Taras Fedorovych
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Taras Fedorovych (pseudonym, Taras Triasylo) (Ukrainian: Тара́с Федоро́вич, Polish: Taras Fedorowicz) (died after 1636) was a prominent leader of the Dnieper Cossacks who, between 1629 and 1636, played a key role in the regional conflict involving the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sloboda Ukraine and the Tsardom of Russia.
Taras Fedorovych's place in history is initially documented by references in the 1620s to his position as the Cossack Polkovnyk (Colonel). In 1629, after the pro-Polish Hetman Mykhailo Doroshenko was killed in Crimea, the unregistered Cossacks elected Fedorovych into Hetmanship and, under his leadership, participated in the subsequent Crimean campaign. In March 1630, Fedorovych became the leader of a Cossack and peasant uprising, which became known as the Fedorovych Uprising. Dissatisfied with the conditions of the 1625 Kurukove Agreement (also known as the Treaty of Lake Kurukowe) signed earlier by Doroshenko, which restricted the number of registered Cossacks to only six thousand, the remaining forty thousand Cossacks who were unregistered, joined the resistance. The uprising was ignited by the continually increasing enserfment and exploitation of Ukrainian peasantry by mostly Polish or polonized szlachta (nobility) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as well as the imposition of Catholicism on the unwilling Ukrainians, who have been traditionally Eastern Orthodox.
About ten thousand rebels proceeded from the Zaporizhian Sich towards the upper Dnieper territories, overrunning the Polish forces stationed there. The rebels captured and executed the Hetman of registered Cossacks Hryhoriy Chorny for his pro-Polish stance and support of the Union of Brest, and subsequently came to agreement on new leadership by nominating Fedorovych for the position of Hetman. Fedorovych addressed the Ukrainian commoners with several Universals calling upon everyone to join his uprising against the Polish usurpers. The turbulence spread over the nearby territories, with many Cossacks and peasants rising against the local Polish nobles as well as wealthy Jewish landowners who, despite their limited involvement in the local power structure, were also resented, and thereby included as part of the oppressor/exploiter grouping. As clashes increased, casualties rose on both sides. After victory at Korsun over the Polish army sent against them, the rebel Cossacks controlled a large territory that included Korsun, Pereiaslav, Kaniv as well as other cities, with Pereiaslav becoming their main base. In response to their successes, a large Polish army led by Stanisław Koniecpolski was sent to confront the Cossacks. The army, strengthened by German mercenary forces, was harassed by the rebels, and, in turn, plundered and massacred Lysianka, Dymer and several other Ukrainian settlements, then crossed the Dnieper where they were met by the rebels, both front and rear, as more Ukrainians rose in what became an area-wide rebellion against the Poles. The skirmishes at Pereiaslav lasted three weeks until the 25 May [O.S. 15 May] 1630 decisive battle at Pereiaslav, which ended with the Ukrainians' victory.
Fedorovych's military successes forced Koniecpolski to initiate negotiations with the Cossack leadership (Starshyna), which concluded with the 1630 Treaty of Pereiaslav. Many of the demands of the non-registered Cossacks and Fedorovych, their leader, where discarded in the treaty by other Cossack Starshyna. The main requirement voiced by Fedorovych and his supporters—that the Cossack privileges routinely guaranteed to the limited number of registered Cossacks should be granted to all runaway peasants who claimed Cossackdom—was rejected and, according to a narrow compromise, the Cossack register was enlarged from six to eight thousand. In return, Koniecpolski demanded that Fedorovych be delivered into Polish custody. Fedorovych, uncertain of the decision that would have been reached, over his head, by the "compromising" faction of Cossack leadership, left Pereiaslav along with other Cossacks dissatisfied with the agreement and headed for the Cossack stronghold of Zaporizhian Sich. Meanwhile, the Cossack leadership faction inclined to a compromise with Poland, elected Timofiy Orendarenko whose Hetmanship was confirmed with Koniecpolski's agreement. Fedorovych, disgruntled with this turn of events, tried to raise the Cossack masses to start a new uprising, but the energy for such an undertaking was no longer forthcoming.
