Hetmans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (; ; ) were the highest-ranking military officers, second only to the King, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The first Polish title of Grand Crown Hetman was created in 1505. The title of hetman was given to the leader of the Polish Army and until 1581, it was awarded only for a specific campaign or war. Later, it became a permanent title, as did all the titles in the Kingdom of Poland and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It could not be revoked unless treachery had been proven (from 1585). Hetmans were not paid for their services by the Royal Treasury.
Field and Great Hetmans From the end of the 16th century, there were two hetmans in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and two hetmans in the Crown: a Field Hetman and a Great Hetman (sometimes translated as Grand Hetman). As a result, there were in total four hetman titles: Great Crown Hetman, Field Crown Hetman, Great Lithuanian Hetman and Field Lithuanian Hetman. During joint military operations of the Crown and Grand Duchy of Lithuania armies, the Grand Crown Hetman was usually considered superior to other hetmans and served as commander-in-chief if the war actions ran along the borders of the Grand Duchy and vice versa.
Grand Hetmans were usually in command of the professional and mobilised army and during peace stayed at the capital, involving themselves in politics, guarding the interests of the army and planning campaigns.
Polish Field Hetman was a subordinate of Grand Hetman and when on the same battlefield commanded the mercenaries and artillery. During peace, they usually were deployed on the eastern and southern borders of the Commonwealth, and commanded all local forces against constant skirmishes and small invasions of the Ottoman Empire and its vassals. Field Hetman were also called Frontier Hetman, since they did the same job as commanders of frontier garrisons before the title of hetman was introduced.
Lithuanian Field Hetman initially was called Court Hetman and commanded the guard of the Grand Duke, while Land Hetman commanded the militia. Later, this difference disappeared and they were renamed Field and Great Hetmans accordingly. Contrary to Polish practice, the Lithuanian Field Hetman had full control of the army under his command and wasn't subordinated to the Great Hetman.
For a short period, there was also an office of Royal Court Hetman, but it never gained much influence.
Responsibilities and privileges Hetman's competences and privileges, first officially described in 1527 in the act of nomination for Jan Tarnowski, included: planning and carrying out military campaigns; enlistment and organisation of professional army (wojsko kwarciane) and mercenaries; supervision of registered Cossacks and atamans, who were chosen by hetmans for two-year terms; nomination and promotion of officers at will; choosing locations where the army units were to draw supplies from (that could become a severe burden of cities/nobles that were disliked by a hetman); supervising the flow of the army's finances (including the soldiers' wages); full control over military judiciary (with capital punishment during wars), they could also issue laws and regulations for the army (known as hetman's articles); hearing complaints of all civilian personnel against the army and issuing compensation; hetmans had certain competencies in foreign policy, they could send their own emissaries to countries such as the Ottoman Empire, Moldavia, Crimean Khanate and Wallachia. It was reasoned that the distance to the capital was too large and the situation in those regions was always too volatile for all decisions to be made in the capital (Kraków, later Warsaw).
The hetman had no right to order the forces of the royal court, the royal guard, units equipped by the cities and towns, or private individuals, although during wars those units often voluntarily pledged their obedience to hetmans. Hetmans had no control over the navy, although the Polish Navy was always of very limited importance. Hetmans usually had no direct control over the levy (pospolite ruszenie), but they could give orders to the regimentars who commanded it.
While hetmans were considered to be among the highest-ranking officials in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, their hetman status gave them no right to sit in either the Senate or Sejm, unless they held another office that automatically carried with it a seat or were elected as a representatives of local szlachta during sejmiks. Each hetman received a hetman's ceremonial mace, the bulawa, as the symbol of his position (it was added to his coat of arms). Less common were a horse-tail ensign and hetman's sign.
In some of the never realised plans of reconstruction of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from dual into triple state (Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth), the hetman was to be the head of the Ruthenian part, consisting of three Ukrainian voivodeships (see Treaty of Hadiach).
The reforms of 1776, stimulated by the first Partition of Poland, limited the powers of the hetmans.
Hetman's aides A hetman's chief aides and officers included: pisarz polny – field chancellor, responsible for the archives, chancery, finances, accounting of people, equipment and fortifications, and paying soldiers' wages; strażnik – (lit.) guardian; security; supervised the scout forces during movement and camping and commanded the front guard (however, if both hetmans were present, the Field Hetman acted as Great Guardian; Polish: Wielki Strażnik); oboźny – camp leader; camp and transport organisation; responsible for choosing a suitable camping place for an army, setting up the camp, logistics and security inside the encampment; szpitalny – medic; medical services; profos – military judiciary; brabanmajster – logistics; regimentarz – second-in-command in the event a hetman was killed or taken prisoner; the regimantrz could also be chosen by the king for a given period when a hetman was not available, or informally assumed this function of the commander-in-chief when no hetman or monarch was present nearby (for example, the commander of a levee en masse was usually called a regimentarz.
Most of those aides also had a Field/Great and Crown/Lithuanian add-ons to their titles, depending on which hetman they were serving under.
Several new military titles were created after 1635 by King Władysław IV Vasa, changing some of the hetman's responsibilities: 1637 – General of Artillery (responsible for artillery forces, their logistics and such); 1670s – General of Logistics, General of Medics, General of Finances; the Generals of Inspections controlled the combat readiness of troops; it is unclear when they were created (besides the phrase "in the 17th century").
