JOHN SOBIESKI.
Strangeness of Polish history.The Kingdom or Republic of Poland has always seemed a strange phenomenon in European history, partly from the aboriginal character of its population, and partly from its exceptional constitution. The ancient Sarmatians, who occupied the same territory, had no share in the old Roman civilisation, but rather, by their constant irruptions upon the empire, were mainly instrumental in its downfall. Christianity was introduced in the tenth century; but, until recent times, no other civilising force has ever effected a permanent conquest of the country. Aboriginal character of the Poles,During the eight following centuries the Poles, surrounded by enemies—on the north and east by more barbarous tribes, on the south and west by a superior civilisation—were exclusively confined to the defensive and so missed those humanising influences to which a conquering nation has so often had to submit. As late as the eighteenth century they might truly be called the lineal descendants in race, in character, and almost in habits, of the hunters and shepherds of the ancient North. Seen in their social system.Throughout their history there were two great classes in the State; the so-called noble class—the heirs of the savage in their desire for equality, and of the nomad in their love of freedom—and the peasant class—the descendants of captives taken in war—whose lives and properties were at the absolute disposal of their masters. Only in the western portion of the kingdom was there a burgher class, and this was on the same[1] political footing with the serfs. The union of two great evils arising from such a system—licence and servitude—made the Polish constitution as disastrous as it was unique. Poland thus differed so widely, both socially and politically, from every other European state, that it would be impossible to examine any important period of her history without explaining alike her position in Europe and some of her internal peculiarities.
European position of Poland,Although considerably[2] larger than France, Poland took scarcely any part in the general history of Europe before the end of the sixteenth century. Once only, just before the taking of Constantinople, we find her with Hungary striving to check the advance of the Turks, when she lost in battle her king Wladislas VI. (1444). At first inconsiderable,As she was the north-eastern outpost of the Church, the Popes took care that she should always be remarkable for her submission to the Holy See. But it was beyond their power to check the turbulence of the nobles or to instil any love for a higher civilisation. During the sixteenth century, chiefly through the enterprise of foreigners, commerce made rapid advances in the country. English and Italian merchants, favoured by treaties between the king and queen Elizabeth, settled in the prosperous town of Dantzic, and spread a moderate knowledge of Poland in western countries. That this knowledge was only moderate may be judged from a valuable geographical work[3] published in London early in the seventeenth century, in which we are told that the Lithuanians still worshipped idols, and that in another province they had not learned the use of the plough. The reformed doctrines were widely disseminated before the year 1600; but their progress was checked by the activity of the Jesuits. Owing to exclusiveness,The Papal Nuncio of that time[4] complains of the exclusiveness of the Poles and their distrust of foreign nations. They used commonly to boast that alliances were of no service to them, for, if the country were conquered, they could, like their ancestors, recover in winter what they had lost in summer. Yet very early in their history they had lost the rich province of Prussia[5] by neglect and mis-government. When, in 1573, they allied themselves with France by electing as their king Henry of Valois, they bound him by such a crowd of onerous restrictions that he fled the country in disgust at their wild and barbarous freedom. Anarchy,During the next three quarters of a century (1573-1648), under three princes of conspicuous ability, Poland began to rank among the second-rate powers of Europe; but her internal condition was all the while frightful. Unceasing struggles between the greater and lesser nobility, and the cruel oppression of the peasants by both alike, distracted the kingdom. And foreign wars,Then followed thirty years of desolating war, in which the country was several times on the brink of final subjugation by a foreign invader. The Poles themselves attributed their survival to God alone[6], who had preserved them to form a barrier against the Turks.
Then suddenly most prominent,At the close of this period, instead of finding Poland exhausted almost to death, we see her occupying the proud position of the saviour of Europe. At a most critical moment, when the last great wave of barbarian invasion was rolling over Europe, and seemed likely to overwhelm the ancient empire of the Hapsburgs, this little republic stood firmly in the gap, and became the bulwark of Christendom against the infidel. Nay more, by her own sacrifices no less than by her opportune intervention, she was the main instrument in setting the final limit to the Ottoman advance. Owing to John Sobieski.This extraordinary result is to be ascribed almost solely to the personal character and exploits of her patriot king, John Sobieski. Rising to the throne by his personal merits alone in spite of the most malignant envy, he was the first native king unconnected with the old royal line. His difficulties mainly caused by the constitution.It may be said that his life from his early manhood is at no time the history of a private man; it rather comprises the whole contemporary annals of his country. Yet it forms the most destructive comment on her institutions, both social and political, and on the character of the national nobility. While we must admire a conservative constitution which admits of the supremacy of the best man, we cannot but deplore those faults in its working which had the effect of nullifying his authority. In Poland there was neither a republic nor a monarchy, but the sovereignty of one man under the control of an unrestrained class, which mistook licence for freedom. In order to understand the position of Sobieski and the difficulties with which he had to contend, a short account of the Polish constitution is indispensable.
