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THE UNION OF HADYACH Paul Robert Magocsi Excerpts from the book ”History of Ukraine”, Toronto / 1996 |
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The
original treaty was signed on 6 September 1658 near Hadiach by two
commissioners of the king and commonwealth, and by Ivan Vyhovs'kyi, het- man
of the Zaporozhian armies. The text was subsequently emended and rati¬fied by
the Polish-Lithuanian Diet in May 1659, although it continued to carry the
original date. The following excerpts are based on an unpublished
transla¬tion by Andrew Pernal of the emended text. The Zaporozhian Army, being burdened by
various oppression, took up its defense not out of its own free will, but out
of necessity; since His Majesty [the king of Poland] has forgiven with His
Fatherly Heart all that which took place during the turmoil and calls for
unity, they [the Zaporozhians]... take part in this Commission and afterwards
in common counsel to achieve a sincere agreement. That the Old Greek [Orthodox] religion, the
same one with which the Old Rus' joined the Crown of Poland, be retained by
its own prerogatives and free exercise of church services, as far as the
language of the Ruthenian nation extends. To this Greek religion is granted the
authority of freely erecting new churches, chapels, and monasteries as well
as maintaining and repairing the old ones. With regard to the churches
formerly founded for and properties [formerly donated to] the church of the
Old Greek religion, these shall be retained by the Old Greeks, the Orthodox,
and restored [to them], ... The [Orthodox] metropolitan of Kiev, the
present one and his successors in the future, [together] with the four
Orthodox bishops [from the Crown], [those] of Luts'k, L'viv, Przemysl, and
Chelm, and the fifth from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, [that] of Mstsislau,
[and their successors in the future] shall sit in the Senate, according to
their own order [of seniority], with such privileges and free vote as are
enjoyed in the Senate by the Most Reverend Spiritual Lords of the Roman
rite.... In the Palatinate of Kiev, senatorial
dignities shall be conferred only upon nobles of the Greek rite; whereas, in
the palatinates of Bratslav and Chernihiv, senatorial honors shall be
conferred by alteration; thus, after the death of a senator of the Greek
rite, he is succeeded by a senator of the Roman rite.... Also, in order that mutual affection may
spread within the towns of the crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,
wherever churches of the Greek rite are to be found, the Roman [Catholic]
burghers shall enjoy, equally with those of the Greek religion, common
liberties and freedoms. ... His Majesty and the estates of the crown
grant permission for the building of an academy in Kiev, which is granted the
same prerogatives and liberties as the academy of Cracow, only ... that there
be no professors, masters, [or] students of the Unitarian, Calvinist, [or]
Lutheran sects. In order that [in the future] there be no occasion for
altercation among the students, His Majesty shall command that all other
schools which were [established] hitherto in Kiev be transferred else¬where. His Majesty, Our Gracious Lord, and the
estates of the crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also consent to [the
establishment of] another academy, wherever a suitable place for it shall be
found, which shall enjoy the same rights and liberties as the Kievan
[academy]. ... Wherever this academy shall be set up, no other schools shall
be founded there for all times. Grammar schools, colleges, [other] schools,
and printing houses, as many as will be necessary, shall be permitted to be
established without difficulty. ... Since the honorable Hetman and the
Zaporozhian Army, [hitherto] separated from the commonwealth, are returning
and renouncing all foreign protection. ... security shall be provided [by an
amnesty] to persons of ail social positions, from the lowest to the highest
[rank] and excluding no one; ... in short, all those who served or are
serving in any capacity under the honorable hetmans, both the former one and
the one at present. ... The entire commonwealth of the Polish,
grand ducal Lithuanian, and Rus' nations, as well as the provinces belonging
to them shall be restored as they existed before the war [of 1648]; that is,
these three nations shall retain, as before the war, their own intact
boundaries and liberties, and in accordance to the stipula¬tion of the law,
[their right to participate] in the councils, the courts, and the free
elections of their lords, the kings of Poland and the grand dukes of
Lithuania and Rus'. If, as a result of war with foreign states any agreement
be reached that is det¬rimental to the boundaries or liberties of these
nations, the above-named nations shall stand by their liberties as a
