Jan Karol Chodkiewicz | |
|---|---|
_(6).jpg)  Chodkiewicz wearing a traditional costume of Polish–Lithuanian magnates | |
| Coat of arms | Chodkiewicz coat of arms |
| Born | c. 1561 Vilnius,Grand Duchy of Lithuania |
| Died | 24 September 1621 Khotyn Castle,Poland |
| Noble family | Chodkiewicz |
| Spouses | Zofia Mielecka Anna Alojza Ostrogska |
| Issue | Hieronim Chodkiewicz Anna Scholastyka Chodkiewicz |
| Father | Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz |
| Mother | Krystyna Zborowska |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | Poland–Lithuania |
| Branch | Military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |
| Conflicts | |
Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (Lithuanian:Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius;c. 1561 – 24 September 1621) was aPolish–Lithuanian military commander of theGrand Ducal Lithuanian Army, who was from 1601Field Hetman of Lithuania, and from 1605Grand Hetman of Lithuania. He was one of the most prominent noblemen and military commanders of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth of his era. Hiscoat of arms wasChodkiewicz, as washis family name.
He played a major role, often as the top commander of themilitary of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in theWallachian campaign of 1599–1601, thePolish–Swedish War of 1600–11, thePolish–Muscovite War of 1605–18, and thePolish–Ottoman War of 1620–1621. His most famous victory was theBattle of Kircholm in 1605, in which he dealt a major defeat to aSwedish army three times the size of his own. He died on the front lines during thebattle of Khotyn, in the besiegedKhotyn Fortress, a few days before theOttomans gave up on the siege and agreed to negotiate.
Chodkiewicz was born around 1561 (exact date of his birth is unknown) as the son ofJan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz,Grand Marshal of Lithuania,castellan of Vilnius andKrystyna Zborowska, daughter of a Polishmagnate family ofZborowski.[1] From 1573 he was a student at the Vilnius Jesuit College and theVilnius University, and from 1586 to 1589, together with his brother Aleksander, he continued his studies abroad at theUniversity of Ingolstadt.[1] He visitedPadua before returning to thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1590.[1]
He started his military career soon after returning to the Commonwealth, raising arota of 50 to 100 men.[1] He gained military experience in the fight against the rebelliousCossacks during theSeveryn Nalyvaiko'suprising underField Crown HetmanStanisław Żółkiewski.[1] During that conflict he participated in the battle of Kaniów on 14 April 1596, and in the siege of the Cossacktabor nearLubny.[1] In 1599, he was appointed the Elder (starost) ofSamogitia.[1]
Chodkiewicz subsequently assistedChancellor andGreat Crown HetmanJan Zamoyski in his victoriousWallachian campaign, in which Chodkiewicz participated in the battle of Ploiești on 15 October 1600.[1] For that campaign, he was given that year the high office of theField Lithuanian Hetman, the second commander-in-chief of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army.[2]
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A year later, in 1601, Chodkiewicz accompanied Zamoyski north, to theDuchy of Livonia (Inflanty), where he commanded Lithuanian units on the right wing of the Commonwealth army in a victoriousbattle of Kokenhausen in late July that year in thewar against Sweden.[2] He oversaw the fighting in the Livonia theater after Zamoyski's return to Poland in 1602.[2] In April 1603, he capturedDorpat (modern Tartu) and defeated the Swedish forces at theBattle of Weissenstein on 23 September 1604.[2] His crowning achievement was the great victory near theDaugava in theBattle of Kircholm (modernSalaspils) on 27 September 1605, when, with barely 4,000 troops, mostly theWinged hussar heavy cavalry, he annihilated a Swedish army three times the size of his force.[2] For that feat he received letters of congratulation fromPope Paul V, most of Catholic royalty, and even theSultan of the Ottoman Empire and theShah of Persia.[2] Soon afterward, he was rewarded with the rank of Lithuanian Grand Hetman, in addition to a number of royal land grants and leases.[2]
Yet this great victory was virtually fruitless, owing to the domestic dissensions; theSejm (Commonwealth parliament) failed to agree on raising the funds needed for the war effort.[2] Chodkiewicz was one of the magnates who remained loyal to kingSigismund III Vasa, and helped him to defeat theZebrzydowski rebellion in 1606–1607.[2] He commanded the Crown Army's right wing during theBattle of Guzów on 6–7 July 1607, in which the insurgents were defeated, and then quelled the unrest in theGrand Duchy of Lithuania, fighting against another rebellious magnate,Janusz Radziwiłł, until Radziwiłł negotiated a settlement with the king in 1608.[2] A fresh invasion of Livonia by the Swedes recalled him thither once more, and in 1609 he relievedRiga and recapturedPernau.[2] He improvised asmall fleet and dealt a surprise blow to theSwedish Navy at theBattle of Salis.[3]
Meanwhile, theDimitriad wars withMuscovy broke out. Instigated by King Sigismund III, the war was unpopular among Lithuanian magnates, and Chodkiewicz was no exception; in fact his displeasure was so public and significant that he lost the royal favor for a time.[3] Eventually their differences subsided, and Chodkiewicz was sent against the Muscovites, operating first nearSmolensk andPskov.[3] Soon, the Polish–Lithuanian forces started garnering victories, such as thecapture of Smolensk, and some, like Grand Crown Hetman Żółkiewski, planned for a grandPolish–Lithuanian–Muscovite Commonwealth.[3] Chodkiewicz was tasked by the king with an advance on Moscow.[3] However, the Sejm neglected to pay for the maintenance of the armies once more, resulting in the mutiny of some units. Chodkiewicz fought several inconclusive battles against the Muscovites in autumn 1611 and then, after theBattle of Moscow (1612), retreated.[3] Disappointed with the outcome, he became once again estranged from the king, and criticized the campaign at the Sejm of 1613.[3] Over the next few years, in the period of 1613–15, Chodkiewicz defended the Commonwealth gains in the Smolensk area, and dealt with unrest in Lithuania.[3] Not till the crown prince,Władysław arrived with tardy reinforcements did the war could assume a more offensive character once again.[3] The army, nominally commanded by Władysław, but in practice under Chodkiewicz's experienced command, took theDorogobuzh fortress on 11 October 1617.[3] The siege ofMozhaysk in December of subsequent year proved unsuccessful, and this marked the end of the conflict.[3]