Monarchy generally becomes elective.The authority of the king was originally absolute, but in a nation of fierce warriors he was easily controlled by armed assemblies of his subjects. His consulting them, though at first only a mark of favour, was soon looked upon as a right; and in course of time they even claimed the disposal of his dignity. Two great dynasties successively reigned in Poland. During the first, founded by Piast, a native Pole (850-1386), the dignity was hereditary; during the second, that of Jagellon (1386-1573), though in practice hereditary, it was in theory elective. Election of the king.After the latter period the whole nobility met in arms to elect a king, and, though a relation of the old line was preferred, he was considered to have no claim. This assembling of the Pospolite, as it was called, was in an emergency the prerogative of the king, and during an interregnum of the Primate, the Archbishop of Guesna, who acted as interrex. The election was not legal unless it was unanimous; and when this was accomplished, seldom without violence, the republic imposed upon the new monarch a contract styled “pacta conventa,” the conditions of which he swore faithfully to observe. His privileges.His privileges were few. He always presided in the national assembly, and he might if he chose command[7] the army. But his most important function was the appointment of officers of state. These are said to have amounted in all branches to the astounding number of 20,000; The Senate.but only the most important, about 140, composed the Senate, which was the middle estate of the realm and the real executive.
How composed.Besides the bishops there were three great orders in the administration, of which only the first two had seats in the Senate. These were the palatines, the castellans, and starosts. Each palatine, like a Norman baron, was the military commander and supreme judge in his province or palatinate; he was also its recognised political head. The castellans were his deputies, who discharged the same functions in a more confined area. The starosts were inferior magistrates, with military and judicial duties, whose chief privilege was the high value of their benefices. The officers of state.There were twelve great dignitaries who were entrusted with the higher executive,—six for the kingdom of Poland, viz., the Grand Marshal, the Grand General,[8] the Second General, the Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor, and the Grand Treasurer, and six parallel officers for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The latter, when incorporated with Poland in 1386, had insisted on a distinct administration; but the arrangement proved most unfortunate, for the Polish magnate had no authority over his Lithuanian compeer. In the army, as in the administration, they might act quite independently of each other, and the very equality made a collision inevitable. Over the Senate as a whole the king had no real power, but the Diet exercised a rigid supervision.
This body—the third estate of the realm—had originally been composed of the whole adult nobility. So jealous were the Poles of their privileges that it was not till 1466—two hundred years after the foundation of the House of Commons—that they consented to form a representative system. The Diet.A Diet of 400 deputies met every two years, and was liable to be summoned on extraordinary occasions. The members of this assembly were absolutely without discretionary powers. They were elected in the dietines or provincial assemblies, and received minute instructions as to their course of action. After the dissolution of the Diet they had to appear again before their constituents and give an account of their stewardship. Those who had offended found their lives in peril. Its dependence upon the nobility.Thus the Diet took its stamp from the prevailing temper of the nobility, and, as this was almost always quarrelsome, the place of meeting often resounded with the clang of sabres. Results of this dependence.During the period which we shall have to consider, this dependence will explain the constant neglect of proper means for the national defence. The cavalry of the nobles—the flower of the troops—displayed all the disadvantages, and none of the merits, of a standing army. They were always under arms, and ready to use them in any feud; but they could not brook strict discipline, and as they grew more luxurious their disinclination[9] to a long campaign was duly reflected in the ranks of the Diet. The national haughtiness found its vent in intestine strife. The veto.A most disastrous provision made it necessary for every resolution of the Diet to be unanimous. Any deputy might, without reason assigned, pronounce his veto upon the subject under discussion; nay, more, by a refinement of this privilege,[10] he might by withdrawing declare the Diet dissolved, and until he was induced or compelled to return public business was suspended. This power, though very ancient, was not exercised till 1652, but was afterwards repeated with increasing frequency. It would once have been dangerous for an individual to defy the mass, but when the republic was in a state of anarchy it was easy to find supporters, and the gold of France or Austria often proved a powerful incentive. Obstruction.Another mode of obstruction was called drawing out the Diet, which could not[11] sit for more than six weeks. This consisted in the proposal and tedious discussion of irrelevant matter, until the day of dissolution arrived. In this state of things a resort to force was very common, and the public streets were often the scenes of a sanguinary fray.
Confederations.When the Diet was not sitting, the Senate, with the king as its president, was responsible for the government. But if the nobles were dissatisfied with their measures, or if the veto had hopelessly clogged the wheels of state, recourse was had to an extraordinary assembly called a “confederation.” Convocations.This was formed sometimes to resist, sometimes to enforce the established law; and in the latter case it often took the shape of a “convocation,” which exactly resembled the Diet except that the veto was inadmissible. The Poles were always more happy in organising anarchy than in organising their institutions. Of course, the authority of a confederation depended upon the number and weight of its adherents; and it frequently happened that several of these bodies were sitting at the same time. We sometimes find in Polish history the Senate at variance with the Diet, the Diet with the king, the king with the grandees, the greater with the lesser nobles, and the whole nobility with their armed serfs. Strife among the nobles—how caused.Among the nobles religious inequality was the principal cause of dissension. Although none but Catholics could hold offices of state, a large number of the poorer nobles were “Dissidents,” and belonged to the Greek or Protestant persuasion. Their three main classes.They were thus naturally jealous of the official families; for, though all were theoretically equal, the differences of wealth and prestige tended to divide them into three classes: first, a few princely families who owned whole provinces and aspired to the posts of the supreme executive; secondly, the average gentry, who scrambled for the lesser offices, or were indignant at their religious disabilities; and thirdly, the poorer freemen, who made up for their lack of power by a spirit of captious disaffection. In stormy times the confusion was increased by half the middle gentry taking part with the grandees and half with the freemen.
