Pototsky, Nikolai

In 1604-1609 studied at the Zamoy academy. In 1609-1611, he participated in the military campaign of the Polish king Sigismund Waza to Smolensk. In 1620, captain Nikolai Pototsky participated in the battle of Tsetsora and was captured by the Turks. After returning from the Tatar captivity, he participated in the war with Sweden in Pomorie in 1627. In 1633, Nikolai Pototsky, together with Jeremiah Vishnevetsky and Stanislav Konetspolsky, defeated the Turkish army of Abaz Pasha together with Jeremiah Vishnevetsky and Stanislav Konetspolsky in 1633. In 1636, Nikolai Pototsky was appointed full clerk to the Crown and Governor of Bratslav. In 1637 he became the crown hetman of the crown.

He fought with the Cossacks . In particular, in 1637 - 1638 he led the suppression of Cossack-peasant uprisings , led by Pavlyuk , Yakov Ostryanin and Huney . In December 1637, he defeated the rebel army of Pavlyuk in the battle of Kumeyki. In August 1638, he forced the capitulation of the Cossack-peasant militia Dmitry Guni. After the uprising was suppressed, he received vast land holdings in Ukraine. In 1646, after the death of Yakub Sobessky, Nikolai Pototsky was appointed Krakow's coughman, and then after the death of Stanislav Konetspolsky and the new great crown hetman, that is, commander in chief of the Polish military.

In May 1648 , with the beginning of the uprising of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, his vanguard, led by his son Stefan, was defeated under the Yellow Waters , and he himself was captured under Tartars near Korsun , where he spent two years. In April 1650, for a huge ransom, he was released from captivity and returned to his homeland. In June 1651, he participated in the battle of Berestechko , commanding part of the Polish army. After the departure of King Jan Casimir, the great hetman, crowned Nikolai Pototsky, assumed command of the army. At the head of the Polish troops he moved to the Kiev region, where he united with the Lithuanian army Janusz Radziwill and continued military operations against the Cossacks and Tatars. After the battle of the White Church in September 1651, on behalf of the Polish government, he concluded the so-called Belotserkovsky peace treaty with the Ukrainian hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky. In November 1651, the great Hetman the crown, Nikolai Pototsky, died in Khmelnik.

The history of the Cossack uprising 1637-1638 years is set out in the diaries of a direct participant in the events, General ( Bishop ) of the Dominican Order Szymon Okolski ( «Dyaryusz transactiey wojennej między wojskiem koronnem i zaporoskiem w r 1637 miesiąca Grudnia przez Mikołaja Potockiego zaczętej i dokończonej .»; «Kontynuacya dyaryusza wojennego " ).

The history of the Cossack uprising of 1637-1638, suppressed by the hetman N. Pototsky, formed the basis of the story of N. V. Gogol " Taras Bulba " and gave specific examples of the dramatic fate of the heroes.

Nikolai Pototsky was twice married. Until 1631, Nikolai Pototsky first married Sophia Firlei, daughter of the governor of Lubelski Peter Firlei (d. 1619). Children from their first marriage:

• Peter (1622-1658), colonel of the crown troops (1648), general headman of the land of Podolsk (1649), governor of Bratslav (1651), headman of the Letichivsky
• Stefan (c. 1624-04.05.1648), the headman of Nezhinsky
• Nicholas (1628–1676), general headman of the land of Podolsk and Kamenets commandant (1664), headman of Letichevsky and Cherkasy;
• Marianne, wife of the crowned convoy Adam Casanovsky (d. 1648)
• Victoria, wife since 1645 of the full crown clerk of Andrzej Konetspolsky (d. 1649)

Until 1642, he remarried to Elzbiet Casanowska, daughter of the governor of Podolsk and the full Hetman of the crown, Martin Casanowski (c. 1566-1636). Children from the second marriage:

• Yakub (1638–1671), full crown clerk (1664), elder of Tlumak, Khmelnytsky and Krasnopolsky
• Dominic (1646–1683), Galician subcommittee (1680), outward coronary podskarby (1683), headman Khmelnytsky
• Alexandra, wife of the Kashtelian of Kiev Adam Kossakovsky
• John, wife of the governor of Podolsky Nikolai Danilovich (d. 1688)

• Moscow kingdom. Recovery. Russia, Poland and Cossacks. Part V.