Anniversary of the conflict of Kozmin – 1 of the biggest catastrophes defends Polish in history.
Today in our calendar we will look at the end of the 15th century – the times of the regulation of King John I Olbracht.
On June 7, 1492 King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk died. Alexander Jagiellończyk was the heir of the Lithuanian throne. In turn the power in Poland, thanks to almost unanimous support for the parliament in Piotrków, was obtained by Jan Olbracht. This meant breaking the individual union with Lithuania but both countries remained in a strict political and military alliance.
After the coronation, the fresh ruler swore all, previously obtained by the nobles privileges, in return for which he obtained an increase in taxes for military purposes. For the money he gained, he reinforced with the ruler of Lithuania, established already a fewer years earlier, permanent troops defending the confederate east ends called the common defence. In interior politics, like his father, Jan Olbracht placed the average noble against the born, rich magnatery.
In 1496 he issued alleged Pyotrko Statutes, or a collection of fresh privileges for knighthood. The statues exempt the nobility from customs and more strictly restricted the right to leave peasants from the countryside. Since then, only 1 peasant per year could leave the village.
While the abolition of duties was an economical affirmative move, the issue of emigration de facto abolished the individual freedom of peasants. They became assigned to the earth everlasting tenants. The statues besides introduced a ban on the wearing of gold chains by the owners, and a fewer years later they were denied the right to have weapons at their side and to play dice (as an honorary game, thus intended only for higher castes).
The fresh privileges of the nobles prohibited the acquisition of land by the townspeople and the holding of all government offices. The rights of the clergy were besides limited – from now on priests outside the state of nobility could not sit in the chapters and academic cathedrals and hold advanced church offices. Finally, the law on the sale and granting of earthly donations to orders and Catholic parishes has been abolished since the baptism of Poland. In these fresh activities, Kallimach’s hand was clearly seen as 1 of the leading royal advisers.
Jan Olbracht, in abroad policy, sought to strengthen the position of the Crown and territorial expansion. In 1494 he bought Principality of Zator, and a year later he joined the Polish Płocka Land.
In view of the ever-increasing Turkish power, the king planned a large expedition to reflect the Black Sea ports. He besides wanted to safe the confederate borders of the country by subjecting Moldovan hospodars to Polish curate. The likely intent of the expedition was to place the king's brother Sigismund the Old on the throne of Moldova. In 1497 the powerful Polish army, with about 40,000 soldiers and a large number of guns, crossed Dniestr and headed south.
The ineffective siege of the hospoder capital, Suczawa and the uphill fight led by the peasant Stefan, who switched to Turkey, caused the Polish retreat decision in the camp. During it, Moldovans, fed by Turks and Tatars, ambushed at Kozmin and killed a large part of Polish forces. So the expedition ended in a disaster, which later deepened the devastating Tatar raid on the stripped border troops. The memorial of these events is the saying “for King Olbracht the nobles have perished.”
The Moldovan expedition fiasco was of large importance internationally. In addition to the Tatar invasions, it caused the Moscow attack, the final consequence of which was the defeat of the combined Polish-Lithuanian forces in the conflict of Vienna in 1500. The business of almost 1/3 of Lithuania's territory by Moscow began. The Russian-German agreement was increasingly marked in order to weaken the Jagiellonian states.
Emperor Maximilian I occupied Silesia with large autonomy, and demanded the dismissal from the position of the Lenna Order of the Teutonic Knights and the surrender of the lands occupied by the Second Toruń Peace. Strengthened by the capture of a strong protector, the Grand Master of the Order refused to pay homage to the Polish King. Jan Olbracht prepared an expedition to punish him, but died during the concentration of forces in Toruń on 17 June 1501, most likely on syphilis.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.