Ancestry of John Sobieski.From the highest of these classes was sprung John Sobieski. He belonged to that group of families, whose ancestral device was the Buckler—the most illustrious of the rude Polish coats of arms. Far back in the mist of ages are placed the exploits of Janik—the Polish Hercules—the founder of his house. His immediate ancestors had gained less doubtful laurels. His grandfather, Mark Sobieski, palatine of Lublin, had so great a military reputation that King Stephen Bathori (1575-1586) was wont to say that he would not fear to entrust to his single arm the defence of the fortunes of Poland. His father, James Sobieski, was not only an able general, but a man of cultivated mind, and of some diplomatic skill. To him belonged the real credit of the famous victory of Kotzim in 1621 over a vast host of Turks and Tartars, although the nominal commander of the Poles was the young Prince Wladislas, son of Sigismund III. His success in negotiating the treaty that followed was so conspicuous that he was afterwards sent on several foreign embassies to the Western Powers. Such eminence in peace as in war doubtless procured for him the post of castellan of Cracow[12]—the first secular senator of Poland, inferior only to the archbishop of Guesna. He had also been four times elected Marshal of the Diet—an office resembling that of Speaker of the House of Commons. In or about 1620 he married Theophila Danilowiczowna, grand-daughter[13] of the famous Zolkiewski. That heroic general, after taking Moscow (1610), and carrying off to Poland the Czar Basil VI., met his death (October 5th, 1620) at Kobylta on the Dniester, with a band of 8,000 men, at the hands of 70,000[14] Turks and Tartars. Thus on both sides the ancestors of Sobieski were worthy of his subsequent fame. Birth.The circumstances of his birth are romantic; but they rest on no less an authority than a manuscript in his own hand. On the 17th of June, 1624,[15] his father’s castle of Zloçkow in the palatinate of Red Russia[16] was visited by a storm of unprecedented violence. The old mansion, which stood exposed on the bare summit of a vast “mohila” or Slavonic tumulus, was shaken to its foundations, and some of the attendants were rendered deaf for life. Amid the raging of the elements was born John Sobieski, in the presence of the widow of the conqueror of Moscow; and the respect for prodigies,[17] which distinguishes the Poles above all other modern nations, must have marked him out in their eyes for an exceptional career. Yet his youth was singularly peaceful. Except for the war against Gustavus Adolphus, which was terminated by the peace of Altmark (September 15th, 1629), and an incursion of the Tartars (1636), successfully repelled by Wladislas VII., Poland enjoyed from the time of his birth an unexampled respite of more than twenty years.
Education.During this period John and his elder brother Mark were enjoying all the benefits of a careful education. Their father chiefly resided at his princely estate of Zolkiew, which had come to him through his wife—a domain as large as some of our English counties, and embracing a hundred and fifty villages. He had engaged as their tutor the learned Stanislas Orchowski; but he himself superintended their more important studies. The treatise which he has left upon education is alone enough to show how well the task must have been performed. Besides instructing them in several languages he imparted to them his own skill in music, painting, and the other fine arts; and they had the rare advantage of a home in which to the barbaric splendour of a Polish noble were added some of the refined tastes of an Italian court. Ardent and robust by nature, John early distinguished himself by his activity in hunting, and in the use of the small sword; and the traditions of his family soon taught him against whom his strength was to be employed. The inscription[18] on his great grandfather’s tomb in the neighbouring Dominican chapel, erected by his mother, aroused in his mind what may be called his life-purpose—to curb at all hazards the advance of the Turkish power.
His travels.At length in 1643 the castellan sent his two sons to travel in the West. Their longest stay was made in France—at that time closely united to Poland by the marriage of Wladislas with a French princess[19]—but they also visited England[20] and Italy. At Paris they frequented the salon of the Duchesse de Longueville, sister of the great Condé; and it was here that an intimacy sprang up between John Sobieski and the French general, who, though only three years his senior, was already crowned with the laurels of Rocroi. The prince procured for his friend the honour of a commission in the king’s Grands Mousquetaires, and continued in correspondence with him during the remainder of his life. Quitting France before the disturbances of the Fronde, the brothers took the measure of the Ottoman power at Constantinople, and were preparing to pass into Asia, when news arrived which called them home to defend not only their country but their own fireside. It was to the effect that the Cossack serfs had revolted, and were carrying all before them.
Cossack revolt caused by the oppression of the serfs.Of the grinding oppression under which the serf class laboured we have already spoken. Some efforts had been made by Casimir the Great (1347) to give them a legal footing in the state; and he had even succeeded so far as to provide that the murderer of a serf should pay a fine of ten marks.[21] But his regulations were soon broken, and the condition of the peasants in the outlying districts became more hopeless than before. The Cossacks.The situation of the Cossacks was peculiar. Inhabiting a wild though fertile country on the borders of Poland and Muscovy called the Ukraine (Slavonic for “borderland,” exactly the French “marche”), they had long retained their independence, and had only been incorporated in the kingdom by the wise measures of Stephen Bathori (1582). Under Stephen Bathori. Originally deserters from the armies of the republic, they had betaken themselves to the almost inaccessible isles of the Borysthenes, where they led a life of plunder in defiance of their neighbours. Their piratical skiffs were an object of terror even to the dwellers on the Golden Horn. Bathori did all that lay in his power to conciliate a people who, in spite of their savage habits, were noted for their fidelity. He gave them the city of Tretchimirow in Kiowia, and formed them into regiments, for the defence of Poland against the Tartars. They were granted the power of electing their own hetman, or Grand General, who, on doing homage to the king, received as the symbols of his office a flag, a horsetail, a staff, and a looking-glass. James Sobieski in his historical work[22] notices the value to a retreating Polish army of their waggon-camps, which they called “Tabors,”[23] and which they seem to have drawn up after the fashion of a Dutch “laager.” Unfortunately their independence was confined to the period of military service. The Ukraine, like other parts of the kingdom of Poland, was divided into estates of crown land, which, like fiefs,[24] were held by the nobles on condition of furnishing the state with troops. But this condition was seldom fulfilled even in Great Poland, and never in a distant province, such as the Ukraine, where all the nobles were absentees.
