Taras Fedorovych

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Taras Fedorovych (pseudonym, Taras Triasylo) (Ukrainian: Тара́с Федоро́вич, Polish: Taras Fedorowicz) (dates of birth/death unknown) was a prominent leader of the Dnieper Cossacks.

In 1620s, he was the Cossack Polkovnyk (Colonel). In 1629, after the pro-Polish Hetman Mykhailo Doroshenko was killed in Crimea, the unregistered Cossacks elected Fedorovych into Hetmanship and he led them in a next Crimean campaign. In March 1630, Fedorovych became the leader of a Cossack and peasant uprising, which became known as the Fedorovych Uprising. Unsatisfied with the conditions of the 1625 Kurukove Agreement signed earlier by Doroshenko, the agreement set the cap on registered Cossacks at 6,000 only, the other 40,000 unregistered Cossacks joined the resistance. The uprising was ignited by ever increasing enserfment and exploitation of Ukrainian peasantry by mostly Polish or polonized szlachta (nobility) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as well as the proliferation of Catholicism on the unwilling Ukrainians, who were traditionally Eastern Orthodox.

About 10,000 rebels proceeded from the Zaporizhian Sich towards the upper Dnieper territories, overrunning the Polish forces stationed there. The rebels captured and executed the Hetman of registered Cossacks Hryhoriy Chorny for his pro-Polish position and support of the unia, and nominated Triasylo as the Hetman. Fedorovych addressed the Ukrainian commoners with several Universals calling upon everyone to join his uprising against the Polish usurpers. The turbulence spread over the nearby territories, with many Cossacks and peasants rising against the local nobles and Jews; casualties rose on both sides. After the victory at Korsun over the Polish army sent against them, rebels controlled the large territory that included Korsun, Pereiaslav, Kaniv as well as other cities, with Pereiaslav becoming their main base. In response to their successes, the Poles sent a large army strengthened with German mercenaries. The Polish army led by Stanisław Koniecpolski, harassed by the rebels, in turn plundered and massacred Lysianka, Dymer and several other Ukrainian settlements, then crossed the Dnieper where they where met by the rebels while in the Polish rear more Ukrainians rose into what became a wide-area rebellion against the Poles. The skirmishes at Pereiaslav lasted for three weeks until the 15 May 1630(N.S. 25 May) decisive battle at Pereiaslav took place, that ended with the rebels victory.

The military successes of Fedorovych forced Koniecpolski to initiate negotiations with the Cossack leadership (Starshyna), which concluded with the 1630 Treaty of Pereiaslav. Many of the demands of the non-registered Cossacks and Fedorovych, their leader, where discarded in the treaty by other Cossack Starshyna. The main demand of Fedorovych and his supporters, that the Cossack privileges routinely guaranteed to the limited number of registered Cossacks were granted to all runaway peasants who claimed Cossackdom, was rejected and, according to a narrow compromise, the Cossack register was enlarged from six to eight thousand. In return Koniecpolski demanded Fedorovych to be turned over to Poland. Fedorovych, being uncertain of the decision that would have been reached by the "compromising" faction of Cossack leadership over his head, left Pereiaslav along with other Cossacks unsatisfied with the agreement and headed for the Zaporizhian Sich, the Cossack stronghold. Meanwhile, the Cossack leadership faction inclined to a compromise with Poland elected Timofiy Orendarenko and his Hetmanship was confirmed by Koniecpolski. Fedorovych, unhappy with such a turn of events, tried to raise the Cossack masses to start a new uprising, but his movement did not get traction.

Fedorovych fought on the Russian side in the Smolensk War against Poland (1632-1634). In the winter of 1634-1635 he yet again tried to convince the Cossacks to turn against the Poles at the Kaniv Council but also without success. In 1635 he negotiated with the Russians about resettlement of 700 Cossacks in Russian-leaning Sloboda territories, and, in 1636, about creating a pro-Russian Cossack regiment. His propositions were discarded by the Russians who did not want to antagonize their relations with the Commonwealth after their recently concluded Treaty of Polyanovka.

Details of his later life are unknown.

In 1926, a feature film, Taras Triasylo, was released by All-Ukrainian Kino Foto Direction (BUFKU); Petro Chardyrin was its director.

[edit] References

Persondata
NAME Fedorovych, Taras
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Triasylo, Taras; Федоро́вич, Тара́с (Ukranian); Fedorowicz, Taras (Polish)
SHORT DESCRIPTION 17th century rebel Hetman of the Ukrainian cossacks
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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