew
(unit) of Polish hussars
. However more recent Polish studies
dispute this, noting that the rotmistrz, known in some sources only by his surname Krzeczowski and in others as Mikołaj Krzyczewski, was probably another person.
It is much more likely that Krychevsky was present in the sejm of 1632 which elected Władysław IV Waza the king of Poland. He also probably helped quell the Cossack Pawluk Uprising
in 1637, fighting in a Cossack chorągiew
loyal to the King, under prince Zachariasz Czetwertyński and was wounded in that campaign. In 1643 Hetman Koniecpolski, who considered him a valuable commander, gave him the rank of polkovnyk (colonel) and made him the leader of a registered Cossacks
unit (pułk
) based in Chyhyryn
. He replaced the previous commander of that unit, Jan Zakrzewski, who was removed after fraud or mistreatment of those under his command. As a polkovnyk Krychevsky was known for his favorable attitude towards the Cossacks.
In 1644 he was given the task of gathering information on the Tatar invasion; it is possible that he fought in the battle of Okhmativ under Hetman Koniecpolski against Tatars of Tugay Bey. In 1646 and in 1647 he took part in another series of hostilities with the Tatars.
Eventually Krychevsky became a friend and a sympathizer of Bohdan Khmelnytsky
and even became a godfather
to Khmelnytsky's child. He met Khmelnytsky while both were serving in the Chyryryn Cossack unit. In 1647 he helped Khmelnytsky, who had been arrested and sentenced to death under a suspicion of preparing another Cossack uprising. After receiving guarantees of Khmelnytsky's innocence (from Krychevsky and others), Koniecpolski allowed Khmelnytsky to go free. Khmelnytsky's promptly went to Zaporizhian Sich
where he started the Khmelnytsky Uprising
. Nonetheless Krychevsky did not join the uprising and remained in command of his unit and was known as a supporter of official Commonwealth policies. Krychevsky himself informed Koniecpolski of Khmelnytsky's escape, and then started gathering information about the situation in Zaphoroze. He took part in scouting missions, captured Cossack prisoners, and participated in negotiations early that year. During this time he was assaulted and battered by the Cossacks.
According to an account given in Polski Słownik Biograficzny, in April, while securing a fortification in Bucki
, a Cossack unit under his command rebelled and he was taken prisoner. Unlike some of his fellow officers, however, he was not killed but instead given to the Tatars. He was ransomed from them by Khmelnytsky (for 4,000 talar
s), and joined his side becoming a respected commander.
A different account of how Krychevsky joined Khmelnytsky is present in other sources. Taken prisoner by Tatars during the Battle of Zhovti Vody
(Yellow Waters) in April/May 1648, where he still fought on the Polish-Lithuanian side against the Cossacks, he was liberated by Khmelnytsky, who convinced him to join his side. Other sources even accuse Krychevsky of joining Khmelnytsky in the midst of the battle, and of meeting (or planning to meet) with him before the battle.
In either case, all accounts agree that Krychevsky converted to Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism, adopting a new name, Mykahilo (Michael).
He was given the title of acting Hetman
and was considered a very able and promising commander by Khmelnytsky. Very likely he acted as a close adviser to the rebel leader. He was defeated and mortally wounded in the battle of Loyew
on 31 July of 1649. Polish hetman Janusz Radziwiłł wanted to save his life, so he could be put on trial for joining the uprising, but his wounds were too great and he died soon afterwords, on 3 August of 1649.
's novel With Fire and Sword
(Ogniem i Mieczem).
Biography
He was born Stanisław Krzeczowski or Krzyczewski (sources vary) to a Roman Catholic family of nobility (szlachtaSzlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
), polonized around the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries in the Brest Litovsk Voivodeship. His year of birth is unknown, but in mid-1640s he likely served in the Commonwealth army for 10 to 20 years. Hence it can be conjectured that he was close to 30 years old if not older at this time. Thus he was likely born no later than mid-1610s, and possibly earlier.