Their grievances.There was thus no tie except that of gratitude for their honourable position in war to bind the Cossacks to Poland; and this was soon broken by the outrageous rapacity of the Jewish stewards to whom the nobles entrusted their lands. Complaints were lodged in the Diet by the Cossack chiefs, who claimed to send thither their own representatives; but the nobles, whose love of domination was as strong as their love of liberty, turned a deaf ear; and Wladislas VII., seeing the fatal tendency of this policy, had the hardihood to remind the Cossacks that they still possessed their sabres.[25] Success of their revolt.At length, in 1648, a dastardly outrage by a steward on Bogdan Chmielniçki, one of their chiefs, forced them to follow this hint; and electing the injured man as their hetman, they poured into Poland with the Tartars as their allies. Bogdan was an experienced soldier. He completely defeated Potoçki, the Grand General of Poland, at Korsun (May 26th, 1648); and numbers of disaffected Poles—Arian nobles, Calvinistic burghers, outlawed serfs—at once flocked to his standard. Death of Wladislas VII.Six days before this disaster Wladislas VII. expired at Warsaw; and his death at this moment blighted the hopes of the moderate party. James Sobieski, who had done all he could to save Bogdan from oppression, had died in March (1648) when the king was on the point of naming him the representative of Poland at the congress in Westphalia. Danger of Poland.The nobility in general were bent on revenge. Assembling their forces in haste, they suffered an ignominious defeat at Pilawiecz (September 23rd); and Poland was left exposed to the Cossacks. Madame Sobieska, with her two daughters, and many others of the nobility, took refuge within the walls of Zamosç, and was soon joined by her sons, who had evaded without difficulty the undisciplined besiegers.
Election of John Casimir.At this crisis the nobles assembled at Warsaw to elect a king. They chose (November 20th) Cardinal John Casimir, brother of the late king, who put off the purple to assume the crown. The new prince saw the necessity of conciliation, and had the courage, in spite of the opposition of the nobles, to open a negotiation with the rebels. Bogdan, who had been deserted by the Tartars, was not disinclined for peace, and, in order to show his respect for the king, retired thirty leagues from Zamosç. His peace violated by the nobles.But the treachery of the nobles frustrated the intentions of their sovereign. Jeremiah Wiesnowiesçki, the harsh oppressor of the serfs, fell suddenly upon the unsuspecting Cossacks, and routed them with great slaughter. After this the war broke out afresh. Bogdan sought and obtained the alliance of Isla, khan of the Crim Tartars, and in an engagement at Zbaraz, in Volhynia (June 30th, 1649) he gained another great victory. Sobieski joins the army,At this news the king hastened to join the remnants of the defeated army, and was accompanied by John Sobieski in command of a select troop. The young noble had been prevented taking part in the events of the past six months by a wound which he had received in a duel with one of the family of Paz, the most powerful clan in Lithuania; and he afterwards had cause to regret the quarrel. His presence with the king at this juncture was destined to be of some importance. No sooner had Casimir assembled the discomfited Poles, than half his available force, terrified at the enemy’s numbers, insisted on retreat, and proceeded to put their threat into execution. And quells a mutiny.Sobieski galloped into their midst, and, exerting that native eloquence of which he possessed no common share, succeeded in restoring them to their allegiance. His efforts were rewarded by the starosty of Javarow—a military post which had been previously held by his father and by the great Zolkiewski. Peace of Zborow.One of the immediate results of the bold front now presented by the Poles, was the conclusion of the peace of Zborow (August 18th), in which the Cossack chief displayed remarkable moderation. He consented to do homage to the king and to forego his just demands for vengeance upon his oppressors, on condition that all his adherents should receive a free pardon.
Broken by the Poles. June 30th, 1651.But the Polish nobility were incapable of learning any lesson from their recent reverses. War was again declared by the Diet in 1650; and the next year Bogdan was defeated by Casimir at Berestezko, owing principally to the desertion of the Tartars. In this battle, John Sobieski received a wound in his head, from the effects of which he suffered constantly until his death. A transitory peace which followed this success was again broken by the Poles, who attacked Bogdan’s son Timothy at Batowitz (June 2nd, 1652), but were surrounded and annihilated. Death of Mark Sobieski.The prisoners, among whom was Mark Sobieski,[26] were all massacred after the battle by the Tartar khan. Another duel wound fortunately prevented John from being among the victims. But he had the pain of seeing that his folly had made his mother despair of the name of Sobieski. Overwhelmed with grief at the loss of her favourite son, and auguring ill from the headstrong passions of John, she quitted Poland and took refuge in Italy.
