War with Sweden.But a greater enemy was arising in the north; Charles X. of Sweden, the “Pyrrhus of the North,” succeeding to the throne on the abdication of Christina in June 1654, had set his mind on the conquest of Poland. The Polish vice-chancellor, Radzejowski, who had been expelled from the kingdom by Casimir on some private quarrel, took care that Charles should be well acquainted with the weakness to which his country had been reduced. He gave the welcome advice that no apology which Casimir might make as to his assumption of the title of king of Sweden[27] should receive any attention. The king of Poland was anxious to send Sobieski to Stockholm to avert the impending storm; but he declined the hopeless mission. Charles eagerly took advantage of the anarchy caused by the Russian war, and invaded Pomerania and Great Poland in August, 1655. He gained an easy victory over the divided forces of the republic, and entered Warsaw at the end of the month. Cracow surrendered early in October, and, as Casimir had fled into Silesia, the whole country lay at his feet. Charles X. conquers Poland,Surrounded by such a host of enemies, the nobles seemed to have no choice but to offer the crown to Charles X.; and the standing army, called Quartians,[28] among whom Sobieski commanded a troop, took the oath to the king of Sweden. But alienates it.But Charles was not inclined to keep faith with a people whom he had conquered in three months. Contrary to his express promises hereditary monarchy was proclaimed, heavy contributions were levied, and the Catholics were openly persecuted by the Swedes. The national spirit was deeply wounded by the haughty demeanour of the conquerors. Resumption of the war.During the absence of Charles in Prussia, a confederation was formed in the palatinate of Beltz under the auspices of the absent Casimir, to which Sobieski attached himself, and with him the able generals Lubomirski and Czarnieçki. When Charles returned he found that he had the greater part of Poland to re-conquer. Successes of Sobieski.In conveying his army through the marshes of Little Poland, he was blocked up between the Vistula and the San by Sobieski’s cavalry, and was only extricated by the prompt arrival of reinforcements. Soon after, while he was superintending the siege of Dantzic, Casimir and the valiant Czarnieçki recaptured Warsaw; but they lost it again on his return after a battle of three days, in which Sobieski, who commanded a troop of Tartars[29] trained by himself, performed prodigies of valour. But other nations had looked on with jealousy at the brilliant career of the king of Sweden. The Czar, resenting the manner in which he had been baulked of his prey, declared war against Sweden; and the emperor Ferdinand III., just before his death (May 30th, 1657), concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with the king of Poland. Charles attempts a partition,Meanwhile Charles was using all his efforts to carry out a scheme for the partition of Poland between himself, the Czar, the Great Elector of Brandenburg,[30] and Ragoczy, prince of Transylvania. But her time had not yet come. Almost at the same moment Denmark declared war against Charles, the Elector deserted him, and Austria prepared to send troops in support of her new ally (June, 1657). But is obliged to retire.In July Charles evacuated Poland in all haste, and began his wonderful campaigns in Denmark. Another stroke of good fortune was the death of Bogdan Chmielniçki (August 27th), and the return of a large number of Cossacks to their allegiance. Gradual recovery of Poland,Though sorely shaken by the terrible ordeal through which she had passed, Poland gradually recovered her independence. Treaties were concluded with the Elector, and with Prince Ragoczy, with no more serious loss than the suzerainty of ducal Prussia (1658); and two years later, shortly after the death of Charles X., a peace was signed with Sweden at Oliva (May 3rd, 1660). Sobieski rewarded.Casimir re-established his authority throughout the kingdom; and in distributing rewards to his most faithful subjects, conferred upon Sobieski the post of Korongy, or standard-bearer of the crown.[31]
War with Muscovy.There still remained, however, the war with Muscovy. The ever-active Czar Alexis, now that he could take his own measures with Poland, overran Lithuania, and captured Wilna, its capital. But his general, Sheremetieff, suffered a serious defeat, and shut himself up in his fortified camp at Cudnow to await the arrival of a large reinforcement of Cossacks. Victories of Sobieski at Slobodyszcza and Cudnow.Sobieski was detached with a small force from the investing army to confront this new enemy. Finding them encamped on the heights of Slobodyszcza, he carried the position by assault, and gained a victory so complete that the Cossacks laid down their arms (Sept. 17th, 1660). He then hastened back to Cudnow, and joined in the attack on the Muscovite camp, which was so successful that the whole army, with their ammunition and stores, fell into the hands of the Poles. Such a brilliant campaign astonished Europe. Sobieski, whose reputation was already high in his own country, was justly credited with giving her breathing time to recover from her misfortunes.
