Historical calendar: an anniversary of coronation on the king of Rzeczpospolita of the second from the Wazów line – Władysław IV. The ceremony took place in Wawel, Cracow.
Today in our calendar we will look at the life and activities of this extraordinary man.
Władysław was the boy of the King of Poland Sigismund III and Anna Habsburnka. As a titular heir to the Swedish throne, he was comprehensively educated in the hope of taking power in this country. In turn most of the Polish nobility saw him win Sigismund III in the Republic of Poland. The reason for this should be found in the partial origin of the prince from the positively remembered Jagiellonian dynasty and his rights to the Swedish throne, and since 1610 besides Moscow.
In addition to classical science, he learned respective abroad languages, the secrets of diplomacy and the basics of war art. Thanks to his father's interference, he participated in meetings of the Parliament to get acquainted with his actions. He was privately curious in military affairs, hunting and elite art, including the opera he brought to Poland during his reign.
After the business of Moscow by Stanisław Żółkiewski he was proposed to be a Tsar, nevertheless Zygmunt III Vasa refused, among others, due to his youth age, the coercion of transition to Orthodoxy and mediocre wellness and susceptibility to princely diseases. At the time, he was the only boy of a ruler who survived the infancy. Władysław has suffered from rheumatic pains since his youth. In 1617, as an adult, he embarked on an expedition to Moscow, seeking to take over the Tsar's crown.
The slimness of the forces utilized has determined the failure of the main intent of the operation, nevertheless in Time for truce talks in the Division crucial territorial acquisitions for the Republic of Poland have been negotiated. By the king's decision later confirmed by the seym, the walna became the admin of the captured lands: Smolensk and Chernichowska. After the defeat of Stanisław Żółkiewski in the conflict of Cecora, the prince took part in the Chocim campaign. Although the climate did not service him and increased rheumatism, he was eager to participate in the war councils and warmed the soldiers to fight, gaining considerable respect.
In 1624 he embarked on a journey around Europe. In order to stay anonymous, he traveled with just a fewer people under the fictitious name Snopczyński – created from a haystack located in the ancestral coat of arms of Wazów. He visited Austria, France, the Netherlands and Italy, among others. He received an audience with the Pope and took part in Breda's Spanish siege, where he watched closely the latest methods of conducting the war.
He besides learned about abroad political systems and socio-economic relations. Thus, he developed his own imagination of the state and the law he tried to accomplish after taking the throne.
In April 1632 his father died. An exceptionally efficient free election had taken him to power respective months later. As a freshly baked king, he took on an intense recruiting of troops against the Moskals, who attacked along the full east border, starting the alleged Smolensk War. The actions of the Tsarate were part of a wider conspiracy of neighbouring states and Protestant opposition within the Republic.
Using the chance to mobilize the military, Wladyslaw IV has carried out a number of reforms to professionalise and streamline logistics. He unified the equipment of the individual troops and ordered the construction of arsenals and granaries, thanks to which the army was no longer short of food and equipment, as frequently occurred during erstwhile campaigns. He subsequently reformed the artillery, harmonising its scales.
Most of the forces moved along with the king at Smolensk to unlock the besieged city. However, any had to go south to cover the border before the Turkish-Tatar invasion. The struggles around Smolensk took the form of a position war. Władysław consistently and methodically rejected Moscow from subsequent positions, leading to their lap and final surrender.
The war was won, but during peace talks the Polish side decided to quit any of the lands captured in 1619. This decision was curiosistic and was an issue on a global scale.
Just after the end of the Smolensk War, Władysław planned a war with Sweden. The Sejm refused to do so, and so carried out only a military demonstration which forced Stockholm to retreat from Prussia and sign a truce in the Sztumska Village. At the same time, he led efforts to take over parts of Silesia from the hands of Habsburgs. In 1645 he gained as a pledge the Dukeship of Opole-Racibor.
The second half of the 1940s. The 17th century is simply a period of increased preparations for the large war with Turkey, the goal of which was to completely destruct the Crimean Khanate and to banish the Osmans from Europe. According to Władysław IV's plans, this was to be a way out of a geopolitical trap, in which she was inactive strong but slow weakening the Republic of Poland. This war was besides intended to ease the increasing social conflicts within the country, among which the Cossack problem was the first.
On the way to the construction of a wide anti-Turkish coalition in 1644, the king gave the city of Trubeck to the Moskals and held secret talks with Cossack elders. Regrettably, the opposition to the Magnatria, fearing to strengthen its position, led to the failure of ambitious plans. The bitter and sick king was increasingly withdrawing from public life.
In his individual life, he was an unhappy man. He fell in love with the city of Lviv Jadwidzę Luszczewska, with whom he could not marry due to state differences. He had to execute a court mistress erstwhile he married Cecilia Renata of the Habsburg dynasty for political reasons, and after her death the French Princess Louisa Maria Gonzaga. He did not love 1 of his wives, and continued to meet Jadwiga in Merecz, where he set her up and married her. He died there too, returning from 1 of his travels.
At the end of his life, he may have deliberately initiated the Chmielnicki uprising, hoping for a forceful solution to the Cossack problem and/or to the “sealing” of the bustling magnatery that torpedoed his anti-Turkish plans.
Władysław IV was a versatile man and perfectly prepared for the function of king. Most of all Polish elective rulers knew the geopolitical situation in Europe. He tried to improvement and strengthen the country. His draft war with Turkey was essential on the way to interior consolidation and the maintenance of power position by the Republic.
Unfortunately, as in his father's case, the democratic nobility-magnate elites opposed the master's intentions due to the fact that they did not realize the wider geopolitical context and the threats facing the Republic.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.