Lessons of the Cossack War.The Cossack war, which had now lasted with little intermission for four years, demands considerable attention. It throws a lurid light on the vices of the Polish constitution, and its bitter lessons cannot have been lost upon a thoughtful mind like that of John Sobieski. By oppression the Polish nobility had converted faithful subjects into deadly foes; and their pride and treachery contrast most unfavourably with the moderation of the Cossack chief. Although we have little information about this period of Sobieski’s life, his ardent temper makes it probable that he joined at first with the most uncompromising of the nobles. But their independence of the regal authority, their disregard for treaties with the serf class, and, above all, their unprecedented employment of the fatal veto (1652), must have soon convinced him that the discipline of self-restraint was the only means left to save his country. Hereafter we shall see him nobly practising this lesson under the most fearful provocation.
Anarchy.At this period (1654) Poland was distracted by anarchy at home, and in the next six years she suffered all the usual consequences of civil strife. Henceforward the Cossack war loses its character of a struggle between the republic and her rebellious subjects. The Cossacks call in Muscovy.Its natural result was to draw into the contest those neighbouring nations who might hope to gain advantage from the distracted state of Poland. Bogdan, despairing of concluding any definitive peace without foreign aid, persuaded the Czar Alexis to declare war against Poland, and, on the frivolous pretext that his titles had not received due respect, that monarch invaded Lithuania and took Smolensko (Sept. 10th, 1654).
War with Sweden.But a greater enemy was arising in the north; Charles X. of Sweden, the “Pyrrhus of the North,” succeeding to the throne on the abdication of Christina in June 1654, had set his mind on the conquest of Poland. The Polish vice-chancellor, Radzejowski, who had been expelled from the kingdom by Casimir on some private quarrel, took care that Charles should be well acquainted with the weakness to which his country had been reduced. He gave the welcome advice that no apology which Casimir might make as to his assumption of the title of king of Sweden[27] should receive any attention. The king of Poland was anxious to send Sobieski to Stockholm to avert the impending storm; but he declined the hopeless mission. Charles eagerly took advantage of the anarchy caused by the Russian war, and invaded Pomerania and Great Poland in August, 1655. He gained an easy victory over the divided forces of the republic, and entered Warsaw at the end of the month. Cracow surrendered early in October, and, as Casimir had fled into Silesia, the whole country lay at his feet. Charles X. conquers Poland,Surrounded by such a host of enemies, the nobles seemed to have no choice but to offer the crown to Charles X.; and the standing army, called Quartians,[28] among whom Sobieski commanded a troop, took the oath to the king of Sweden. But alienates it.But Charles was not inclined to keep faith with a people whom he had conquered in three months. Contrary to his express promises hereditary monarchy was proclaimed, heavy contributions were levied, and the Catholics were openly persecuted by the Swedes. The national spirit was deeply wounded by the haughty demeanour of the conquerors. Resumption of the war.During the absence of Charles in Prussia, a confederation was formed in the palatinate of Beltz under the auspices of the absent Casimir, to which Sobieski attached himself, and with him the able generals Lubomirski and Czarnieçki. When Charles returned he found that he had the greater part of Poland to re-conquer. Successes of Sobieski.In conveying his army through the marshes of Little Poland, he was blocked up between the Vistula and the San by Sobieski’s cavalry, and was only extricated by the prompt arrival of reinforcements. Soon after, while he was superintending the siege of Dantzic, Casimir and the valiant Czarnieçki recaptured Warsaw; but they lost it again on his return after a battle of three days, in which Sobieski, who commanded a troop of Tartars[29] trained by himself, performed prodigies of valour. But other nations had looked on with jealousy at the brilliant career of the king of Sweden. The Czar, resenting the manner in which he had been baulked of his prey, declared war against Sweden; and the emperor Ferdinand III., just before his death (May 30th, 1657), concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with the king of Poland. Charles attempts a partition,Meanwhile Charles was using all his efforts to carry out a scheme for the partition of Poland between himself, the Czar, the Great Elector of Brandenburg,[30] and Ragoczy, prince of Transylvania. But her time had not yet come. Almost at the same moment Denmark declared war against Charles, the Elector deserted him, and Austria prepared to send troops in support of her new ally (June, 1657). But is obliged to retire.In July Charles evacuated Poland in all haste, and began his wonderful campaigns in Denmark. Another stroke of good fortune was the death of Bogdan Chmielniçki (August 27th), and the return of a large number of Cossacks to their allegiance. Gradual recovery of Poland,Though sorely shaken by the terrible ordeal through which she had passed, Poland gradually recovered her independence. Treaties were concluded with the Elector, and with Prince Ragoczy, with no more serious loss than the suzerainty of ducal Prussia (1658); and two years later, shortly after the death of Charles X., a peace was signed with Sweden at Oliva (May 3rd, 1660). Sobieski rewarded.Casimir re-established his authority throughout the kingdom; and in distributing rewards to his most faithful subjects, conferred upon Sobieski the post of Korongy, or standard-bearer of the crown.[31]
War with Muscovy.There still remained, however, the war with Muscovy. The ever-active Czar Alexis, now that he could take his own measures with Poland, overran Lithuania, and captured Wilna, its capital. But his general, Sheremetieff, suffered a serious defeat, and shut himself up in his fortified camp at Cudnow to await the arrival of a large reinforcement of Cossacks. Victories of Sobieski at Slobodyszcza and Cudnow.Sobieski was detached with a small force from the investing army to confront this new enemy. Finding them encamped on the heights of Slobodyszcza, he carried the position by assault, and gained a victory so complete that the Cossacks laid down their arms (Sept. 17th, 1660). He then hastened back to Cudnow, and joined in the attack on the Muscovite camp, which was so successful that the whole army, with their ammunition and stores, fell into the hands of the Poles. Such a brilliant campaign astonished Europe. Sobieski, whose reputation was already high in his own country, was justly credited with giving her breathing time to recover from her misfortunes.
