Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 22, 2005



Stanislaw Koniecpolski was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic), magnate, official (starost and castellan) and hetman - second highest military commander of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Koniecpolski lived a life that involved almost constant warfare and during his military career he won many victories. Before he reached the age of 20, he had fought in the Dimitriads and the Moldavian Magnate Wars, where he was taken captive by the forces of Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Cecora in 1620. When released in 1623 he soon defeated Ottoman vassals the Tatars in 1624. With inferior forces he fought Swedish forces of Gustav Adolphus to a stalemate in Prussia during the second phase of the Polish-Swedish War (1626-1629). He defeated a major Turkish invasion at Kamieniec Podolski in Ukraine in 1634 and during his life led many other successful campaigns against the rebellious Cossacks and invading Tatars. He is considered to be one of the most skilled and famous military commanders in the history of Poland and Lithuania.

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