View source for Mikołaj Potocki

{{Short description|Polish nobleman}}
{{no footnotes|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox noble|type
| name              = Mikołaj Potocki
| title             = 
| image             =Mikolaj Potocki (36903374) (cropped).jpg 
| image_size        = 
| caption           = [[File:POL COA Pilawa.svg|100px]]
| alt               = 
| CoA               = [[Piława coat of arms|Clan Piława]]
| more              = no
| reign             = 
|tenure=| reign-type        = 
| predecessor       = 
| successor         = 
| suc-type          = 
| succession        = 
| spouse            =
{{plainlist|
*Zofia Firlej
*Elżbieta Kazanowska
}}
| spouse-type       = Consorts
| issue             = 
| issue-link        = 
| issue-pipe        = 
| full name         = 
| styles            = 
| titles            = 
| noble family      = [[Potocki family|Potocki]]
| house-type        = 
| father            = Jakub Potocki
| mother            = Jadwiga Prusinowska
| birth_date        = 1595
| birth_place       = 
| christening_date  = 
| christening_place = 
| death_date        = 20 November {{death year and age|1651|1595}}
| death_place       = [[Khmilnyk|Chmielnik]], [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]], [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| burial_date       = 
| burial_place      = 
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}}

'''Mikołaj "Bearpaw" Potocki''' ({{IPA|pl|miˈkɔwaj pɔˈtɔt͡skʲi}}; 1595 – 20 November 1651) was a [[szlachta|Polish nobleman]], [[magnate]] and Field Crown [[Hetman]] of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] from 1637 to 1646, Grand Hetman of the Crown from 1646 to 1651, [[voivode|governor]] of [[Bracław Voivodeship]] from 1636 and from 1646 [[Castellan]] of [[Kraków]].

He was captured during the [[Battle of Ţuţora (1620)|battle of Cecora]] by the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]]. In 1633 during the [[Battle of Paniowce]], along with Prince [[Jeremi Wiśniowiecki]] and [[Stanisław Koniecpolski]] he defeated the Turk forces under [[Abaza Mehmed Pasha|Abaza Pasha]].

In the 1637 [[Pavlyuk Uprising]] he defeated [[Cossacks]] under [[Pavlo Pavliuk]] at the [[battle of Kumejki]]. In the 1638 [[Ostryanyn Uprising]] he forced [[Dmytro Hunia]] to surrender. After those victories over the Cossacks he received large estates in [[Ukraine]].

The 1637–38 Cossack rebellions suppressed by Potocki were minutely described by historian and bishop [[Szymon Okolski]] who witnessed and directly participated in the developments of those days. His field diaries became a valuable information source for historians.

During the [[Sejm]] of 1646 Potocki opposed the plan of the king [[Władysław IV Vasa]] to wage war against the Turks.

He was known as very oppressive to [[peasantry]] and Cossacks. His behavior was one of the causes of the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]]. In 1648 he disregarded the monarch's orders and attacked rebellious Cossacks in Ukraine. He was defeated at the [[battle of Korsun|Battle of Korsuń]] and captured by [[Tatars]]. In April 1650 he was released from [[jasyr]]. On 28–30 June 1651 he was victorious over Tatar and Cossack forces at the [[Battle of Berestechko]].

On 18 September 1651, after the indecisive [[Battle of Bila Tserkva (1651)|Battle of Bila Tserkva]] he negotiated a treaty with the Cossacks.

== Personal life ==
Potocki had two wives, Zofia Firlej and Elżbieta Kazanowska. He had six children with Firlej: Piotr Potocki, [[Stefan Potocki (1624–1648)|Stefan Potocki]], Mikołaj Potocki, Marianna Potocka, Wiktoria Potocka and Henryk Potocki. With Kazanowska he had three children: Jakub Potocki, Joanna Potocka and [[Dominik Potocki]].

== References ==

* ''Hetmani Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów''; Bellona, [[Warsaw]], 1994 {{ISBN|83-11-08275-8}}
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{{succession box | title=[[File:Bulawa.PNG|30px|center]] [[Hetmans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Great Hetman of the Crown]] | before=[[Stanisław Koniecpolski]] | after=[[Stanisław "Rewera" Potocki]] | years=1646-1651}}
{{succession box | title=[[File:Bulawa.PNG|30px|center]] [[Hetmans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Field Hetman of the Crown]] | before=[[Marcin Kazanowski]] | after=[[Marcin Kalinowski]] | years=1637-1646}}
{{succession box | title=[[File:POL województwo bracławskie IRP COA.svg|30px|center]] [[Voivode of Bracław]] | before=[[Łukasz Żółkiewski]] | after=[[Dominik Aleksander Kazanowski]] | years=1636-1646}}
{{succession box | title=[[File:POL Kraków COA.svg|30px|center]] [[Castellans of Kraków|Castellan of Kraków]] | before=[[Jakub Sobieski]] | after=[[Stanisław Warszycki]] | years=1646–1651}}
{{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Potocki, Mikolaj}}
[[Category:Field Crown Hetmans]]
[[Category:Great Crown Hetmans]]
[[Category:1595 births]]
[[Category:1651 deaths]]
[[Category:Potocki family|Mikolaj]]
[[Category:Polish people of the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)]]
[[Category:Polish military personnel of the Khmelnytsky Uprising]]