Anarchy in Poland.She employed it, according to her wont, in internal dissensions. It is difficult to trace the true origin of the deplorable state of Poland during the next six years; but it may be attributed, in the first instance, to the foolish conduct of the queen, Louise de Nevers. Though a woman of masculine spirit, and exercising a great ascendancy over the uxorious Casimir, she was herself entirely governed by the Jesuits. 1661.They persuaded her, and through her the king, to violate that article of the pacta conventa by which he pledged himself not to tamper with the succession to the crown. The person for whom they designed it was her nephew, the young Duc d’Enghien, son of the great Condé. 1662-3.The power of French gold soon converted the majority of the senate. But the lesser nobles were not so easily cajoled, and they possessed a secret though powerful supporter in Lubomirski, Grand Marshal and Second General of the crown. To this main grievance was added another, which pressed heavily on the poorer nobles. Large arrears of pay were, as usual,[32] owing to the army, who accordingly formed themselves into a confederation, and demanded the diminution of the immense revenues of the clergy. This brought upon them all the thunders of the Church; and the fearful spectacle was presented of a country divided into hostile camps, in which the senate was at enmity with the diet, the clergy with the army, the larger with the lesser nobility. Sobieski and other patriotic spirits tried to strike at the root of the evil, and furnished funds from their private resources for the payment of arrears. As this did not allay the complaints of the army, the senate opened a negotiation with the malcontents from Sobieski’s “court”[33] at Zolkiew, which was so far successful that the king was able to lead them against Muscovy.Campaign against Muscovy. But the campaign, though not disastrous, was not especially fortunate; and the absence of Lubomirski, who had been kept at home by the king’s suspicions, created general discontent.
On his return the king summoned Lubomirski to trial on a charge of high treason. He did not appear, and was condemned to perpetual banishment and the loss of his honours and estates. Sobieski, Grand Marshal and Second General.His office of Grand Marshal was bestowed on Sobieski, and that of Second General on Czarnieçki; but the latter dying shortly after, this post was also conferred on Sobieski. The appointments were most politic, for Sobieski was a great favourite with the army. His duties having kept him constantly on the Cossack frontier, he had not compromised himself with either party.
Marriage of Sobieski.These signs of the royal favour were followed by another which bound him still more to the interests of the court. On his visit to Warsaw to assume the insignia of his offices, he became enamoured of a French lady in the retinue of the queen, Mary Casimira d’Arquien, who had lately become a widow by the death of the rich Prince Zamoyski. His wife.She was daughter to the Marquis d’Arquien; captain of the guards to the Duke of Orleans, and had attended the queen from France nineteen years before. Though over thirty years of age, she still possessed in a remarkable degree all those fascinations which usually belong to extreme youth. Dr. South, who saw her seven years later, says that even then she did not look more than twenty.[34] To these advantages she united a piquant vivacity which had a peculiar charm for Sobieski. His passion was so strong[35] that he besought the queen’s consent to their immediate union. Scarcely four weeks had elapsed since the death of Zamoyski, to whom she had borne several children; but so necessary was it to conciliate the new officer that the queen gave way, and the marriage was celebrated, according to the Polish fashion, by a festival of three days.July 5-7, 1665. Sobieski was hereafter to receive severe punishment for this indecent haste in the conduct of his wife. Rebellion of Lubomirski.In the midst of the marriage fêtes tidings arrived that Lubomirski, who had entered Poland with a large army, was ungenerously plundering his estate at Zolkiew, and carrying off his stud of horses. The proscribed general, who was a prince of the empire, had received secret support from Leopold of Austria, and was now in open rebellion.
The whole kingdom was divided against itself. The palatinates of the west, gained over by Austria, resented the predominance of France at court, and joined Lubomirski. Sobieski tries arbitration.An effort was made by Sobieski to get the decision of the Diet on Lubomirski’s claims, but the assembly was dissolved by the fatal veto, and the two armies advanced to the struggle. Contrary to the earnest advice of Sobieski, Casimir made his attack in the marshes of Montwy (July 11th, 1666), and his troops, entangled in the difficult ground, were easily defeated. Peace with Lubomirski.But Lubomirski was anxious to come to terms, and, having extracted a promise from Casimir that he would not interfere in the succession, he waived his personal claims, and retired to Silesia, where he died six months after.