Anarchy in Poland.She employed it, according to her wont, in internal dissensions. It is difficult to trace the true origin of the deplorable state of Poland during the next six years; but it may be attributed, in the first instance, to the foolish conduct of the queen, Louise de Nevers. Though a woman of masculine spirit, and exercising a great ascendancy over the uxorious Casimir, she was herself entirely governed by the Jesuits. 1661.They persuaded her, and through her the king, to violate that article of the pacta conventa by which he pledged himself not to tamper with the succession to the crown. The person for whom they designed it was her nephew, the young Duc d’Enghien, son of the great Condé. 1662-3.The power of French gold soon converted the majority of the senate. But the lesser nobles were not so easily cajoled, and they possessed a secret though powerful supporter in Lubomirski, Grand Marshal and Second General of the crown. To this main grievance was added another, which pressed heavily on the poorer nobles. Large arrears of pay were, as usual,[32] owing to the army, who accordingly formed themselves into a confederation, and demanded the diminution of the immense revenues of the clergy. This brought upon them all the thunders of the Church; and the fearful spectacle was presented of a country divided into hostile camps, in which the senate was at enmity with the diet, the clergy with the army, the larger with the lesser nobility. Sobieski and other patriotic spirits tried to strike at the root of the evil, and furnished funds from their private resources for the payment of arrears. As this did not allay the complaints of the army, the senate opened a negotiation with the malcontents from Sobieski’s “court”[33] at Zolkiew, which was so far successful that the king was able to lead them against Muscovy.Campaign against Muscovy. But the campaign, though not disastrous, was not especially fortunate; and the absence of Lubomirski, who had been kept at home by the king’s suspicions, created general discontent.
On his return the king summoned Lubomirski to trial on a charge of high treason. He did not appear, and was condemned to perpetual banishment and the loss of his honours and estates. Sobieski, Grand Marshal and Second General.His office of Grand Marshal was bestowed on Sobieski, and that of Second General on Czarnieçki; but the latter dying shortly after, this post was also conferred on Sobieski. The appointments were most politic, for Sobieski was a great favourite with the army. His duties having kept him constantly on the Cossack frontier, he had not compromised himself with either party.
Marriage of Sobieski.These signs of the royal favour were followed by another which bound him still more to the interests of the court. On his visit to Warsaw to assume the insignia of his offices, he became enamoured of a French lady in the retinue of the queen, Mary Casimira d’Arquien, who had lately become a widow by the death of the rich Prince Zamoyski. His wife.She was daughter to the Marquis d’Arquien; captain of the guards to the Duke of Orleans, and had attended the queen from France nineteen years before. Though over thirty years of age, she still possessed in a remarkable degree all those fascinations which usually belong to extreme youth. Dr. South, who saw her seven years later, says that even then she did not look more than twenty.[34] To these advantages she united a piquant vivacity which had a peculiar charm for Sobieski. His passion was so strong[35] that he besought the queen’s consent to their immediate union. Scarcely four weeks had elapsed since the death of Zamoyski, to whom she had borne several children; but so necessary was it to conciliate the new officer that the queen gave way, and the marriage was celebrated, according to the Polish fashion, by a festival of three days.July 5-7, 1665. Sobieski was hereafter to receive severe punishment for this indecent haste in the conduct of his wife. Rebellion of Lubomirski.In the midst of the marriage fêtes tidings arrived that Lubomirski, who had entered Poland with a large army, was ungenerously plundering his estate at Zolkiew, and carrying off his stud of horses. The proscribed general, who was a prince of the empire, had received secret support from Leopold of Austria, and was now in open rebellion.
The whole kingdom was divided against itself. The palatinates of the west, gained over by Austria, resented the predominance of France at court, and joined Lubomirski. Sobieski tries arbitration.An effort was made by Sobieski to get the decision of the Diet on Lubomirski’s claims, but the assembly was dissolved by the fatal veto, and the two armies advanced to the struggle. Contrary to the earnest advice of Sobieski, Casimir made his attack in the marshes of Montwy (July 11th, 1666), and his troops, entangled in the difficult ground, were easily defeated. Peace with Lubomirski.But Lubomirski was anxious to come to terms, and, having extracted a promise from Casimir that he would not interfere in the succession, he waived his personal claims, and retired to Silesia, where he died six months after.
His faction, however, was not silenced. Bands of hungry soldiers, clamouring for pay, levied black-mail upon the provinces; and the central authority seemed powerless to restrain them. Invasion of the Tartars.At this juncture news arrived that 80,000 Tartars were plundering Volhynia, and that the Cossacks under Doroscensko were preparing to join them. The utmost consternation prevailed at Warsaw; a peace was hastily patched up with Muscovy, and efforts were made to raise fresh troops. But the treasury was empty; the republic had only 10,000 men under arms; and many of these were most imperfectly equipped. Casimir applied vainly for help at the principal European courts; Brandenburg alone sent a few companies of infantry. At this crisis Potoçki, the aged Grand General, died, and the king at once appointed the Grand Marshal to the post.