List of Crown Hetmans
Great Crown Hetmans From To 1485 1488 Feliks Paniewski 1488 1493 Stanisław Pieniążek z Witowic 1493 1497 vacant 1497 1499? Jan Trnka z Raciborzan 1503 1515 Mikołaj Kamieniecki 1515 1526 Mikołaj Firlej 1526 1527 vacant 1527 1561 Jan Tarnowski 1561 1569 Mikołaj Sieniawski 1569 1575 Jerzy Jazłowiecki 1579 1580 Mikołaj Mielecki 1581 1605 Jan Zamoyski 1605 1613 vacant 1613 1620 Stanisław Żółkiewski 1620 1632 vacant 1632 1646 Stanisław Koniecpolski 1646 1651 Mikołaj Potocki 1651 1654 vacant 1654 1667 Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki 1668 1674 Jan Sobieski 1674 1676 vacant 1676 1682 Dymitr Jerzy Wiśniowiecki 1682 1683 vacant 1683 1702 Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski 1702 1702 Feliks Kazimierz Potocki 1702 1706 Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski 1706 1726 Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski 1726 1728 Stanisław Mateusz Rzewuski 1728 1735 vacant 1735 1751 Józef Potocki 1751 1752 vacant 1752 1771 Jan Klemens Branicki 1773 1773 Wacław Rzewuski 1774 1793 Franciszek Ksawery Branicki 1793 1794 Piotr Ożarowski
Field Crown Hetmans From To 1492 1499 Stanisław Chodecki z Chodcza 1499 1501 Piotr Myszkowski 1501 1505 Stanisław Chodecki z Chodcza 1505 1509 Jan Kamieniecki 1509 1520 Jan Tworowski 1520 1528 Marcin KamienieckiPoczet hetmanów Rzeczypospolitej. Hetmani koronni pod redakcją Mirosława Nagielskiego, Warszawa 2005, s. 391–392. 1529 1539 Jan Koła 1539 1561 Mikołaj Sieniawski 1561 1569 vacant 1569 1575 Jerzy Jazłowiecki 1575 1584 Mikołaj Sieniawski 1584 1588 vacant 1588 1613 Stanisław Żółkiewski 1613 1618 vacant 1618 1632 Stanisław Koniecpolski 1632 1633 vacant 1633 1636 Marcin Kazanowski 1636 1637 vacant 1637 1646 Mikołaj Potocki 1646 1652 Marcin Kalinowski 1652 1654 Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki 1654 1657 Stanisław Lanckoroński 1657 1664 Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski 1664 1665 Stefan Czarniecki 1665 1666 vacant 1666 1667 Jan Sobieski 1667 1676 Dymitr Jerzy Wiśniowiecki 1682 1683 Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski 1682 1683 Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski 1684 1691 Andrzej Potocki 1691 1692 vacant 1692 1702 Feliks Kazimierz Potocki 1702 1702 Hieronim Augustyn Lubomirski 1702 1706 Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski 1706 1726 Stanisław Mateusz Rzewuski 1726 1728 Stanisław Chomętowski 1728 1736 vacant 1736 1752 Jan Klemens Branicki 1752 1773 Wacław Rzewuski 1774 1774 Franciszek Ksawery Branicki 1774 1794 Seweryn Rzewuski
List of Hetmans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
Lithuanian Grand Hetmans From To Polish name Lithuanian name 1494 1497 Piotr Janowicz Montygerdowic Petras Jonaitis Mantigirdaitis 1497 1500 Konstanty Ostrogski Konstantinas Ostrogiškis 1500 1501 Semen Jurewicz Holszański Simonas Alšėniškis 1501 1502 Stanisław Janowicz Kieżgajło Stanislovas Kęsgaila 1503 1507 Stanisław Piotrowicz Kiszka Stanislovas Kiška 1507 1530 Konstanty Ostrogski Konstantinas Ostrogiškis 1530 1531 vacat 1531 1541 Jerzy Radziwiłł Jurgis Radvilas 1541 1550 vacat 1561 1565 Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł Mykolas Radvila Rudasis 1566 1572 Grzegorz Chodkiewicz Grigalius Chodkevičius 1572 1577 vacat 1577 1584 Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł Mykolas Radvila Rudasis 1584 1589 vacat 1589 1603 Krzysztof "Piorun" Radziwiłł Kristupas Radvila Perkūnas 1603 1605 vacat 1605 1621 Jan Karol Chodkiewicz Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius 1621 1625 vacat 1625 1633 Lew Sapieha Leonas Sapiega 1633 1635 vacat 1635 1640 Krzysztof Radziwiłł Kristupas Radvila 1640 1646 vacat 1646 1654 Janusz Kiszka Jonušas Kiška 1654 1655 Janusz Radziwiłł Jonušas Radvila 1656 1665 Paweł Jan Sapieha Povilas Jonas Sapiega 1665 1667 vacat 1667 1682 Michał Kazimierz Pac Mykolas Kazimieras Pacas 1683 1703 Kazimierz Jan Sapieha Kazimieras Jonas Sapiega 1703 1707 Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki Mykolas Servantieits Višnioveckis 1707 1708 Jan Kazimierz Sapieha Kazimieras Jonas Sapiega 1708 1709 Jan Kazimierz Sapieha the Elder Jonas Kazimieras Sapiega 1709 1709 Grzegorz Antoni Ogiński Grigalius Antanas Oginskis 1709 1730 Ludwik Pociej Liudvikas Konstantinas Pociejus 1730 1735 vacat 1735 1744 Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki Mykolas Servantieits Višnioveckis 1744 1762 Michał Kazimierz "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł Mykolas Kazimieras Radvila Žuvelė 1762 1768 Michał Józef Massalski Mykolas Juozapas Masalskis 1768 1793 Michał Kazimierz Ogiński Mykolas Kazimieras Oginskis 1793 1794 Szymon Marcin Kossakowski Simonas Martynas Kosakovskis