How the Ukrainian Cossack of the Poles and the Turks alarmed or the Moldavian ambitions of the Cossack Horseshoe

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Historians disagree on the reliable biographical data of the Zaporozhye Cossack Ivan Podkova. There is a version that the Moldovan fled to Ukraine from multiple misadventures. Internal civil strife in 16th century Moldavia attracted adventurers of all levels. The Ukrainian Cossacks did not stand aside either. Horseshoe with a hazy past managed to become the head of a foreign principality, taking advantage of the internal contradictions in his historical homeland. Having held out in power for several months, he himself managed to profit from Moldovan goods, and did not deprive his comrades. But it was not possible to beat the Poles with the Turks.

The dubious reputation of a fugitive Moldovan

The desperate hero of the Cossack epic was known by several names: Horseshoe, Sarpega, Voloshenin. He received his first nickname due to his enormous physical strength. According to contemporaries, the Cossack bent the horseshoes with his hands and stopped the carts on the move, holding the wheels. His biography is ambiguous and largely contradictory. It is known that he came to Ukraine from the Moldavian lands and was even a representative of a noble princely family. Apparently, he left his native land, hiding from family and domestic troubles. But he was in no hurry to lose his ambitions in relation to his native possessions, nurturing daring plans in the military campaigns of the Cossack army. Among his comrades-in-arms, Horseshoe enjoyed authority, he was valued for his courage and justice. Therefore, when he found the moment to get involved in the Moldovan adventure, he was massively supported in the Cossack environment.

Dissatisfaction of the Moldovan people and the domination of the Turks

The fact that a simple Cossack managed to become a Moldavian ruler was facilitated by the situation in the Moldavian principality. At the end of the 16th century, social-class inconsistencies intensified, and the Turks only intensified. After the failed uprising of the Fierce, Peter the Lame was proclaimed princely ruler, who voluntarily submitted to the Porte. Serving the requests of the Sultan, the sovereign increased taxes, expanding the circle of taxpayers. With such a policy, Peter the Lame deprived himself of the support of almost all segments of the population of the principality. The Moldovan elite, which did not recognize the Ottoman power over themselves, began to look for a replacement for the ruler.

At that time, the Cossacks were known for actively fighting against the Turks and Tatars, being ready to come to the aid of the legitimate heir to the Moldavian throne and expel the Ottoman governors from Moldova. After the first pretender to the throne, Krezul, failed to seize power in 1577, the Moldavian boyars sent a written proposal to Podkova. The letter stated that no one in the country was against the transfer of supreme power to a noble heir, who relied on the Cossack army.

Battle and the new ruler of the principality

Peter the Lame, having learned about the approaching threat, asked for protection from the Polish king Stefan Batory. The latter still had not the best memories of the loss of the Khotin fortress during the reign of Ioan the Lute. And since Horseshoe declared himself a relative of the ruler, Batory was not opposed to answering the offenders. At the same time, the Cossack, who gathered about three hundred armed like-minded people, initiated a campaign. The Cossacks, led by Hetman Shah, crossed the Dniester. But there they were not awaited by the opposition boyars, but by the huge army of Lame. Horseshoe made more than one attempt, trying to occupy the principality. But the Poles still stopped the first Cossack campaign. The Cossacks did not plan to surrender and took an advantageous position behind Bratslavl.

Podkova succeeded in her plans the third time. In the Moldovan town of Soroca, Ivan was greeted as a liberator. He immediately released prisoners from prisons, robbed the rich, distributed property to the poor, not forgetting about himself. On November 11, Horseshoe occupied the Moldovan capital, having dealt with Lame's soldiers, and declared himself the new ruler. The next step was a letter addressed to the Sultan, in which the Cossack demanded to recognize himself as the legitimate ruler of the principality. New bodies of state power appeared, where the first positions went to Ivan's foreign associates. Having learned about such self-will, the Ottoman Sultan ordered to assemble a powerful army to support Lame. But the quick battle at Iassy again ended with the victory of the Cossack-Moldavian army. The patience of Murad III came to an end, and the forces of all Ottoman allies threw Horseshoe back to Ukraine.

Polish-Turkish conspiracy and the extradition of the Cossack

Yesterday's ruler stayed with his old acquaintance - Prince Zbarazhsky. But the latter had already had a conversation with the royal envoys, who persuaded him to facilitate the extradition of the impostor. The prince invites Podkova to go to Warsaw to meet with Stefan Bathory, ostensibly to agree on further steps in the fight against the Turks. And the Cossack recklessly went to the Polish king. Upon arrival in Lviv, Horseshoe got into shackles.

Satisfying the demand of the Turkish Sultan, the Istanbul satellite Batory immediately orders the execution of the inconvenient Cossack. Podkova's verdict was announced on June 16, 1578 in the central city square. In his last word, Ivan did not plead guilty and worthy of such a tragic end. He declared that he fought the enemies of Christians with courage and chivalry, acting in the interests of his homeland. After a bold speech, the Cossack turned to the police officers with a request to pardon the comrades accompanying him.

After drinking a glass of wine that his faithful brothers gave him, Ivan, doomed to death, asked to bring him a rug. Falling to his knees, Horseshoe prayed fervently, crossed himself and only then lost his head. Fearless Ivan was buried in the city of the Assumption Church in Lvov. After some time, the Cossacks managed with all the honors to transport his remains for reburial in Kanev, where he rests in an Orthodox monastery near Chernecha Gora. The bright, verbose execution of Ivan Podkova glorified him, making him a national hero.

Cossacks, along with the Russians and Maya Indians, are 20 of the most mysterious peoples in the world, the origin of which scientists argue today.