Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa March 30 [O.S. March 20] 1639 – October 2 [O.S. September 21] 1709), was the Cossack Hetmanof the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, from 1687–1708, and Prince of the
Holy Roman Empire ad personam 1707–1709. He
was famous as a patron of the arts, and also played an important role in the Battle of Poltava where after learning of Peter I's intent to relieve him as acting Hetman of Ukraine
and replace him with Alexander Menshikov, he deserted his army and sided with Charles of Sweden. The politicization of this desertion has held a
lasting legacy in both Russian and Ukrainian national history.
Mazepa's decision to abandon his allegiance to the Russian Empire was
considered treason by the Russian Tsar and a violation of the Treaty of
Pereyaslav. However others argue that it was Imperial Russia who broke
the treaty, because it failed to even try to protect the Cossack homeland while
busy fighting abroad while Ukrainian peasants had complained about the conduct
of local Muscovite troops, Cossacks had died while
building Saint Petersburg and the Tsars planned to deploy
Cossack troops far from their homeland.
Because of this, the Russian
Orthodox Church has laid an anathema on his name since the
beginning of the 18th century and refuses to renounce to this day. Everyone who
opposed the Russian government in eighteenth-century Ukraine were derogatorily
referred to as Mazepintsy (Mazepists). The alienation of
Mazepa from Ukrainian history continued during the Soviet period, but since
Ukraine's independence there have been strong moves to rehabilitate Mazepa's
image, although he remains a figure of mixed standing.
Related post: Ivan Skoropadsky (Hetman of Zaporizhian Host)
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