Zebrzydowski's Rokosz - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Zebrzydowski's Rebellion , or the Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...

Rebellion , was a rokosz

Rokosz

A rokosz originally was a gathering of all the Polish szlachta , not merely of deputies, for a sejm. The term was introduced to the Polish language from Hungary, where analogous gatherings took place at a field called Rákos....

(semi-legal rebellion

Rebellion

Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...

) in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

against King Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, a monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632, and King of Sweden from 1592 until he was deposed in 1599...

. The rokosz, formed on 5 August 1606 by Mikołaj Zebrzydowski, Jan Szczęsny Herburt

Jan Szczesny Herburt

Jan Szczęsny Herburt , Polish-Lithuanian political writer, diplomat, poseł to the Sejm. Early supporter of kanclerz Jan Zamoyski, took part in many diplomatic missions...

, Stanisław Stadnicki, Aleksander Józef Lisowski

Aleksander Józef Lisowski

Aleksander Józef Lisowski was a Polish-Lithuanian noble , commander of a mercenary group that after his death adopted the name "Lisowczycy." His coat of arms was Jeż ....

and Janusz Radziwiłł

Janusz Radziwill (1579-1620)

Janusz Radziwiłł was a noble and magnate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was the podczaszy of Lithuania since 1599, the castellan of Vilnius since 1619, and the starost of Borysów. Radziwiłł also held the title of Reichsfürst of the Holy Roman Empire.He married Zofia Olelkowicz Słucka...

in Stężyca

Stezyca

Stężyca may refer to the following places:*Stężyca, Greater Poland Voivodeship *Stężyca, Lublin Voivodeship *Stężyca, Pomeranian Voivodeship...

and Lublin

Lublin

Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...

, was caused by the growing dissatisfaction with the King among the nobility (szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

), who disapproved of the King's efforts to limit the power of the nobles (his attempts to weaken the Sejm
Sejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....

, the Polish parliament) and to introduce a hereditary monarchy in place of the elective one). The rebellion (1606-08) ended in the defeat of the rebels. Despite its failure to overthrow the King, it firmly established the dominance of the szlachta

Szlachta

The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...

over the monarch in the Polish-Lithuanian political system

Political system

A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the legal system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems...

.

The Polish nobles gathered at rokosz formed a konfederacja. Demands of the konfederacja was outlined in 67 articles. They demanded Sigismund III's dethronement for breaching the Henrician Articles

Henrician Articles

The Henrician Articles or King Henry's Articles were a permanent contract that stated the fundamental principles of governance and constitutional law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the form of 21 Articles written and adopted by the nobility in 1573 at the town of Kamień, near Warsaw,...

, and the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. They further demanded that the Sejm

Sejm

The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....

was to be appoint state official

Official

An official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority .A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public...

s instead of the king; that local officials should be elected and not appointed and that Protestant rights should be expanded and protected.
The 1607 Sejm

Sejm

rejected the demands. Meanwhile, the rebel nobles gathered in Guzów (Guzow, Guznów, Guznow, Guzowo), and in 1607, the Royal Army led by Hetman

Hetman

Hetman was the title of the second-highest military commander in 15th- to 18th-century Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which together, from 1569 to 1795, comprised the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or Rzeczpospolita....

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was a famous Lithuanian military commander and one of the most prominent noblemen of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.-Biography:...

(commander at the Battle of Kircholm

Battle of Kircholm

The Battle of Kircholm was one of the major battles in the Polish-Swedish War of 1600-1611. The battle was decided in 20 minutes by the devastating charge of Polish-Lithuanian cavalry, the Winged Hussars...

) was sent to pacify the rebels. The confrontation turned violent, eventually leading to a full scale battle (Battle of Guzów

Battle of Guzów

The Battle of Guzów took place on July 6, 1607, at the village of Guzów in Szydłowiec County, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The confrontation was between the forces of the Zebrzydowski Rebellion against the Royalists supporting King Sigismund III Vasa , under...

) on July 5/July 6 (sources vary), with 200 casualties, which resulted in the victory of the Royalist faction.

By 1609, the rebellion was over. Two years after the start of the revolt, the rebellious nobles formally surrendered to the king at the 1609 meeting of the Sejm

Sejm

, which became known as the Pacification Sejm

Pacification Sejm

The Pacification Sejm was a session of the Sejm in 1736 that concluded the War of the Polish Succession in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that erupted after the death of Augustus II the Strong in February 1733...

. The nobles surrendered in return for leniency, as many royal supporters, including Hetman Chodkiewicz had successfully argued for amnesty

Amnesty

Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...

for the rebels.

Despite the failure of the rebellion, it nevertheless ruined any chance that Sigismund III had to strengthen his role in the government. Polish historian Oskar Halecki

Oskar Halecki

Oskar Halecki was a Polish historian, social and Catholic activist.As a historian, Halecki was an expert on medieval history of Poland and Lithuania, and history of Byzantine Empire....

wrote:

"The first rebellion in Polish history had sinister consequences. Royalty lost, to great extent, the moral prestige it had enjoyed... The Polish constitution was henceforth regarded as sacrosanct and the king had to renounce not only the idea of making any far-reaching changes in it, but even any reform."

After the rebellion, King Sigismund attempted to funnel the nobles' restless energy into external wars. This, combined with other factors, led to the official Commonwealth involvement in the Polish-Muscovy War (1609-1618), which followed the Dimitriads (1605-1609).

See also

Further reading