His faction, however, was not silenced. Bands of hungry soldiers, clamouring for pay, levied black-mail upon the provinces; and the central authority seemed powerless to restrain them. Invasion of the Tartars.At this juncture news arrived that 80,000 Tartars were plundering Volhynia, and that the Cossacks under Doroscensko were preparing to join them. The utmost consternation prevailed at Warsaw; a peace was hastily patched up with Muscovy, and efforts were made to raise fresh troops. But the treasury was empty; the republic had only 10,000 men under arms; and many of these were most imperfectly equipped. Casimir applied vainly for help at the principal European courts; Brandenburg alone sent a few companies of infantry. At this crisis Potoçki, the aged Grand General, died, and the king at once appointed the Grand Marshal to the post.
Sobieski Grand General,Never before had any Polish subject united in his own person these two offices. As Grand General Sobieski had absolute control over military affairs, and could quarter his army where he pleased; As well as Grand Marshal.as Grand Marshal he was at the head of the administration, received foreign ambassadors, and could inflict death without appeal. In most points, as in the last, his power was really greater than that of the king; for although the king could confer these honours, he could not revoke them. No higher testimony could have been paid to the prudence and ability of Sobieski than the readiness with which these unusual powers were granted, and the very transitory murmurs that they provoked amongst an exceptionally jealous nobility. His rise, though fortunate at its close, had not been so rapid as to be out of proportion to his merits. The gravity of the crisis doubtless operated in his favour; and he took pains at once to relieve all suspicion by his temperate and vigorous action. His persuasive eloquence silenced the clamours for pay, and he hesitated not to drain his private coffers in raising new levies. His bold plan of the campaign.By this means he doubled his original forces, and then prepared to execute a grand plan for the destruction of the Tartars. Throwing his army into the fortified camp of Podhaic, a small town in Red Russia, he detached several large bodies of cavalry to act in the vicinity. These had orders on a given day, when the enemy had worn himself out by the assault, to close round the vast host and help their general to assume the offensive. To divide so small a force seemed hazardous in the extreme,[36] and the soldiers murmured openly that their lives were to be thrown away. The cool courage of Sobieski made them blush for shame. “He gave all cowards liberty to depart; as for himself, he was determined to remain with all those who loved their country.” Sept. 28th-Oct. 15th, 1667.The enemy appeared; and for seventeen days in succession this heroic band withstood their most determined assaults. Finally Sobieski, whose troops had suffered far less loss than they inflicted, gave the signal to his outlying parties, and attacked the Tartars in front and rear. Great victory of Podhaic.The battle was hotly contested; but at length victory declared for the Poles. Galga, the Tartar khan, found his troops so severely handled that he was forced to sue for peace, and concluded an alliance with the republic. Doroscensko, on the part of the Cossacks, agreed to restore to the nobles their estates in the Ukraine.
Gratitude of Poland.Poland had been saved almost by a miracle; and multitudes flocked to the churches to return thanks to God. When the danger was at its height, so inert and feeble was the body-politic that Casimir had found it impossible to arm the Pospolite for the relief of their devoted general. Their gratitude was now the greater that their sacrifices had been few. When Sobieski on his return detailed in modest language the success of the campaign, and ascribed his victory to the mercy of God, the Diet rose with one accord and answered that the republic knew who had saved her, and would remember to thank him. Birth of a son.The tidings reached his wife, who was staying with her relatives in France, just after she had borne him a son; and such was the general admiration that Louis XIV. and Henrietta Maria, the mother of Charles II., were willing to answer for the child at the font. He was named James Louis, in honour of his grandfather and his illustrious sponsor.
No successes against the invader could allay the internal broils of Poland. Although Casimir had lost his queen in the spring of the year 1667, the outcry against the French influence continued unabated. On one occasion the king so far forgot himself as to exclaim, in full diet, “If you are weary of me, I am no less weary of you.” Abdication of John Casimir.At length, bowed down by domestic sorrow, tormented by scruples of conscience,[37] and disgusted at the turbulence of the nobles, he came to the resolution, which those words seemed to imply, of laying aside the crown. He took farewell of the Diet in a dignified speech, in which he asked only for six feet of earth, where his bones might rest in peace. If he had offended any, he begged them to forgive him as freely as he forgave those who had offended him. The assembly was profoundly affected; but, although Sobieski and others from motives of gratitude besought him to retain the crown, it does not appear that this was the wish of the nation. We are told that on the day after his abdication the people hardly paid him the respect due to a gentleman;[38] and much ill-feeling was shown in the Diet, when the question of his pension came before it. After remaining in Poland too long for his own credit[39] he retired to France, where Louis XIV. gave him the Abbey of St. Germain. He was the last of the dynasty of Jagellon,[40] which had reigned in Poland nearly three hundred years.