Fedorovych fought on the Russian side in the Smolensk War against Poland (1632-34). In the winter of 1634-35 he yet again tried to convince the Cossacks to turn against the Poles at the Kaniv Council, but received only very limited support. In 1635 he negotiated with the Russians about resettlement of 700 Cossacks in Russian-leaning Sloboda territories and, in 1636, about creating a pro-Russian Cossack regiment. His propositions were discarded by the Russians who did not want to antagonize their relations with the Commonwealth after their recently concluded Treaty of Polyanovka.
Documentation of most of the details of Taras Fedorovych's life has been lost to history, including the year and circumstances of his death. There is no specific record of his activities before mid- to late-1620s, and after 1636. The brief period in the region's history, however, in which he played one of the leading roles, left his name as one of the long-ago symbols of inspiration to future generations of Ukrainians.
Fedorovych is one of four Ukrainian hetmans mentioned in the original version (published in 1863) of Chubynsky’s poem Shche ne vmerla Ukraina that later transformed into the Ukrainian national anthem. A quatrain of the poem reads: "Nalyvaiko, Zalizniak / And Taras Triasylo / Call us from beyond the grave / To the holy battle."
In 1926, a feature film, Taras Triasylo, directed by Petro (Pyotr) Chardynin,[1] was released by All-Ukrainian Kino Foto Direction (BUFKU). It recounted the nearly three-hundred-year-old events through the silent-movie prism of the Soviet film industry.
[edit] References
- Kubiyovych, Volodymyr, Kuzelia, Zenon. Енциклопедія українознавства (Encyclopedia of Ukrainian studies), articles: "Fedorovych, Taras" and "Fedorovych Uprising", 3 volumes. Kiev (1994). ISBN 5-7702-0554-7
- Dovidnyk z istoriï Ukraïny (Reference Book of Ukrainian History), 3 Volumes, articles: "Fedorovych, Taras", "Fedorovych Uprising", "Treaty of Pereyaslav, 1630". Kiev (1993-1999). ISBN 5-7707-5190-8 (volume 1). ISBN 5-7707-8552-7 (volume 2). ISBN 966-504-237-8 (volume 3).
- Holubets, Mykola Велика Історія України [Velyka Istoriya Ukrayiny (The Grand History of Ukraine), Section: "Vid Konachevycha do Ostryanyna", originally published Lwów (1935). Reprinted Kiev: Hlobus (1993). ISBN 5-86248-015-3.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Fedorovych, Taras |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Triasylo, Taras; Федоро́вич, Тара́с (Ukranian); Fedorowicz, Taras (Polish) |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 17th century rebel Hetman of the Ukrainian cossacks |
| DATE OF BIRTH | |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
| Hetmans of Ukraine | ||
|---|---|---|
| Hetmans | Predslav Lyantskoronsky • Yevstafy Dashkevich • Dmytro Vyshnevetsky • Ivan Svirgovsky • Ivan Pidkova • Ivan Orishevsky • Bogdan Mikoshinsky • Kryshtof Kosynsky • Hryhoriy Loboda • Severyn Nalyvaiko • Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny • Mykhailo Doroshenko • Taras Fedorovych • Ivan Sulyma • Dmytro Hunia • Bohdan Khmelnytsky • Ivan Bohun • Ivan Vyhovsky |  |
| Left-bank | Yuhym Somko • Ivan Samoylovych • Ivan Mazepa • Pylyp Orlyk • Ivan Skoropadsky • Pavlo Polubotok • Danylo Apostol • Kyrylo Rozumovsky | |
| Right-bank | Yurii Khmelnytsky • Pavlo Teteria • Petro Doroshenko • Mykhailo Khanenko | |
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Hetman topics: Bulava • List of hetmans
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