Ivan Vyhovsky

Ivan Vyhovsky
Іван Виговський
Portrait by Havrylo Vasko, 1850
Hetman of Zaporizhian Host
In office 21 October 1657 – 17 October 1659
Preceded by	Yurii Khmelnytsky
Succeeded by	Yurii Khmelnytsky
Personal details
Born	beginning of the 17th century Vyhiv, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Died	(1664-03-16)16 March 1664 Korsun, Cossack Hetmanate
Spouse	Olena Vyhovska
Children	Mariana, Ostap
Parent	Ostap Vyhovsky
Alma mater	Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
Signature

Ivan Vyhovsky (Ukrainian: Іван Виговський; Polish: Iwan Wyhowski / Jan Wyhowski; date of birth unknown, died 1664), a Ukrainian military and political figure and statesman, served as hetman of the Zaporizhian Host and of the Cossack Hetmanate for three years (1657–1659) during the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667). He succeeded 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 elements among the Cossacks.

Vyhovsky belonged to the Orthodox noble family of the Vyhovsky coat of arms Abdank.

Origin and family

Vyhovsky was born in his family estate of Vyhiv, near Ovruch in the Kyiv Voivodeship of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a son of Ostap Vyhovsky, a vicegerent of the Kyiv fortress under voivode Adam Kisiel and an Orthodox nobleman from the Kyiv region. There is also a possibility that the birth occurred at another family estate, Hoholiv, located near Kyiv (now Brovary Raion). Ostap Vyhovsky had 3 other sons and a daughter (all of them were exiled to Siberia after the downfall of Ivan Vyhovsky).

Education

Vyhovsky studied at the Kyiv Brotherhood Collegium and excelled in languages (including Church Slavonic, Polish, Latin and Russian, in addition to Ukrainian) and calligraphy. He later was the main financial supporter of the Collegium.

Military service

Vyhovsky family coat-of-arms.

In Polish military service, Vyhovsky 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 (Ukrainian: генеральний писар, romanized: heneralnyi 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, which Moscow exerted over Ukraine following the 1654 Treaty of Pereiaslav. While the Cossack elite and the ecclesiastical authorities supported his 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 Yakiv 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.

Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth or Commonwealth of Three Nations (1658)

After 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 16 September 1658. Under the conditions of the treaty, Ukraine as the Grand 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 signed treaty would have assured the Cossacks of autonomy and dignity to an extent they had not known previously.

However, the Treaty of Hadiach was never implemented. After its signing came 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 being 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 boyar Aleksei 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 defeated. However, Vyhovsky was not able to capitalize on his victory, as the Russian garrisons in several Cossack towns continued to hold out, and his Tatar allies were forced to return to Crimea after it was attacked by independent Cossacks. Furthermore, pro-Russia unrest, led by Ivan Bohun, broke out again among the Cossacks. In 1659 Yuri Khmelnitsky opposed him. Their troops met at Bila Tserkva but the battle did not happen as Vyhovsky's Cossacks quickly defected to the camp of pro-Russian Cossacks. Seeing the helplessness of his struggle, the hetman renounced his position and retired to Poland.

In 1660, he was appointed Voivode of Kyiv, a position that he kept until his death in 1664. Kyiv itself was held by the Russian troops after Voivodes Vasily Sheremetev and Yury 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 voluntary surrender of power did not protect him. 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 a 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.

Legacy

Many Ukrainian cities like Kyiv have a street named after Vyhovsky.

See also

• List of Ukrainian rulers

References

• Subtelny, Orest (1988). Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802058086.
• "Vyhovsky" at Encyclopedia of Ukraine

Sources

• Гумилев, Лев (2023). От Руси к России. Moscow: Москва. ISBN 978-5-17-153845-3.