Ivan Vyhovsky (date of birth
unknown, died 1664) was a hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks during three years
(1657–59) of the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667). He was
the successor to the famous hetman and rebel leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky (see Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks). His
time as hetman was characterized by his generally pro-Polish policies, which led to
his defeat by pro-Russian faction among the
Cossacks.
In Polish
military service, he was captured by Khmelnystsky's rebel Cossack forces at the Battle of Zhovti Vody in May 1648, he was freed on account of his education and experience
and rose to become secretary-general or chancellor (heneralny pysar) of
the Cossacks and one of Khmelnytsky's closest advisors.
Elected hetman
upon the death of Khmelnytsky, Vyhovsky sought to find a counterbalance to the
pervasive Russian influence present in Ukraine after the 1654 Treaty of Pereyaslav.
While the Cossack elite and the ecclesiastical authorities supported this
pro-Polish orientation, the masses and the Cossack rank-and-file remained
deeply suspicious and resentful of the Poles, by whom they had long been forced
into serfdom. As a result, some Cossacks, led by Iakiv Barabash, put forward an
alternative candidate for the hetmancy in Martyn Pushkar, the colonel of the Poltava regiment of Cossacks. The rebellion
against the hetman grew, and came to a head when Vyhovsky's forces clashed with
the pro-Russian Cossacks in June 1658. Vyhovsky's forces prevailed, killing
Pushkar and forcing Barabash to flee (he would later be captured and executed).
However, it had clearly been a fratricidal conflict, resulting in some 50,000
deaths.
Following his
consolidation of power within Ukraine, Vyhovsky attempted to reach an
acceptable agreement with the Poles. Encouraged by his aristocratic friend Yuri Nemyrych, Vyhovsky
entered negotiations with the Polish government, which resulted in the Treaty of Hadiach, signed on
September 16, 1658. Under the conditions of the treaty, Ukraine as the Duchy of Ruthenia, would become a
third and autonomous component of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, under the ultimate sovereignty of the King of
Poland, but with its own military, courts, and treasury. Additionally,
adherents of the Orthodox faith were to receive equal consideration as Catholics. As such, the treaty as signed would have assured the Cossacks of autonomy
and dignity to an extent they had not known for centuries.
However, the
Treaty of Hadiach was never implemented. Following its signing, a massive
Russian army (according to some sources up to 150,000 soldiers; about 100,000
of them were occupied by the siege of Konotop, the rest were massacred by
Tatars when trying to follow after Vyhovsky's cossacks, resulting in 20 000-30
000 lost among the Russians) led by the Muscovy boyarAleksei Trubetskoi crossed into Ukraine. In response, Vyhovsky led 60,000 Cossacks
against the Russians alongside his Polish and 40,000 Tatar allies. Near Konotop, the Russians were soundly defeated. However,
Vyhovsky was not able to capitalize on this victory, as the Russian garrisons
in several Cossack towns continued to hold out and his Tatar allies were forced
to return to the Crimea when it was attacked by
independent Cossacks.
Furthermore, pro-Russia unrest led by Ivan Bohun broke out
again amongst the Cossacks. In 1659, faced with a second rebellion against his
rule and unable to master the dangerous and chaotic forces vying for power in
Ukraine, Vyhovsky surrendered the office of hetman and retired to Poland. In 1660, he was appointed Voivode of Kiev, a position he
kept until his death in 1664.
Kiev itself was held by the Russian troops in
this period, after voivodes Vasily Sheremetev and Yuri Baryatinsky managed to repel two Vyhovsky's and one Polish assault on the city. Unfortunately
for Vyhovsky, his service on behalf of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and
his willing surrender of power did not protect him, and in 1664, another
Cossack hetman, Pavlo Teteria, seeing in
Vyhovsky a potential rival, accused him of treason and betrayal (reconciliation
with Russia and Russian followers amongst the Cossacks) before the Polish
authorities. Consequently Vyhovsky was charged with treason, arrested and
executed without trial by the Polish commander colonel Sebastian Machowski, making him another victim of
the fratricidal power struggles that devastated Ukrainian territory in the
latter half of the 17th century.
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