Hrehory Chodkiewicz (, ; – 9 November 1572) was a Ruthenian noble and military officer of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

. He was a son of Aleksander, brother of Hieronim and Yurii, and uncle of Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz. He commanded the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army during the latter part of the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

after he had become the Grand Hetman of Lithuania in 1566.

Early career

Chodkiewicz was long held to have been born around 1505. However, Lithuania historian Genutė Kirkienė noted that in such a case Chodkiewicz began his political career in his mid-forties, when most nobles started in late twenties or early thirties. Kirkienė suggested that his father's marriage and birth of children should be moved from 1500s to mid-1510s. As a young boy Chodkiewicz was sent to the court of

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th grand master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged fr ...

. He returned in 1532 with personal recommendation letters from Albert to King Sigismund I the Old, Prince Sigismund II Augustus and Queen

Bona Sforza Bona Sforza (2 February 1494 – 19 November 1557) was Queen consort, Queen of Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569), Poland and List of Lithuanian consorts, Grand Duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Sigismund the Old, and Duchess of Bari and ...

. The relationship and correspondence with Albert continued for decades; Chodkiewicz sent both of his sons to be educated at Albert's court. He received his first position at the court in October 1544 when incoming Grand Duke Sigismund Augustus made a series of new appointments and elevated Chodkiewicz to court chamberlain (''podkomorzy''). Soon, however, the Chodkiewicz family fell from royal grace when they opposed the marriage between Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłł. It seems that Hrehory Chodkiewicz remained close with Sigismund Augustus and often accompanied the Grand Duke to hunting. After his father's death in 1549, he inherited Supraśl and surrounding territories, including Zabłudów and Choroszcz. Chodkiewicz family slowly regained royal favor after Barbara's death in 1551 and when other Radziwiłłs opposed the proposed

Union of Lublin The Union of Lublin (; ) was signed on 1 July 1569 in Lublin, Poland, and created a single state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest countries in Europe at the time. It replaced the personal union of the Crown of the Kingd ...

in 1562.

Military achievements

As voivode of Kiev, Chodkiewicz defended the region from Tatar invasion. In 1558, he achieved a victory in Podolia against the

Crimean Khanate The Crimean Khanate, self-defined as the Throne of Crimea and Desht-i Kipchak, and in old European historiography and geography known as Little Tartary, was a Crimean Tatars, Crimean Tatar state existing from 1441 to 1783, the longest-lived of th ...

. This victory raised prestige of Chodkiewicz as a military commander. On the onset of the

, he was promoted to

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

of Trakai with intention to use his skill in the war. In 1561, Grand Hetman Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł, Chodkiewicz, and his brother Hieronim led the Lithuanian army into

Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...

where they achieved victory against the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

. After this campaign, Chodkiewicz was promoted to Field Hetman of Lithuania. On 20 January 1564 the Lithuanians under his command killed Russian commander Shuisky and defeated the Russian army in the Battle of Ula, which significantly improved Lithuania's standing in the war. He was hailed as war hero and promoted to castellan of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. Royal favor continued: Hrehory's nephew Jan Hieronimowicz received his late father's position as Elder of Samogitia in 1564, brother Yurii, who traveled to Moscow for diplomatic negotiations, became castellan of Trakai and Hrehory was appointed Grand Hetman of Lithuania in 1566. Thus, Hrehory Chodkiewicz became the second man after Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł and the Chodkiewiczs controlled three out of five top seats in the Lithuanian Council of Lords. In 1567, Chodkiewicz achieved another victory in Livonia, this time against the Kingdom of Sweden.

Cultural activities

Chodkiewicz devoted much attention to military matters. In 1562 and 1566, he wrote military regulations, which dealt with defense of fortresses and other matters. He also built and strengthened a number of border posts and conducted the military census of 1568 to determine how many troops each noble had to provide for the army. In 1563 Chodkiewicz founded an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

church and a hospital for the poor in Zabłudów. Kirkienė found hints that Chodkiewicz was not strictly Orthodox and supported church union—eastern liturgy under the Pope in Rome. In 1566, Chodkiewicz sponsored Pyotr Mstislavets and Ivan Fyodorov, book printers who defected from Russia, and opened a printing press in Zabłudów. They published religious texts until Chodkiewicz's death.

Titles and positions

Chodkiewicz held the following positions: * Court chamberlain (''podkomorzy'', 1544–1559) * Starost of

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

(1546–1551), Rumšiškės (1551–1555), Karmėlava (1551–1563), Hrodna (1563–1569),

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

(1564–1569) * Voivode of Vitebsk (1554) and Voivode of Kiev (1555–1558) *

Castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

of Trakai (1559–1564) and

(1564–1572) * Elder of Samogitia (1562–1563) * Field Hetman of Lithuania (1561–1566) and Grand Hetman of Lithuania (1566–1572)

Family

Around 1537, Chodkiewicz married Katarzyna from the Wiśniowiecki family who brought many new lands into the Chodkiewicz family. Chodkiewicz sued Konstanty Ostrogski and his son Ilia for various territories belonging to his wife. They had two sons and three daughters. The sons had no heirs and the Supraśl line of the family became extinct. The possessions passed to Yurii Chodkiewicz, brother of Hrehory. All daughters married members of the Lithuanian Council of Lords. The children were: *Andrzej (born 1549) was starost of

(1574–1575). His father wanted him to marry a daughter of Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, but he died in 1575. *Aleksander (born 1550) married Aleksandra, daughter of Wasyl Tyszkiewicz. Died in 1578 with no heirs. *Anna married Pawel Sapieha, castellan of

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, and Pawel Pac, castellan of

*Zofia married Duke Janusz Zasławski (died 1562) and Filon Kmita Czornobylski, voivode of Smolensk *Aleksandra married famous military leader , voivode of Bratslav and Lithuanian Field Hetman, in 1559

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * * *

External links

Closest family of Grzegorz Chodkiewicz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chodkiewicz, Hrehory 1510s births 1572 deaths Year of birth uncertain Military personnel from Vilnius People from Vilnius Voivodeship Grzegor Chodkiewicz Field Hetmans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Great Hetmans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Voivodes of Kiev