commonwealth one and indivisible, without dis¬cord among themselves over the
[differences between the two] faiths, ... The Zaporozhian Army shall number ten
thousand [men], or whatever [figure] the honorable Zaporozhian hetman shall
enter in the register. The mercenary army shall number thirty
thousand [men], which just as the Zaporozhian [Army] shall remain under the
command of this same Hetman. [The funds] appropriated for these troops shall
come from the taxes voted at the Diet by the commonwealth [and levied] in the
palatinates of Kiev, Bratslav, Chernihiv, and others. The quarters for the Zaporozhian Army are
assigned in the [same] palatinates and estates in which they were stationed
before the war [of 1648]. All of the liber¬ties granted to this Army by the
charters of the most illustrious kings of Poland are confirmed: they [the Cossacks]
shall retain their former liberties and practices. ... No tenant of the estates of His Majesty or
prefect, nor any hereditary or annu¬itant lord, nor their sub-prefects,
officials, or any other servants shall collect, for whatever pretext, any
taxes from Cossack farms, villages, towns, or homes. As [befits a] knightly
people, [the Cossacks] shall be exempt from the heaviest and the lightest
burdens [of taxation], including duties and tolls throughout the crown and
the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Also, they shall be free [from the
jurisdiction] of various courts of the prefects, tenants, lords, and [those
of] their deputies, and be subject only to the jurisdiction of their own
hetman of the Rus' armies. More¬over, the Cossacks shall be permitted to
retain [such rights as the making of] all kinds of beverages, hunting on the
land, fishing in the rivers, and other benefits according to [their] old
customs.... The honorable Hetman of the Rus' armies
shall recommend to His Majesty as being worthy of [having conferred upon
them] the coats of arms of nobility; all without difficulty shall be ennobled
and accorded all the liberties [enjoyed] by the nobility [of the
commonwealth],... one hundred [persons] shall be ennobled from each regiment. No one shall lead any Polish, Lithuanian,
or foreign armies [without the consent of the hetman] into the palatinates of
Kiev, Bratslav, and Chernihiv. The mercenary troops, being under the command
of the hetman of the Rus' armies, shall be supplied with provisions from the
royal and church lands in the said palatinates, according to an ordinance [to
be issued] by this same Rus' Hetman.... The three united nations shall endeavour,
by all possible means, that there be free navigation on the Black Sea for the
commonwealth. Should His Tsarist Majesty [of Muscovy]
refuse to return to the commonwealth the provinces [He occupied], and [should
He] invade the commonwealth, then all the forces of the crown and the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania, as well as the Rus' Zaporozhian armies under the command
of their Hetman, shall unite and wage war [against the tsar]. Real estates, personal properties, crown
lands, and sums of money confiscated from the nobles of the Rus' territories,
even [from those] who served in the Zaporozhian Army and who at present are
rejoining the fatherland, shall be returned [to them]. ... [The hetman] shall not receive any
legations from foreign states, and if any should arrive, he shall send them
on to His Majesty. To all property owners from both sides
shall be afforded the possibility of safe return to and repossession of
[their former holdings], including the [right of the secular] Roman-rite
clergy to the bishoprics, parishes, canonries, rectories, and properties
belonging to them that are located in the palatinates of Kiev, Bratslav,
Chernihiv, and Podolta, as well as in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in
Belarus, and Severia. ... Since the hetman, the Zaporozhian Army, and
the [hitherto] separated palati¬nates [from the commonwealth] are repudiating
all protection of other foreign nations and are returning of their own free
will as freemen to freemen, equals to equals, and honorable to honorable;
therefore, for better security and for more cer¬tainty that this current
agreement be adhered to, His Majesty and the common¬wealth shall permit the
Rus' nation their own chancellors, marshals, and treasurers, with the rank of
senator. Stanislaw Kazimierz Bieniewski, Castellan
of Volhynia, Prefect of Bohuslav, Commissioner Ludwik Kazimierz Jewtaszewski, Castellan of
Smolensk, Commissioner Ivan Vyhovs'kyi, Hetman of the Zaporozhian armies, by his
own hand, in the name of the entire army The proposed arms and territorial organization of the
Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian-Rus Commonwealth, as per the Treaty of Hadiach (Click on the map for better resolution) |
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