Little is known about his early life. Polish historian, Wacław Lipiński, in his 1912 biography of Krychevsky, speculated that with the rank of rotmistrz he fought in the Polish-Swedish wars
Polish-Swedish wars
The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers two particular wars between 1600 and 1629...
(1627-1629) under hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, where he led a chorągiew
Choragiew
Chorągiew was the basic administrative unit of the Polish cavalry from the 14th century. An alternative name until the 17th century was Rota.The name may derive from Slavic word Khorugv ....
(unit) of Polish hussars
Polish Hussars
The Polish Hussars were the main type of cavalry of the first Polish Army, later also introduced into the Army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, between the 16th and 18th centuries...
. However more recent Polish studies
Polish studies
Polish studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates Polish language and literature in both its historic and present-day forms...
dispute this, noting that the rotmistrz, known in some sources only by his surname Krzeczowski and in others as Mikołaj Krzyczewski, was probably another person.
It is much more likely that Krychevsky was present in the sejm of 1632 which elected Władysław IV Waza the king of Poland. He also probably helped quell the Cossack Pawluk Uprising
Pawluk Uprising
The Pavluk Uprising of 1637 was a Cossack uprising in Left-bank Ukraine and Zaporizhia headed by Pavlo Mikhnovych against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.The rebellion was sparked by several Cossacks expelled from the Cossack Registry...
in 1637, fighting in a Cossack chorągiew
Choragiew
Chorągiew was the basic administrative unit of the Polish cavalry from the 14th century. An alternative name until the 17th century was Rota.The name may derive from Slavic word Khorugv ....
loyal to the King, under prince Zachariasz Czetwertyński and was wounded in that campaign. In 1643 Hetman Koniecpolski, who considered him a valuable commander, gave him the rank of polkovnyk (colonel) and made him the leader of a registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks
Registered Cossacks is the term used for Cossacks formations of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth armies.-Establishing:The registered cossacks were created on the King's edict of Sigismund II Augustus on June 5, 1572 confirming the orders of the Crown Hetman Jerzy Jazłowiecki. The first senior ...
unit (pułk
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
) based in Chyhyryn
Chyhyryn
Chyhyryn is a city located in Cherkasy Oblast of central Ukraine. In 1648 to 1669 the city was the capital of Ukraine .- Location :...
. He replaced the previous commander of that unit, Jan Zakrzewski, who was removed after fraud or mistreatment of those under his command. As a polkovnyk Krychevsky was known for his favorable attitude towards the Cossacks.
In 1644 he was given the task of gathering information on the Tatar invasion; it is possible that he fought in the battle of Okhmativ under Hetman Koniecpolski against Tatars of Tugay Bey. In 1646 and in 1647 he took part in another series of hostilities with the Tatars.
Eventually Krychevsky became a friend and a sympathizer of Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Khmelnytsky
Bohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych Khmelnytsky was a hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanate of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates which resulted in the creation of a Cossack state...
and even became a godfather
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
to Khmelnytsky's child. He met Khmelnytsky while both were serving in the Chyryryn Cossack unit. In 1647 he helped Khmelnytsky, who had been arrested and sentenced to death under a suspicion of preparing another Cossack uprising. After receiving guarantees of Khmelnytsky's innocence (from Krychevsky and others), Koniecpolski allowed Khmelnytsky to go free. Khmelnytsky's promptly went to Zaporizhian Sich
Zaporizhian Sich
Zaporizhian Sich was socio-political, grassroot, military organization of Ukrainian cossacks placed beyond Dnieper rapids. Sich existed between the 16th and 18th centuries in the region around the today's Kakhovka Reservoir...
where he started the Khmelnytsky Uprising
Khmelnytsky Uprising
The Khmelnytsky Uprising, was a Cossack rebellion in the Ukraine between the years 1648–1657 which turned into a Ukrainian war of liberation from Poland...
