Jan Zamoyski's expedition to Moldavia was a successful military campaign in 1595 that aimed to establish Moldavia as a Polish vassal state.

Background

In early 1595

Sigismund Báthory Sigismund Báthory (; 1573 – 27 March 1613) was Prince of Transylvania several times between 1586 and 1602, and Duchy of Racibórz, Duke of Racibórz and Duchy of Opole, Opole in Silesia in 1598. His father, Christopher Báthory, ruled Transy ...

, Prince of

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, convinced

Ștefan Răzvan Ștefan Răzvan (died December 1595) was a voivode (prince) of Moldavia as Ștefan VIII Răzvan (between 24 April 1595 and August 1595). Biography Ștefan Răzvan's father was a Muslim Roma from the Ottoman Empire who emigrated north of the Da ...

, a commander of Hungarian mercenaries in the service of the Hospodar

Aaron the Tyrant Aaron the Tyrant () or Aron Vodă ("Aron the Voivode"; ), sometimes credited as Aron Emanoil or Emanuel Aaron (, , Maxim (1994), p. 23 or ''Zalim'';Kohen, p. 103 before 1560 – May 1597), was twice the Prince of Moldavia: between September 1591 an ...

to rebel. Ștefan captured Aaron and sent him to Transylvania, then proclaimed himself as the new Hospodar and a vassal of Sigismund. In response the Ottoman

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Mehmed III Mehmed III (, ''Meḥmed-i sālis''; ; 26 May 1566 – 22 December 1603) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1595 until his death in 1603. Mehmed was known for ordering the execution of his brothers and leading the army in the Long Turkish ...

, who had been Aaron's protector and sovereign, decided to put an end to the ongoing power struggles in Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania between various magnates. While Wallachia was to receive a new Turkish sponsored ruler, Moldavia was to be simply incorporated into the Ottoman Empire as a province. The Ottoman intervention aroused alarms in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth which sought to reestablish its influence in the region, having lost sovereignty over Moldavia some hundred years earlier after the

Battle of the Cosmin Forest The Battle of the Cosmin Forest (1497) (; ) was fought between the Moldavian Prince, Ștefan cel Mare (''Stephen the Great''), and King John I of Poland (''John I Albert'') of the Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Kingdom of Poland. The battle t ...

Battle of Cecora

In the summer of 1595, a Polish army of 5,000

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

and 2,300

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

entered

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

, occupied

Khotyn Khotyn (, ; , ; see #Name, other names) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Dnistrovskyi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast of western Ukraine, located south-west of Kamianets-Podilskyi. It hosts the administration of Khotyn urban hromada, one of th ...

on August 27 and the capital

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

on September 3, where

Zamoyski The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is an important Poland, Polish noble (''szlachta'') family Magnates of Poland and Lithuania, belonging to the category of Polish magnates. They used the Jelita coat of arms. The surname "Zamoyski" litera ...

installed

Ieremia Movilă Ieremia Movilă ( ; c. 1555 – 10 July 1606) was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between August 1595 and May 1600, and again between September 1600 and July 10, 1606. At the time, Moldavia was a vassal province of the Polish-Lituania CommonWealth ...

as the new

hospodar ''Gospodar'' or ''hospodar'', also ''gospodin'' as a diminutive, is a term of Slavic origin, meaning "lord" or " master". The compound (, , , sh-Latn-Cyrl, gospodar, господар, ) is a derivative of ''gospod'' / ''gospodin'', , or when spe ...

who pursued a policy favorable to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

.The Ottoman

, not idle, sent against Zamoyski an army consisting mainly of

Tartars Tartary (Latin: ''Tartaria''; ; ; ) or Tatary () was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bounded by the Caspian Sea, the Ural Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and the northern borders of China ...

and regular Ottoman

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...

in a strength of about 25,000. Zamoyski, upon hearing of the approaching enemy, fortified himself between the river

Prut The Prut (also spelled in English as Pruth; , ) is a river in Eastern Europe. It is a left tributary of the Danube, and is long. Part of its course forms Romania's border with Moldova and Ukraine. Characteristics The Prut originates on the eas ...

. The Tatar-Ottoman army arrived on September 18, and several skirmishes took place on the same day. The main clash occurred on September 19 when the Tatars unsuccessfully tried several times to break into the Polish

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

, on September 20 the

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

Khan Khan may refer to: * Khan (surname), including a list of people with the name * Khan (title), a royal title for a ruler in Mongol and Turkic languages and used by various ethnicities Art and entertainment * Khan (band), an English progressiv ...

Gazi A ''ghazi'', or ''gazi'' (, , plural ''ġuzāt'') is an individual who participated in ''ghazw'' (, '' ''), meaning military expeditions or raids against non-Muslims. The latter term was applied in early Islamic literature to expeditions led by ...

, unable to gain victory over the Polish camp, entered negotiations. On September 21, a peace treaty was signed in which the Tatars recognized

as hospodar and agreed to station Polish troops in

. On September 23, the Tatars proceeded to retreat.

Moldavia as Polish-Ottoman condominium

After the victory of the Polish army at Cecora and the recognition of

became a de facto

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

- Ottoman

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

, paying

tribute A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...

to the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

while at the same time being a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

state of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, this did not please the previous

, who, aided by the Turks at the head of an army of 5,000, entered

to overthrow

Battle of Suceava

On December 12, Răzvan's army skirmished with a twice smaller Polish force near Suceava. Commander Jan Potocki tried unsuccessfully to resolve the conflict with Răzvan. However, Răzvan was not eager to negotiate, so Potocki gave him the battle. Răzvan's forces spread out on a mountain sheltered by palisades, while the Poles took up a position in the valley opposite. The Poles opened the battle with artillery fire, killing one of the commanders of Răzvan's forces in the process. The shelling was followed by a counterattack by the Transylvanian cavalry, which was smashed by Potocki, the Poles broke into Răzvan's camp, who defended himself bravely although he had to give way and retreat with the remnants of his troops. Răzvan, however, did not escape far and was quickly caught, Jeremi Moghila showed him no mercy and after long torture ordered him to be impaled.{{Cite web , last=Histmag.org , date=2017-04-01 , title=Jak Rzeczpospolita Turków i Tatarów pobiła za co... została potępiona przez papieża , url=https://historia.wprost.pl/10049122/jak-rzeczpospolita-turkow-i-tatarow-pobila-za-co-zostala-potepiona-przez-papieza.html , access-date=2024-01-07 , website=Historia , language=pl

Aftermath

In 1597, the treaty of Polish-Ottoman friendship was renewed recognizing the election of hospodars by Polish kings, but Moldavians still had to pay tribute to the Sultan. The following year, the Porta obliged the Crimean Khan not to violate Polish borders and even to provide military assistance at the king's call. Moldavia would cease to be a Polish vassal after the 1620–1621 Polish–Ottoman War.

References