Siege of Jasna Góra The Siege of Jasna Góra ( also known less accurately as the " Battle of Częstochowa " , ) took place in the winter of 1655 during the Second Northern War / The Deluge — as Swedish invasion of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth is known . The Swedes were attempting to capture the Jasna Góra monastery in Częstochowa . Their month - long siege however , was ineffective , as a small force consisting of monks from the Jasna Gora monastery led by their Prior and supported by local volunteers , mostly from the " szlachta " ( Polish nobility ) , fought off the numerically superior Germans ( who were hired by Sweden ) , saved their sacred icon , the Black Madonna of Częstochowa and , according to some accounts , turned the course of the war . Prelude . The 1650s decade marked the end of the Golden Age of Poland , as it had become embroiled in a series of wars , particularly the Chmielnicki Uprising and the Russo - Polish War ( 1654 – 1667 ) . In 1655 the Swedes decided to take advantage of the weakness of the Commonwealth and revive the Polish - Swedish War , which had been simmering for the past century . The Swedish forces quickly overran much of the Commonwealth territory . In late 1655 the Polish king , Jan Kazimierz , took refuge in Habsburg Silesia . Despite that , the Commonwealth forces were still not defeated , and the Swedes decided to secure the fortified Jasna Góra monastery — an important fortress well known for its riches , near the Silesian border . As the Swedes approached , the monks feared that the Protestants would loot their Catholic sanctuary , seeing as the great European religious war of the 17th century , the Thirty Years ' War , had barely ended . Thus the sacred icon was replaced with a copy and the original moved on November 7 in secret to the castle in Lubliniec , and later to the monastery in Głogówek . The monks also bought about 60 musket s , and ammo , and hired 160 soldier s to support the 70 fighting - capable monks . The defence forces were also aided by about 80 volunteers , among them 20 nobles , including Stanisław Warszycki . The monastery had good artillery : 12 – 18 light cannons ( from 2 to 6 pounders ) and twelve 12 pounders . In the meantime , the Swedes , seeing that they could not take the monastery by surprise , attempted to negotiate . On November 8 the Swedes ( 300 cavalry under Jan Wejhard ) requested the right to garrison the monastery ; however they were refused the right to enter . The Prior of the monastery , Augustyn Kordecki , while repeatedly requesting aid from the King of Poland , Jan Kazimierz , offered to recognize Charles X Gustav of Sweden as King to prevent a military conflict . He received a document from the Swedes that promised safety to the monastery , but on November 18 refused to let another Swedish unit in . The Swedish commander , Gen . Burchard Müller von der Luhnen , with a 2250 strong force ( 1800 cavalry , 100 dragoon s , 300 infantry and 50 artillerymen ) with 10 cannons ( albeit light — eight 6 pounders and two 4 pounders ) , after futile negotiations with Kordecki , decided to start the siege , which would continue until the night of December 26 to 27 . The battle . The siege began on November 18 , the Swedes had a numerical advantage , but inferior artillery compared to that mounted in the monastery . On November 28 the besieged under the leadership of Piotr Czarniecki made a surprise sortie and destroyed two Swedish cannon s . Negotiations followed , which bore no fruit — the Swedes arrested two monks but released them afterwards . As Kordecki did not agree to surrender the monastery , the fighting resumed . Near the end of November the Swedes received reinforcements — about 600 men with 3 cannons . On December 10 the Swedes brought in heavy siege artillery — two 24 - pounders and 4 12 - pounders , with 200 men . The Swedes finally had heavier caliber artillery than the defenders , albeit they still had fewer cannons than the monastery . At that point the Swedish besiegers were at the height of their strength , with 3200 men ( including 800 Poles who served the Swedish king ) and 17 cannons . The Swedish army at Jasna Góra , although commonly referred to as ' the Swedes ' , was in fact mostly composed of German mercenaries . With the new artillery the Swedes significantly damaged the northern walls , as well as the bastion of Holy Trinity . On the 14 December the Poles made another sortie , destroying one of the Swedes redoubt s as well as one of the 24 - pounders . The Swedes then started to shell the south side , as well as dig a tunnel . On December 20 , the Poles led by Stefan Zamoyski sortied again , this time during the day shortly after noon . They destroyed two cannons and killed most of the miners at the tunnel . On December 24 Kordecki refused to surrender once again , and the Swedes went back to shelling the northern side . During one of their most heavy barrages the second of their 24 - pounders malfunctioned and was destroyed . The Swedes then demanded a ransom of 60000 talar s to stop the siege , but Kordecki replied that while he would have paid before the fighting , the monastery now needed the money for repairs . Finally on the December 27 the Swedes decided to withdraw . They made several small attempts to take the monastery by surprise in the weeks to come , as the fortress became an increasingly important center for the local anti - Swedish guerillas . The Polish side reported few dozen casualties , while the Swedes , several hundreds . Aftermath . The fortified Jasna Gora monastery was the only stronghold in Poland that the Swedish invaders failed to capture . Historians disagree on the importance of the defence of Jasna Góra in turning the tide of the war . In December , when the Swedes broke their siege , the Polish forces had begun to gain the upper hand , and the defence of Jasna Góra , an important symbol for the Poles , was certainly a significant morale boost ; however to what extent the defence of Jasna Góra motivated the defenders is still an open issue . In 1658 Augustyn Kordecki published a book , " Nova Gigantomachia in Claro Monte Czestochoviensi " , in which he overexaggerated the importance of the defence of Jasna Góra . A year later another Polish author , Stanisław Kobierzycki , built upon his description in " Obsidio Clari Montis Częstochoviensis " . Finally , in the 19th century , the defence of the monastery became widely popularized in a novel , " The Deluge " , by Henryk Sienkiewicz , one of the most popular Polish writers of his time and a Nobel Prize - winner ( a movie was based on his novel in the 20th century ) . The fictional account is , however , relatively inaccurate , as in addition to introducing various fictional characters ( Andrzej Kmicic ) , it strengthens the Swedish side and weakens that of the Poles in order to increase the impression of an ' heroic defence ' .