Saturday 9 January 2010

Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski







TAG calls this pack “Polish General (Janusz "the black" Radziwill, Grand Hetman of Lithuanian)” but Black Radziwill (1515 – 1565) had a beard and looked like the picture I have shown and his first name was Mikolaj. The Radziwill they have depicted is meant, I think, to be JANUSZ "THE TRAITOR" RADZIWIŁŁ (1612-1655).

Who wants their army commanded by someone called The Traitor? So I looked for someone more inspiring and found Wincenty Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski and here is his potted wiki biography. He only appears to have switched sides a couple of times (!) so I think he is an appropriate individual to command my army. The figure on foot originally carried a carbine but I have trimmed this away and given him a Hetman standard (the black ball and feather) as well as a flag.

Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski (ca. 1620–1662) was a Polish politician and military commander, a notable member of the szlachta (nobility).
He was born some time about 1620 as Wincenty Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski to Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski, a renowned Polish-Lithuanian diplomat and the voivode of the Smolensk Voivodeship. Little is known of his early life except that he studied at the University of Bologna. By 1646 he had received the title of ‘Master of the Pantry’ for Lithuania. Between November 21 and December 24, 1650 he also served as the marshal of the Sejm. At the same time he must have served in the Polish–Lithuanian army since in 1651 he was promoted to general of artillery.
The following year Gosiewski became Grand Treasurer of Lithuania. At the same time he continued his military career and in 1654 he was promoted to the rank of Field Lithuanian Hetman, one of the two highest ranks in the Polish–Lithuanian armed forces. As such he took part in fights against the Cossacks during the Chmielnicki Uprising, - Battle of Loyew (1649). During the Swedish invasion of 1655, known as The Deluge, Gosiewski at first submitted his forces to the Swedish King Charles X, following the politics of de facto overlords of Lithuania, Princes Janusz Radziwiłł and Bogusław Radziwiłł. However, afterwards he rebelled with his troops and joined the Polish forces fighting the Swedes.
With his forces he took part in the Battle of Warsaw of 1656. After the Polish defeat, he crossed the Swedish lines and operated with his forces behind the enemy lines in Prussia and northern Masovia. He took part in the victorious battles of Prostki, (where he defeated Prince Bogusław Radziwiłł), and Filipów. After the Swedish defeat in Poland and Denmark, Gosiewski was one of the people behind preparation of the Welawa-Bydgoszcz Treaty.
After Muscovy declared war on Poland, Gosiewski moved his forces to the area of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, where he fought with distinction. However, in 1658 after the defeat in the Battle of Werki he was captured by the Muscovite forces and remained in their captivity until 1662.
He reassumed his earlier posts and became one of the supporters of the Polish king John II Casimir. He followed the policy of support for strong and centralized royal power, known as Vivente rege. In 1662 he was taken by the anti-royal Lithuanian confederates and shot to death on November 29 of that year.
He left a daughter, Teresa.

2 comments:

  1. Hi again, Nigel!

    Very interesting, as I have just bought the same set and am working on it, bit by bit. Yes, he is not Janusz the Black. He appears to be based on the Osprey Radziwill, which in turn in based on original artwork.

    I will probably keep mine as Janusz, as Nic has sculpted the physical resemblance so exquisitely.

    I am excited about the painting challenges with these figures. It is surprisingly difficult to make the chain mail appear regular and convincing, even with careful drybrushing. So I have to work on this.

    As well, I am going to try and reproduce some of the brocade patterns on the zupons.

    I put in a link on the Panmark group for a supplier of reenactment Polish clothing and that has real life examples of heavy Polish brocades which are inspiring and also intimidating for a novice painter like myself.

    Thank you for sharing your work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Truly excellent work, Nigel.

    Best wishes

    Giles

    ReplyDelete