Od towarzysza jazdy do wojewody podolskiego. Przebieg służby wojskowej Nikodema Żaboklickiego w latach 1656–1706

Abstract

Nikodem Żaboklicki (d. 1706) was one of the most experienced officers in the Crown Army in the second half of the 17 th century and at the beginning of the 18 th century. Żaboklicki, a son of Hieronim (the Standard Bearer of Bracław), joined the army about 1650. Since 1656, he served in the royal cossack company, while from 1663 to 1667 he was a towarzysz ( commilito , companion) in the hussar company of Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław ‘Rewera’ Potocki. At the same time, from 1666 to 1667, he was the rittmeister of a Tatar company. For a short time, he commanded the hussars of Field Crown Hetman Duke Dymitr Wiśniowiecki. Then, from 1668 to 1683, he was the lieutenant of Mikołaj Hieronim Sieniawski’s hussars, and later, until 1694, of those of Mikołaj’s son Adam Mikołaj. Next, he commanded the hussar company of Grand Crown Hetman Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski (1695–1702) and King Augustus II (from 1702 – the company of Prince Frederick Augustus, and from about 1704 until his death – the company of the monarch himself). While leading the hussars of the various magnates, with whom Żaboklicki was establishing cliental relationships, his commanding skills were developing. In 1683, as a Colonel of His Majesty, he was heading the cavalry regiment of Hetman Sieniawski. In the 1680s, he was appointed as the commander of bigger tactical or operational groups with increasing frequency. In the 1690s and 1700s, he was often designated the independent commander of the whole Crown Army as the Regimentarz Generalny (Hetman’s deputy). As an officer he would often be elected a commissar for the distribution of hiberna (augmentation of cavalry soldiers’ pay during the winter months) or a Member of the Fiscal Tribunal. He was also performing the duties of a military envoy to the Sejm and of a parliamentary representative of the Ruthenian and Podolian Voivodeships. Since 1676, he was the Standard Bearer of Bracław, while in 1693, he became a member of the Senate as the Castellan of Kamieniec Podolski. In 1704, as a trusted supporter of Augustus II, he was granted the office of the Voivode of Podolia. His long career abounded in impressive military achievements.