| Pavliuk uprising | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |  Zaporozhian Cossacks | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Mikołaj PotockiSawa Kononowicz †Jeremi Wiśniowiecki | Pavlo Pavliuk  Dmytro HuniaKarp Skydan | ||||||
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ThePavliuk uprising of 1637 was aCossack uprising inLeft-bank Ukraine andZaporizhia headed byPavlo Pavliuk against the abuses of the nobility and magnates ofPolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The uprising was sparked by several Cossacks being expelled from theCossack Registry. Pavliuk ordered the captured commanders of the Registered Cossacks to be executed and issued a declaration, in which he proclaimed a fight against themasters.[citation needed] Defeated by the forces ofMikołaj Potocki in theBattle of Kumeyki in 1637, Pavliuk was brought toWarsaw, tried and executed. The uprising was bloodily quelled, only to restart the following year in the form of theOstrzanin Uprising, which was also defeated by the Commonwealth.
It is unclear what sparked the rebellion. Most likely it was the social tension between the "Blacks", or poor peasants of the Right-Bank Ukraine, and mighty magnates likeJeremi Wiśniowiecki, who owned considerable wealth and lands in Ruthenia.[1] Around that time local magnates tried to impose the system ofpańszczyzna onto local plebeians, which increased tensions to record levels.[2] Another reason for dissent was the number ofRegistered Cossacks on royal payroll, considered too small by many poor inhabitants of the region.[3]
One of the leaders of the "Blacks", or poor peasants and non-registered Cossacks,Pavel Mikhnovych Pavliuk gathered a large band of armedZaporozhian Cossacks and reached the fortress town ofKorsuń,[2] the headquarters of the Registered Cossacks and the largest Polish royal outpost inthe Borderlands. Pavliuk had already taken part in the earlierSulima Uprising of 1635, but was pardoned when he promised not to rise arms against the Commonwealth again.[2]
He defeated the leader of the Registered Cossacks, Vasil Tumulenko, captured a large artillery park and proclaimed himself the new hetman of all Cossacks.[2] He also issued a proclamation to "all Christians" urging them to join his ranks, exploiting all possible sources of dissent in the area, from religious differences, to the defence of "golden liberties", supposedly being violated by theszlachta.[4] The new Cossack uprising was to be quelled by hetmanStanisław Koniecpolski, however his declining health made the king offer thebulawa to hetmanMikołaj Potocki instead.[4]
On 3 July 1637 Pavliuk arrived atKaniów, where he tried to convince the remaining leaders of the Registered Cossacks to betray their loyalty to theking of Poland and fight with him for an autonomous Cossack state betweenKiev andBila Tserkva. However, the Cossack leaders remained sceptical and most remained loyal to the Commonwealth. Unable to convince the well-trained and well-equipped Registered Cossacks to join him, Pavliuk also dispatched emissaries toAlexis I,tsar of Muscovy and toİnayet Giray, theKhan of Crimea.[4] His efforts at securing outside help proved equally unsuccessful.[4]
Eventually the forces of theCrown of Poland under Mikołaj Potocki entered Ukraine and joined with the Registered Cossacks. On 16 December 1637 the combined force attacked the Cossacks at Kumeyki nearCherkassy, in what became known as thebattle of Kumeyki.[4] Inexperienced Cossacks overextended theirwagon fort and their lines were easily pierced by experienced soldiers such asSamuel Łaszcz.[5] The battle, while disastrous for the Registered Cossacks who were killed almost to the last man,[6] was victorious for the Polish side and the Cossacks retreated in disarray, while Pavlyuk was captured.[6]
The remaining bands of armed Cossacks were soon defeated and "pushed back into the holes they crawled from", as one contemporary author put it.[6] The remnants of the Cossack forces capitulated on 24 December 1637 in the town of Borowica,[4] between theDnieper andTaśmina Rivers.[7] The Polish commander in chief gave his word to the defeated Cossacks that both ordinary soldiers and their leader would be spared.[8] In return, the Cossacks surrendered their arms and their remaining leaders.[4]Bohdan Khmelnytsky signed the agreement in the name of the Cossacks. He would lead thelargest Cossack uprising against the Commonwealth 11 years later.[8]
The agreement at Borowica was soon broken by both sides. Pavliuk was soon afterwards brought to Warsaw, tried by the king and executed forhigh treason.[8] The Cossacks rebelled again the following spring. The uprising was bloodily quelled, and theRebellion of Ostrzanin and Hunia the following summer was drowned in blood as well.[9]
The Pavliuk Uprising, while often framed as a military conflict, possessed a pronounced dimension of social and religious rebellion. The insurgents, primarily Orthodox peasants and registered Cossacks, framed their struggle not only against Polish magnates but also against the increasing influence of the Catholic Church and the imposition of theUniate faith, which they viewed as a tool ofPolonization.[10]
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