The Polish-Muscovite War had no sooner been ended by theTruce of Deulino than Chodkiewicz was hastily dispatched southwards to defend the southern frontier against theTurks, who, in the opening phase of thePolish–Ottoman War, defeated Polish forces atCecora, killing Hetman Żółkiewski.[3][4] An army of 160,000Turks and 60,000Tatars led bySultanOsman II in person advanced on the Polish frontier.[3] Opposed it were the Commonwealth forces, numbering about 70,000, half of them aCossack detachment underCossack hetmanPetro Konashevych-Sahaidachny.[3] Chodkiewicz crossed theDnieper in September 1621, and entrenched himself in theKhotyn Fortress, directly in the path of the Ottoman advance.[3] During theBattle of Khotyn Chodkiewicz resisted the sultan's 200-thousand army for a whole month,.[3][5] but the victory cost his life. A few days before the siege was raised and the Ottomans decided to open negotiations, the aged Grand Lithuanian Hetman, already suffering from illness since the campaign's opening, died in the fortress on 24 September 1621.[3][5]
Chodkiewicz's body was transported toKamianets-Podilskyi, where he was buried on 14 October 1621.[6] A few years later, in the summer of 1622, his widow arranged for exhumation, and Chodkiewicz was reburied inOstroh in June that year.[6] In 1627 he was moved to a new chapel in Ostroh, where he reburied again.[6] His body was evacuated from Ostroh during theKhmelnytsky Uprising in 1648, and returned there in 1654.[6] It was reburied yet again in a new tomb in Ostroh in 1722.[6]
In 1937, Polish historianWanda Dobrowolska, wrote in herPolish Biographical Dictionary entry on Chodkiewicz that he was one of the chief members of the "Great Hetman era", renowned for his talent as a strategist and organizer.[3] She notes that Chodkiewicz possessed an iron will, which he was able to impose on the troops under his command, and that he was an efficient commander, although more respected and feared than beloved by his troops.[3] Dobrowolska notes that he was an energetic and explosive antithesis of the composed Żółkiewski, another great hetman of this era, whom Chodkiewicz disliked and competed with throughout his life.[7]
Chodkiewicz was not particularly involved in the Commonwealth's politics, although his high office and wealth gave him significant influence; for the most part he used his political influence, and base of support in Lithuania, to gather support for his military plans, increase the armies' sizes, and personal gratifications.[7] His life was dominated by warfare, if not on the front lines, then on the political scene against other Lithuanian magnates, particularly theRadziwiłł family and the Sejm politicians whom he held responsible for not passing enough taxes to support the armies he wanted.[7]
Over his career he acquired significant wealth, and funded a number of churches and other prestigious buildings.[7] He often worked with theJesuits, including funding theirCollege in Kražiai.[7] He strongly believed his service should be rewarded with land grants, but he would simultaneously often use his own money to pay for military expenses.[7] In his private life he is remembered as a very proud individual, and for stressing his identity as a member of theLithuanian nobility.[7] He was a family man, devoted to his family, but his only son, from his marriage in 1593 to Zofia Mielecka, died aged 16 in 1613, and she died in 1618.[7] He remarried in 1620, wedding Anna Alojza Ostrogska in November 1620, shortly before departing on his final campaign.[6] Also that year his daughter Anna married a Lithuanian magnate,Jan Stanisław Sapieha.[6]
Some poems and other works praising him were written during his lifetime, and a religious work was dedicated to him by the JesuitPiotr Skarga.[7] More works on Chodkiewicz were written in the years after his death.[7] He was one ofWacław Potocki's characters in his epic novel on the Khotyn war (Polish:Transakcja wojny chocimskiej), and he also appeared in the works ofJulian Ursyn Niemcewicz andZofia Kossak-Szczucka, usually portrayed as a patriot and military genius.[6]
In 2021, commemorating the 400th anniversary of his death, a number of ceremonies were held in Lithuania. Firstly, a monument of Jan Karol Chodkiewicz was unveiled in a yard of theChodkevičiai Palace inVilnius.[8][9] Also, a new Lithuanian award Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius Gold Medal for State Strengthening Activities was established, with its first laureate being Jonas Ohmanas.[8][9] While commemorating the same anniversary inKretinga, which was established by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz in 1602, acenotaph was placed in Chodkiewicz familycrypt of theChurch of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary as in his testament he demanded to be buried in Kretinga's church crypt, alongside his first wife and his sons, however his remains fate is unknown as his second wife buried him inUkraine, but the church with his remains was demolished in the 19th century.[10][11] Also,Lithuanian Armed Forces Motorized Infantry Brigade Žemaitija was renamed to Lithuanian Grand Hetman Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius Infantry Brigade Žemaitija.[12]