Sobieski Grand General,Never before had any Polish subject united in his own person these two offices. As Grand General Sobieski had absolute control over military affairs, and could quarter his army where he pleased; As well as Grand Marshal.as Grand Marshal he was at the head of the administration, received foreign ambassadors, and could inflict death without appeal. In most points, as in the last, his power was really greater than that of the king; for although the king could confer these honours, he could not revoke them. No higher testimony could have been paid to the prudence and ability of Sobieski than the readiness with which these unusual powers were granted, and the very transitory murmurs that they provoked amongst an exceptionally jealous nobility. His rise, though fortunate at its close, had not been so rapid as to be out of proportion to his merits. The gravity of the crisis doubtless operated in his favour; and he took pains at once to relieve all suspicion by his temperate and vigorous action. His persuasive eloquence silenced the clamours for pay, and he hesitated not to drain his private coffers in raising new levies. His bold plan of the campaign.By this means he doubled his original forces, and then prepared to execute a grand plan for the destruction of the Tartars. Throwing his army into the fortified camp of Podhaic, a small town in Red Russia, he detached several large bodies of cavalry to act in the vicinity. These had orders on a given day, when the enemy had worn himself out by the assault, to close round the vast host and help their general to assume the offensive. To divide so small a force seemed hazardous in the extreme,[36] and the soldiers murmured openly that their lives were to be thrown away. The cool courage of Sobieski made them blush for shame. “He gave all cowards liberty to depart; as for himself, he was determined to remain with all those who loved their country.” Sept. 28th-Oct. 15th, 1667.The enemy appeared; and for seventeen days in succession this heroic band withstood their most determined assaults. Finally Sobieski, whose troops had suffered far less loss than they inflicted, gave the signal to his outlying parties, and attacked the Tartars in front and rear. Great victory of Podhaic.The battle was hotly contested; but at length victory declared for the Poles. Galga, the Tartar khan, found his troops so severely handled that he was forced to sue for peace, and concluded an alliance with the republic. Doroscensko, on the part of the Cossacks, agreed to restore to the nobles their estates in the Ukraine.
Gratitude of Poland.Poland had been saved almost by a miracle; and multitudes flocked to the churches to return thanks to God. When the danger was at its height, so inert and feeble was the body-politic that Casimir had found it impossible to arm the Pospolite for the relief of their devoted general. Their gratitude was now the greater that their sacrifices had been few. When Sobieski on his return detailed in modest language the success of the campaign, and ascribed his victory to the mercy of God, the Diet rose with one accord and answered that the republic knew who had saved her, and would remember to thank him. Birth of a son.The tidings reached his wife, who was staying with her relatives in France, just after she had borne him a son; and such was the general admiration that Louis XIV. and Henrietta Maria, the mother of Charles II., were willing to answer for the child at the font. He was named James Louis, in honour of his grandfather and his illustrious sponsor.
No successes against the invader could allay the internal broils of Poland. Although Casimir had lost his queen in the spring of the year 1667, the outcry against the French influence continued unabated. On one occasion the king so far forgot himself as to exclaim, in full diet, “If you are weary of me, I am no less weary of you.” Abdication of John Casimir.At length, bowed down by domestic sorrow, tormented by scruples of conscience,[37] and disgusted at the turbulence of the nobles, he came to the resolution, which those words seemed to imply, of laying aside the crown. He took farewell of the Diet in a dignified speech, in which he asked only for six feet of earth, where his bones might rest in peace. If he had offended any, he begged them to forgive him as freely as he forgave those who had offended him. The assembly was profoundly affected; but, although Sobieski and others from motives of gratitude besought him to retain the crown, it does not appear that this was the wish of the nation. We are told that on the day after his abdication the people hardly paid him the respect due to a gentleman;[38] and much ill-feeling was shown in the Diet, when the question of his pension came before it. After remaining in Poland too long for his own credit[39] he retired to France, where Louis XIV. gave him the Abbey of St. Germain. He was the last of the dynasty of Jagellon,[40] which had reigned in Poland nearly three hundred years.
Candidates for the throne.The number of aspirants to the vacant throne was, as usual, considerable. The Czar Alexis massed 80,000 troops on the frontier in support of the candidature of his son, but the Poles took little notice either of him or his manœuvres. The Prince of Condé was supported by Sobieski and many of the Senate, but the prejudice against a Frenchman was universal among the lesser nobles. The two candidates most in favour were Prince Charles of Lorraine, secretly supported by Austria, and Philip, Duke of Neuberg, who, though sixty years of age, was set up as the real choice alike of the King of France and the Emperor. The personal advantages of the former were far superior to those of his rival; he was young, courageous, and affable; but he had neither money nor lands, while the offers of the Duke of Neuberg were most advantageous to the state. Disorder on the field of election.The nobles, fully alive to the value of their votes, postponed their decision till May, 1669; and meanwhile the field of election was as usual a scene of wild confusion. A large party clamoured for the exclusion of the Prince of Condé, and, although Sobieski protested against such a measure as interfering with the freedom of the proceedings, it was carried through by the violence of its promoters. At length the tumult rose to such a height that Sobieski, as Grand Marshal, threatened to fire upon the rioters. Order was thus partly restored; and soon the cry of a Piast! a Piast! was heard among the crowd. Sobieski might well suppose that no Piast (or native Pole) would be thought so worthy as himself to wear the crown, but perhaps he had made himself too unpopular during the election. The cry was followed by the proposal of Michael Wiesnowiesçki—a young noble barely thirty years of age, who had neither virtues, nor abilities, nor riches to recommend him to their suffrages. Proclamation of King Michael.Yet such was the fickle excitability of the assembly that he was chosen by acclamation; and, although he implored to be spared the honour, and even attempted to escape, he was dragged to the throne, and invested with the supreme authority.
