Hetman

The supreme commander title of Polish and Lithuanian armies and the Cossack hetmanate, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century.

Overview

Hetman, from the German Hauptmann, head man, was the title of the grand commander of Polish and Lithuanian forces from the fifteenth century, held by magnates like Jan Tarnowski who codified the art. The rank split into grand and field hetmans for the crown and Lithuania, forming the highest military authority of the commonwealth. The Ukrainian Cossacks adopted the title for their elected ataman of the Zaporozhian host and the hetmanate state of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, where the hetman ruled left bank Ukraine under shifting suzerains. The title survives in history and memory as a symbol of command in Eastern Europe.