page_title: Stanisław Koniecpolski
section_title: Grand Crown Hetman: 1630–1637
hierarchical_section_title: Stanisław Koniecpolski / Grand Crown Hetman: 1630–1637
caption_attribution_description: English: looking west at Kamianets-Podilskyi Castle in UkrainePolski: Widok na twierdzę w Kamieńcu Podolskim i Most Turecki
context_page_description: Stanisław Koniecpolski was a Polish military commander, regarded as one of the most talented and capable in the history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was also a magnate, a royal official, a castellan, a member of the Polish nobility, and the voivode of Sandomierz from 1625 until his death. He led many successful military campaigns against rebelling Cossacks and invading Tatars. From 1618 he held the rank of Field Crown Hetman before becoming the Grand Crown Hetman, the military commander second only to the King, in 1632.
  Koniecpolski's life was one of almost constant warfare. Before he had reached the age of 20, he had fought in the Dymitriads and the Moldavian Magnate Wars. Later, in 1620, he took part in the Battle of Cecora, during which he was captured by Ottoman forces. After his release in 1623, he defeated the Ottomans' Tatar vassals several times between 1624 and 1626. With inferior numbers, during the Polish–Swedish War, Koniecpolski stopped the Swedish forces of Gustavus Adolphus from conquering Prussia and Pomerania before the war was concluded with the Truce of Altmark.
context_section_description: In 1630, the Cossack leader, Taras Fedorovych, executed the moderate Hryhoriy Chorny, and began a Cossack uprising, later dubbed the "Fedorovych Uprising". Soon afterwards he captured the fortress of Korsun. In an effort to restore the situation, Koniecpolski laid siege to Pereyaslav. Lacking artillery and infantry support, he could not breach its walls, but the Cossacks, needing supplies and having suffered heavy casualties, agreed to negotiate. The Treaty of Pereyaslav, signed in August 1630, it resuluted in. It granted liberal terms, including amnesty for the rebels. Koniecpolski, as usual, was for harsh punishment, but also argued that in the long run the Cossack situation was better remedied by more equitable treatment, including an increase in the Cossack register and the regular payment of wages. Still, he supported policies aimed at turning the Cossacks into serfs, which was one of the main causes of unrest in Ukraine; this, along with his decision to settle his soldiers' living expenses on the local populace instead of paying them wages, led to his extreme unpopularity in Ukraine.
  In 1632, a few months before his death, King Sigismund III Vasa awarded Koniecpolski the post of Grand Crown Hetman. It had stood vacant for 12 years, since the death of Stanisław Żółkiewski; presumably King Sigismund had feared that Koniecpolski, if given the post earlier, would have become too powerful a magnate. After the King's death, Koniecpolski played a major role in directing the political affairs of the Commonwealth and in 1632 supported the election of Sigismund's son, Władysław IV Vasa, as king. In return, a year after his election, King Władysław IV rewarded Koniecpolski with the office of Castellan of Kraków, the most prestigious of the Commonwealth's district offices. Koniecpolski became an influential adviser to the new king, often encouraging him to direct Polish foreign policy against the Tartars. Koniecpolski also supported King Władysław IV's military reforms. Though generally seen as a supporter of the King,  Koniecpolski opposed some of his plans aimed at increasing royal power in the Commonwealth and weakening the Golden Liberty of the nobility.
  In 1633 Koniecpolski thwarted the Turks' attacks on the Commonwealth, defeating their forces on 4 July at Sasowy Róg. On 22 October that year, he repulsed a superior invading Ottoman force of over 20,000 at Kamianets-Podilskyi, his own forces numbering a mere 11,000. The Ottoman defeats and Koniecpolski's attitude persuaded the Turks to sign a new treaty on 19 August 1634. The treaty repeated the terms of the Treaty of Chocim of 1621 and ended the Ottoman–Commonwealth War (1633–34).
  In 1635, in the short lived Sulima Uprising, after Cossacks under Ivan Sulyma captured and destroyed the Polish Kodak Fortress (near modern Dnipro), Koniecpolski led an expedition that retook the fort and punished the insurgents. Sulima was taken prisoner and executed.
  Later that year Koniecpolski returned to Pomerania to prepare for another war against Sweden, but it was rendered unnecessary by the Treaty of Sztumska Wieś.
  Koniecpolski grasped the need to modernize the Commonwealth's military and worked with King Władysław IV to that end, including the recruitment of mercenaries experienced in western warfare, and further development of artillery (he supervised the construction of arsenals at Kudak, Bar and Kamieniec Podolski, and built forges on his Ukrainian estates). He was patron to many gifted artillery and engineering officers. He may also have sponsored cartographers such as William le Vasseur de Beauplan, who mapped Ukraine, and Sebastian Aders, who  mapped Crimea. He also supported plans to create a Commonwealth Baltic Fleet.
caption: Fortress of Kamianets-Podilskyi
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