The reign of such a king could scarcely be prosperous. Ere long the nobles had cause to regret that they had not chosen the man who of all native Poles was worthiest to hold the sceptre. Michael himself, when mounted upon the throne, could not but see that he was far from being the first man in the republic. The thought wounded his pride, which was soon to become as conspicuous as his previous humility. His hatred of Sobieski,He hated Sobieski with a hatred the more violent that he was unable to abridge his powers. He refused the grand coach-and-six which it was the established custom for the general to present to the new sovereign.[41] He plotted with Christopher and Michael Paz, respectively chancellor and grand general of Lithuania, against the man with whom they had a long-standing family feud.[42] Who was popular with the army.But Sobieski, besides having the army at his back, was zealously supported by the greater nobles, and although a struggle appeared imminent the king’s party forbore for a time. Efforts were made to promote a reconciliation by marrying Michael to the daughter of Sobieski’s sister;[43] but the plan was overthrown by the arrival of an ambassador from Leopold to offer him the hand of the Arch-Duchess Eleanor. Marriage of Michael.The honour was too tempting for the weak-minded king; he accepted from the emperor the order of the Golden Fleece, and hastily concluded the marriage without the sanction of the republic. Loud were the complaints against this breach of the constitution,[44] even among his own supporters, the lesser nobles. Austria had always been distrusted by the Poles, but at this moment there was a special reason for her unpopularity.
Siege of Candia. Designs of Ahmed Köprili.On the 2nd of September, 1669, after a most memorable defence of more than twenty years, the city and island of Candia surrendered to the Turkish fleet, commanded by the Grand Vizier, Ahmed Köprili. The vast designs of this able minister were the terror of Europe. Five years earlier (1664) he had concluded with Austria a twenty years’ peace, on terms most favourable to the Turks; and it was well known that he only awaited the fall of Candia to resume his schemes against Italy and the empire. That result was now achieved, a peace was concluded with Venice, and he was free to turn the Ottoman arms towards the west and north.Terror in Europe at The Marquis de St. André,[45] who had commanded in Candia, wrote into France that Köprili had opened the way to Rome, and by what he knew of that general’s humour, he doubted not but he had a design to turn St. Peter’s church into the Grand Signor’s stables. The rise of Turkey.It is even said that Pope Clement IX. died of grief at the Turkish successes. These fears were doubtless in part well founded. During the Thirty Years’ War, and the intestine struggles which succeeded it in many of the Christian states, the Turkish power had steadily increased. Two Grand Viziers of consummate ability, Mahommed Köprili and his son Ahmed, had strengthened the empire by numerous fortresses, had sternly quelled the frequent revolts, and had introduced a spirit of order and activity hitherto seldom seen among the Turks. If the jealousies of France and Austria were to continue, a wise vizier might well hope ere long to make a tremendous onslaught upon Christendom. It is not surprising therefore that, after the fall of Candia, the Poles should resent the Emperor’s crafty aim to secure their taking up arms in his defence.
Revolt of the Cossacks.But the danger was nearer than they imagined. It threatened them as usual from the quarter of the Cossacks, who had never since their first revolt in 1648 preserved a real peace with Poland. They viewed with dismay the accession to the throne of a son of their former oppressor, Jeremiah Wiesnowiesçki, and imagining that his first object would be to recover his lost estates, they rushed to arms. Sobieski’s campaign of 1670.Immediately after the coronation of Michael (October, 1669) Sobieski was called to the frontiers. Acting with his usual vigour, he sowed discord in the enemy’s ranks, and drove them beyond the Dniester. So unexpected were these victories that the Vice-Chancellor, writing to him in the king’s name, says: “Envy itself is compelled to confess that, after God, you alone, though at the head of so small a force, have once more saved Poland.” Michael refuses a policy of concession.But the king and his general could not agree as to the measures to be taken with the subdued Cossacks. Sobieski was most anxious for a policy of concession. He had seen signs among them of a disposition to call in the Turks, which they had attempted to do in 1651, and he hoped to avert such a disaster. But Michael was wholly deaf to argument. Finding that the Diet was likely to declare against him, he easily procured its dissolution by the veto (April 17th); and the event which Sobieski dreaded came to pass. The Cossacks apply to the Porte.Doroscensko, the Cossack chief, losing all hope of justice from Poland, and persuaded by his metropolitan that he would find it at the patriarchate of the East, went to Constantinople to throw himself at the feet of the Sultan.
Köprili prepares for war with Poland.Fortune seemed to play into the hands of Ahmed Köprili. The restless janissaries needed employment, and he preferred a gradual advance upon Austria to a premature declaration of war with her. Poland seemed to offer a splendid field. Proclaiming the Sultan the champion of the oppressed, he prepared a great armament against the oppressor, and created Doroscensko hospodar of the Ukraine. But his plans required time to be fully matured, and in the meanwhile he encouraged the Tartars to burst into Poland (1671).