An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir March 2017 www.dfmagazine.ie 28 | Irishmen by KAROL KOśCIELNIAK, PHD, ADAM MICKIEWICz UNIVERSITY, POzNAN, POLAND T he Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was a real union of countries, which due to its size and geographical po- sition comprised many nationalities and ethnic groups. In the first half of the 17th century it suffered wars and con- flict due to the expansionist actions of its neighbours, such as Sweden, Russia and Turkey. because of these international threats and a complicated internal situation at the time, the Polish kings very often employed soldiers from other Euro- pean countries, such as Germans, Swedes, Italians, French, Spaniards, English, Scots and Irish in the Polish army. Going through documents gathered in Polish archives and libraries I found one such Irish soldier who served kings Sigis- mund III Vasa and Vladislaus IV Vasa. His name was recorded as Jakub Butler (or Buthler - both names are found in the docu- ments), and was probably born towards the end of the 16th century and died probably in the middle of the 17th century. The Butlers, Kasper Niesicki writes in Herbarz Polski (the Polish Armorial), were Irish soldiers known in England since the 18th century. One offshoot of the family moved to Kurlandia as early as the end of the 16th century and Kasper Niesicki traces our Jakub Butler from the Irish lords of Ormond. So how did Jakub Butler come to Poland? There are two pos- sibilities. Firstly, after the failure of the Irish uprising against England at the end of the 16th century (the Irish Nine Years' War 1594-1603), two younger lines of the Butlers where among the dozens of earls who emigrated throughout Europe. Sec- ondly, at the beginning of the 17th century, a constant danger for English authorities in Ireland were the so called szermierze, former court soldiers of Celtic leaders, who were deprived of an occupation and income. A few thousand of these went to serve Charles IX of Sweden in his fight against Sigismund III. This service was not popular among the Irish and many of them deserted. There were Butlers among them and this is probably how Jakub Butler got to Poland. There was no shortage of the Irish soldiers in Poland, as well as the deserters from the Swedish army many had come directly, seeking a better life. Also, Sigismund III was the only Catholic monarch who received official permission to recruit in Ireland because of his war with Turkey. We first encounter Jakub Butler in the Polish army in 1618 at the head of 100 infantry on a campaign against Moscow with a young Prince Vladislaus Vasa. During the campaign he must have received permission to continue recruiting because in July 1618 he arrived at the prince's camp after the battle of Borysow at the head of a 500-strong regiment of infantry. Soon after, he and his regiment participated in the attack on Moscow, where he was responsible for covering those who were attacking the Harbowska Gate. Due to the betrayal of deserters who defected to the Russians, the defenders mas- sacred the attacking Polish units. After the Polish army withdrew from Russia, a new threat emerged in the south due to a Turkish expansion. It was due to this threat that in 1619 Sigismund III asked King James I of in the Krzysztof Radziwiłł field hetman of lithuania (1585-1640) Stanisław Koniecpolski polish great hetman (1592-1646) Relief of Smolensk (by Polish forces), during the Polish– Muscovite War (1605–1618), by Juliusz Kossak

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