. Nonetheless Krychevsky did not join the uprising and remained in command of his unit and was known as a supporter of official Commonwealth policies. Krychevsky himself informed Koniecpolski of Khmelnytsky's escape, and then started gathering information about the situation in Zaphoroze. He took part in scouting missions, captured Cossack prisoners, and participated in negotiations early that year. During this time he was assaulted and battered by the Cossacks.
According to an account given in Polski Słownik Biograficzny, in April, while securing a fortification in Bucki
Bucki
Bućki is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Przerośl, within Suwałki County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland.-References:...
, a Cossack unit under his command rebelled and he was taken prisoner. Unlike some of his fellow officers, however, he was not killed but instead given to the Tatars. He was ransomed from them by Khmelnytsky (for 4,000 talar
Talar
Talar is the architectural term given to the throne of the Persian monarchs which is carved on the rock-cut tomb of Darius at Naqsh-e Rostam, near Persepolis, and above the portico which was copied from his palace....
s), and joined his side becoming a respected commander.
A different account of how Krychevsky joined Khmelnytsky is present in other sources. Taken prisoner by Tatars during the Battle of Zhovti Vody
Battle of Zhovti Vody
Battle of Zhovti Vody , was the first significant battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. The name of the battle derived from a nearby river.-Scope:...
(Yellow Waters) in April/May 1648, where he still fought on the Polish-Lithuanian side against the Cossacks, he was liberated by Khmelnytsky, who convinced him to join his side. Other sources even accuse Krychevsky of joining Khmelnytsky in the midst of the battle, and of meeting (or planning to meet) with him before the battle.
In either case, all accounts agree that Krychevsky converted to Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism, adopting a new name, Mykahilo (Michael).
He was given the title of acting Hetman
Acting Hetman
Acting Hetman was a title during the 17th, and 18th centuries, in the Cossack Hetmanate. The acting hetman was the governing authority in the Hetmanate temporarily substituted for the hetman. The acting hetman was appointed by the hetman himself, to perform the duties of the hetman when absent...
and was considered a very able and promising commander by Khmelnytsky. Very likely he acted as a close adviser to the rebel leader. He was defeated and mortally wounded in the battle of Loyew
Battle of Loyew (1649)
The Battle of Loyew , was a battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Near the site of the present-day town of Loyew in Belarus, a numerically superior force of Cossacks under the command of Cossack warleaders Stepan Pobodailo and Mykhailo Krychevsky was defeated by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth...
on 31 July of 1649. Polish hetman Janusz Radziwiłł wanted to save his life, so he could be put on trial for joining the uprising, but his wounds were too great and he died soon afterwords, on 3 August of 1649.
In fiction
Krychevsky was a minor character in Henryk SienkiewiczHenryk Sienkiewicz
Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz was a Polish journalist and Nobel Prize-winning novelist. A Polish szlachcic of the Oszyk coat of arms, he was one of the most popular Polish writers at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1905 for his...
's novel With Fire and Sword
With Fire and Sword
With Fire and Sword is a historical novel by the Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, published in 1884. It is the first volume of a series known to Poles as the Trilogy, followed by The Deluge and Fire in the Steppe , also translated as Colonel Wolodyjowski...
(Ogniem i Mieczem).
Further reading
- Wacław Lipiński (Vyacheslav Lypynsky)Vyacheslav LypynskyVyacheslav Kazymyrovych Lypynsky was a Ukrainian historian, social and political activist, an ideologue of Ukrainian conservatism. He was also the founder of the Ukrainian Democratic-Agrarian Party...
, Stanisław Michał Krzyczewski. Z dziejów walki szlachty ukraińskiej w szeregach powstańczych pod wodzą Bohdana Chmielnickiego, Kijów/Kraków 1912; (Ukrainian edition: Viacheslav Lypyns'kyi), Uchast' shliakhty и velykomu ukrains'komu povstanni pid provodom Het'mana Bohdana Khmel'nyts'koho, ed. Lev R. Bilas [Philadelphia, 1980])
External links
- Stanisław Krzeczowski, artistic vision, in a Polish collectible card game Veto!
