Próba zrównania uprawnień litewskich urzędów hetmańskich za panowania Jana Kazimierza

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Bajorai; Etmonai; Jonas Kazimieras, 1609-1672 (Jonas Kazimieras Vaza, Jonas I Kazimieras, Jonas II Kazimieras, Jan II Kazimierz Waza); Kariuomenė; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštytė; 17 amžius; Valdovai; Hetmans; John II Casimir Vasa; Military; Monarchs; Noblemen; The Great Duchy of Lithuania; The Lithuanian XII c. history.

ENThe aim of the article is to present the attempts undertaken by King John II Casimir Vasa to make equal the powers of Lithuanian hetmans and thus to limit the authority of the Lithuanian grand hetman. Despite the fact that the Lithuanian offi ces of hetman were modelled on the Crown ones, they were characterised by certain diff erences. The first and most important was the fact that the filed hetman was not subordinated to the grand hetman, but the latter had much greater powers over the army than his "younger" colleague. This resulted in practical gradation of the offices, although an informal one. King John Casimir sought to change this state of aff airs with a reform of the offi ce of hetman. First, he wanted to limit the scope of grand hetman's authority through an appropriate oath, but the attempt failed at the 1654 Sejm session. At the same time, he took steps to weaken the power of the grand hetman in Lithuania, initially by his objection to the appointment of Field Hetman Janusz Radziwiłł to the office, and after a failure of this measure, by appointing to the office of field hetman a man who was totally devoted to him in the person of Grand Treasurer Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski. Holding two extremely important offi ces, both with the authority over military matters, Gosiewski was able to control and frustrate Radziwiłł's actions considered unfavourable for the court. With it, the king formed a separate division for Gosiewski in the Lithuanian army, exempted from the authority of the grand hetman. In practice, this step brough a series of misfortunes for Lithuania in her struggles with the aggressions of Moscow and Sweden in 1654-1655.The king, however, did not draw appropriate conclusions, and in 1656, after Gosiewski escaped from Swedish captivity, handed him over the command over a part of the army (the so-called "left wing") and decided to totally free him from the authority of the unfriendly to him, powerful and moody Grand Hetman Paweł Jan Sapieha. Initially, Gosiewski only ignored or changed Sapieha's orders related to the authority of the grand hetman (a winter allowance for the army, called hiberna ["winter bread"], judicature, soldier's pay), yet finally, he wanted the king to fulfil his promise and make him the grand hetman. Since Sapieha had not the least intention to resign his office, John Casimir decided to equalise the scope of authority of the two hetman offi ces, and to abolish in their titles the "grand" and "field" terms, making them both "hetmans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania". Despite the threat of confederation of Sapieha troops, the king pushed his project through to completion at the Częstochowa convocation of 1657. This met with a fierce response from the grand hetman of Lithuania, who with his division of the Lithuanian army (the so-called "right wing") and his faction forced the king to abandon his plans. Finally, however, both hetmans had to reconcile themselves with the status quo, which meant a considerable Gosiewski's independence and some superior prerogatives of Sapieha. King John Casimir, however, did not allow to consolidate the army, and aft er Gosiewski was taken captive in the battle of Werki fought in 1658 against Russia, he appointed commander of the left wing division first Samuel Komorowski and then Michał Kazimierz Pac. It was Pac who, as the grand hetman aft er Sapieha's death, abolished the split of the Lithuanian army into two divisions. The last attempt to "describe" the offices King John Casimir undertook not long before his abdication only to fail onc.

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