Ivan Stepanovich Mazepa is a military and political figure, philanthropist, hetman of Ukraine.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on March 20, 1639 in the village of Mazepintsi, Kyiv Voivodeship.
At first, Mazepa studied at the Kyiv-Mohyla Collegium, then continued his education at the Jesuit Collegium in Warsaw.
Later, by the decision of his father, he got into the court of the Polish king Jan Casimir, where he became a page. He was able to quickly gain the trust of the king and got the opportunity to go to study in Italy, Germany and France.
Service with Hetman Doroshenko
In 1665, Mazepa took the post of Chernihiv podchashy, and 4 years later, in 1669, he became a captain of the guard of Hetman Petro Doroshenko.
In 1674, he joined the Zaporozhian Cossacks, where he eventually received the rank of general osavul.
Hetmanship
In 1687, Mazepa became the hetman of the Zaporozhian Army of the Left-Bank Ukraine. In 1704, after the unification of the Left Bank and the Right Bank, he led the Zaporozhian Army on both banks.
In 1700, he became the second holder of the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle in the history of Russia. And on September 1, 1707, he was given the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1702, he took part in the suppression of the uprising, which was led by Semyon Paliy.
For a long time he was one of the associates of the Russian Tsar Peter I. He made a lot of efforts to the economic development of the Left-Bank Sich. For his military merits, he was awarded the Polish King Augustus the Strong Order of the White Eagle.
Mazepa became the first Ukrainian hetman to hold the mace continuously for almost 22 years. This period was marked by the strengthening of the economy of the Hetmanate, as well as the rise of church and cultural life.
At the beginning of the XVIII century, against the backdrop of the Northern War, Mazepa, together with the Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński and the Swedish monarch Charles XII, tried to implement a military-political plan to liberate Ukrainian lands from the protectorate of the Moscow state.
Swedish Agreement
In 1708, the hetman secretly went over to the side of Charles XII, Russia’s opponent in the Northern War, almost a year before the defeat of the Swedish army. Having learned about Mazepa’s alliance with the Swedish king, Peter I ordered the destruction of Baturyn and Chortomlyk Sich. Mazepa was declared a traitor, deprived of all the titles and awards that he received from the Moscow court.
In 1709, Peter I ordered the production of a special award – the Order of Judas, the only one of its kind, which was planned to honor Mazepa. The Russian Orthodox Church anathematized him.
After the defeat and escape from the persecution of the Russian cavalry, Mazepa, together with the Swedish king Charles XII, found refuge in the territory of Moldova, which was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
It was there, near the city of Bendery, in the village of Varnitsa, that Mazepa died on September 21 or 22, 1709. After his death, he was buried on the spot, and later reburied in the city of Galați, in what is now Romania.
Ivan Mazepa: interesting facts
Here are some interesting facts from Mazepa’s life:
- before Mazepa became hetman, this position was held by Ivan Samoilovych.
- during his reign, the capital of the Hetmanate was Baturyn.
- the goal of Mazepa’s activity was to achieve independence for the Hetmanate with the lifelong power of the Hetman;
- Mazepa built and financed the Chernihiv Collegium at his own expense.
