Mikołaj "Bearpaw" Potocki (; 1595 – 20 November 1651) was a Polish nobleman, magnate and Field Crown Hetman of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

from 1637 to 1646, Grand Hetman of the Crown from 1646 to 1651,

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of Bracław Voivodeship from 1636 and from 1646 Castellan of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. He was captured during the battle of Cecora by the Turks. In 1633 during the Battle of Paniowce, along with Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and Stanisław Koniecpolski he defeated the Turk forces under Abaza Pasha. In the 1637 Pavlyuk Uprising he defeated

Cossacks The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic languages, East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borde ...

under Pavlo Pavliuk at the battle of Kumejki. In the 1638 Ostryanyn Uprising he forced Dmytro Hunia to surrender. After those victories over the Cossacks he received large estates in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The 1637–38 Cossack rebellions suppressed by Potocki were minutely described by historian and bishop Szymon Okolski who witnessed and directly participated in the developments of those days. His field diaries became a valuable information source for historians. During the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

of 1646 Potocki opposed the plan of the king Władysław IV Vasa to wage war against the Turks. He was known as very oppressive to

peasantry A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

and Cossacks. His behavior was one of the causes of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. In 1648 he disregarded the monarch's orders and attacked rebellious Cossacks in Ukraine. He was defeated at the Battle of Korsuń and captured by

Tatars Tatars ( )Tatar
in the Collins English Dictionary are a group of Turkic peoples across Eas ...

. In April 1650 he was released from jasyr. On 28–30 June 1651 he was victorious over Tatar and Cossack forces at the Battle of Berestechko. On 18 September 1651, after the indecisive Battle of Bila Tserkva he negotiated a treaty with the Cossacks.

Personal life

Potocki had two wives, Zofia Firlej and Elżbieta Kazanowska. He had six children with Firlej: Piotr Potocki, Stefan Potocki, Mikołaj Potocki, Marianna Potocka, Wiktoria Potocka and Henryk Potocki. With Kazanowska he had three children: Jakub Potocki, Joanna Potocka and Dominik Potocki.

References

* ''Hetmani Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów''; Bellona,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, 1994 {{DEFAULTSORT:Potocki, Mikolaj Field Crown Hetmans Great Crown Hetmans 1595 births 1651 deaths Mikolaj Polish people of the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618) Polish military personnel of the Khmelnytsky Uprising