Mikołaj Sieniawski

Not to be confused with his descendant, Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski, who was hetman from 1682 to 1683..

Mikołaj Sieniawski (c. 1489^[1] – 1569^[2]) was a notable Polish magnate, military commander and a prominent politician of his times. He built stone Brzeżany Castle round which the modern town of Berezhany has developed.^[3]

Since 1539 Mikołaj Sieniawski served as a Field Hetman of the Crown^[4] and took part in most wars Poland was engaged in. Most notably he organized several successful raids to the area of the Ottoman Empire and Crimea. He took part in the battle of Obertyn in 1531, under hetman Jan Tarnowski,^[5] from whom he adopted the clan crest of Leliwa. Between 1542 and 1553 he was also the voivode of Belz,^[6] and after that time he rose to be a voivod of the Ruthenian Voivodship,^[7] one of the richest and most populous regions of the Republic. In 1563 he was promoted to the rank of Grand Crown Hetman, that is the de facto commander in chief of the Polish army.^[8]

References

1. Brodowski, Samuel (1850). Żywoty hetmanów Królestwa Polskiego i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego (in Polish). Czasopisma Wojskowe. p. 43. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
2. Kołaczkowski, Julian (1888). Wiadomości tyczące się przemysłu i sztuki w dawnej Polsce (in Polish). Wydawnictwa Artystyczne i Filmowe. p. 256. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
3. Muzeum Polskie: poświęcone dziejom i zabytkom sztuki i kultury (in Polish). Nakł. Grona protektorów. 1918. p. 145. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
4. Brodowski, Samuel (1850). Żywoty hetmanów Królestwa Polskiego i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego: z materyałów po Samuelu Brodowskim w Podhorcach znalezionych (in Polish). Nakł. J. Milikowskiego. p. 23. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
5. Grabarczyk, Tadeusz (2021). "Rota Mikołaja Sieniawskiego z 1557 roku". Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Archaeologica (in Polish) (36): 343–355. ISSN 0208-6034. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
6. Studia i materialy do historii wojskowości (in Polish). Ośrodek Badań Historii Wojskowej. 1960. p. 341. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
7. Steblau, Eryk Lassota von (1972). Opisy Ukrainy (in Polish). Panst, instyt. wydawniczy. p. 87. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
8. Encyklopedia wojskowa: dowódcy i ich armie, historia wojen i bitew, technika wojskowa (in Polish). Wydawn. Nauk. PWN. 2007. p. 297. ISBN 978-83-01-15175-1. Retrieved 10 February 2024.

Predecessor Piotr Firlej

Ruthenian Voivode 1553–1569

Successor Jerzy Jazłowiecki

Predecessor Mikołaj Niszczycki

Voivode of Belz 1542–1554

Successor Wojciech Starzechowski