https://doi.org/10.31261/WSN.2020.20.03
Being a son of the Crown Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, and having inherited the title of the starosta of Kamieniec, Piotr Potocki distinguished himself before 1648 in battles at Kumejki (1637) and Ochmatów (1644), leading the charges of his father’s Cossack unit (rota). From 1643 on, as the starosta of Kamieniec, he was responsible for security of Kamieniec Podolski (a fortress), which proved especially significant during the Chmielnicki Uprising. Since he resided in the fortress also after he had taken office as the voivode of Bracław (1651), rarely did he appear in the General Sejm. Several times he repelled the attacks of Cossack-Tatar armies trying to seized Kamieniec; he participated in the Biała Cerkiew (1651) and Żwaniec campaigns (1653), leading a cavalry regiment. During the Cossack uprisings, he was in charge of organising the net of overt “intelligencers” (early intelligence agents) who would pass information of essence to Vasile Lupu, the voivode (hospodar) of Moldavia. He partook in another Ukraine campaign of the Polish Crown army (in the spring of 1654) resulting from B. Chmielnicki’s surrender in Moscow. In 1655, he appeared to be a faithful supporter of Jan Kazimierz, by guaranteeing the perpetuation of his influence in Kamieniec along with the military forces in his command. In order to acknowledge his military merits, as a defender of Podole and the Kamieniec fortress, the Ruthenian nobility recommended him to be awarded during dietines.
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Vol. 15 No. 20 (2020)
Published: 2020-12-21
English
Język Polski