The siege of Kraków was one of the military conflicts of the Swedish and Transylvanian invasion of Poland, which took place in the summer of 1657. The royal city of

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

, had been occupied for two years by a Swedish-Transylvanian garrison led by

Paul Wirtz Paul Wirtz (May 3, 1958 - April 6, 2006) was a Canadian figure skating coach."A te ...

and

János Bethlen János Bethlen de Bethlen (1613 – 13 February 1678)Markó 2006, p. 102. was a Hungarian noble in the Principality of Transylvania, who served as Chancellor of Transylvania from 1659 to 1678. Life János was the only son of Farkas Bethle ...

. It was besieged by Polish Army of

Hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military ...

Jerzy Lubomirski, supported by soldiers of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

under Austrian field marshal

Melchior von Hatzfeldt Melchior Graf von Gleichen und Hatzfeldt (Westerwald, 20 October 1593 – Powitzko, 9 January 1658) was an Imperial Field Marshal. He fought in the Thirty Years' War first under Albrecht von Wallenstein and Matthias Gallas, then received an ...

Background

Two years prior to the 1657 siege, in the summer of 1655, two armies of the

Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire was a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic region during the 17th and early 18th centuries ( sv, Stormaktstiden, "the Era of Great Power"). The beginning of the empire is usually ta ...

invaded the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

, see

Deluge (history) The Deluge ( pl, potop szwedzki, lt, švedų tvanas) was a series of mid-17th-century military campaigns in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In a wider sense it applies to the period between the Khmelnytsky Uprising of 1648 and the Truce ...

. The Swedish invaders moved southwards, reaching the city of Kraków in late September 1655. After the Siege of Kraków (1655), the ancient Polish capital surrendered, and on October 17, Swedish soldiers along with King

Charles X Gustav Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

entered the city. The looting of Kraków's treasures followed.Dariusz Milewski
Szwedzi w Krakowie (The Swedes in Krakow)
'' Mówią Wieki'' monthly, 08.06.2007, Internet Archive. In some districts not a single house was left standing, as in Garbary and in Biskupie. For the next two years the amount of destruction, pillage and methodical plunder was so enormous that some former parts of the city had never recovered from it. According to the

Treaty of Radnot Treaty of Radnot was a treaty signed during the Second Northern War in Radnot in Transylvania (now Iernut in Romania) on 6 December 1656. The treaty divided the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth between the signing parties. According to the t ...

signed on December 6, 1656, Kraków was to be occupied by

Prince of Transylvania The Prince of Transylvania ( hu, erdélyi fejedelem, german: Fürst von Siebenbürgen, la, princeps Transsylvaniae, ro, principele TransilvanieiFallenbüchl 1988, p. 77.) was the head of state of the Principality of Transylvania from the last d ...

, George II Rákóczi, who was an ally of Charles X Gustav. In January 1657, the Transylvanian army invaded southern provinces of the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 * Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...

(

Red Ruthenia Red Ruthenia or Red Rus' ( la, Ruthenia Rubra; '; uk, Червона Русь, Chervona Rus'; pl, Ruś Czerwona, Ruś Halicka; russian: Червонная Русь, Chervonnaya Rus'; ro, Rutenia Roșie), is a term used since the Middle Ages fo ...

and

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

), and on March 28, the Transylvanians reached Kraków. Rákóczi left, in the city, some 2,500 soldiers, who strengthened the Swedish garrison already stationed there. Most of the Transylvanian army headed northwards, to meet the Swedes.

Siege

In early summer 1657, Polish Crown units under

Jerzy Lubomirski arrived near Kraków, but lacking artillery, the Poles limited their activities to cutting Swedish and Transylvanian supply routes. In early August, the 17,000 strong army of

, under Field Marshal

, reinforced the Poles, and began preparations for an assault. On August 4, however, a message from Rákóczi was received by both sides. Since his army had been destroyed in the Battle of Czarny Ostrow (July 20), Rákóczi urged

to surrender the city to the Poles. The Transylvanians capitulated, but Swedish garrison of Kraków, under

Paul Wirtz Paul Wirtz (May 3, 1958 - April 6, 2006) was a Canadian figure skating coach."A te ...

, continued resistance until August 25. Five days later, Swedish units left the city, and on September 4, Poles, together with Austrians, organized a military parade, observed by King

Jan Kazimierz John II Casimir ( pl, Jan II Kazimierz Waza; lt, Jonas Kazimieras Vaza; 22 March 1609 – 16 December 1672) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1648 until his abdication in 1668 as well as titular King of Sweden from 1648 ...

Aftermath

After a two-year Swedish and Transilvanian occupation, the ancient capital of Poland was in ruins. All villages and towns in the area were burned to the ground, as well as the suburbs of Kraków. In Kleparz, only 15 people dwelled in huts, while at Bishop Square, only 5 houses remained, out of 51. In the district of Piaski, which had several hundred houses before the Swedish invasion, not a single building remained. The

Wawel Hill The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

was completely looted, as Swedes and Transylvanians had stolen almost everything of value: including the Polish treasury, books, carpets and even upholstery. Furthermore, Swedes destroyed the tomb of St. Stanislaus.

Sources

* Jaroslaw Stolicki, ''Oblezenie Krakowa przez Jerzego Lubomirskiego w latach 1656-1657''. SiM do historii wojskowosci, vol. XL, Bialystok 2003, pp. 87–117 * Leszek Podhorodecki, ''Rapier i koncerz'', Warszawa 1985, , pp. 345–346 {{DEFAULTSORT:Krakow (1657), Siege of Conflicts in 1657 1657 in Europe History of Kraków Battles of the Deluge (history) Sieges involving Poland Sieges involving Sweden 1657 in Poland