Daniel Czapliński, a Polish noble of Drogosław coat of arms, Drogosław coat of arms. He was a deputy starosta of Chyhyryn and a rotmistrz in the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He is best known as a personal foe of Bohdan Khmelnytsky with whom he got into a dispute over property and Khmelnytsky's wife - Helena Czaplińska, Helena Chmielnicka, the so-called "Helen of Troy, Helen of the steppe" (this is what Franciszek Rawita-Gawroński called her because of the conflict). Czapliński seduced Chmielnicki's wife, tried to kill his son, and organized an assassination attempt on Khmelnytsky.
[Description of the attack from Khmelnytsky's own account: ''Jechałem w kupie z pułkownikiem swojem. Zajechawszy mnie z tyłu, między wsią, w polu jeden żołnierz p. Daszewski, ciął mnie umyślnie szablą po szyjej, a że była u mnie misiurka, rozciął mi oną misiurkę na dłoń wszerz (...) Wymowę uczynił: „Jam – powiada – rozumiał, że to Tatarzyn”. A obok w wojsku z panami jechałem. Jeśliż to nie czyja umyślna sprawa?'' Quote from: W. Biernacki ''Żółte Wody, Korsuń 1648'', Bellona, Warszawa 2004.] This is sometimes seen as one of the main trigger of the Khmelnytsky Uprising.
In 1649, during the uprising, he took part in the Siege of Zbarazh, defense of Zbarazh (1649) and the Battle of Berestechko (1651). In 1653 he was elected as the deputy to the Crown Tribunal from Lublin.
In popular culture
He was portrayed by Henryk Sienkiewicz in ''With Fire and Sword'' (''Ogniem i mieczem''). In the With Fire and Sword (film), movie adaptation of the novel he was played by Jerzy Bończak.
General bibliography
* J. Kaczmarczyk, ''Bohdan Chmielnicki'', Łódź 1988, s. 39–40.
External links
References
Polish nobility,
Ruthenian nobility of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,
17th-century Lithuanian nobility,
Ukrainian nobility,
Military personnel of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,
Social class in Poland
1640 births
1660 deaths
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