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Taras Fedorovych (Template:Lang-uk, Template:Lang-pl) (dates of birth/death unknown) was a prominent leader of the Dnieper Cossacks.

In 1620s he was the Cossack Polkovnyk (Colonel). In 1629, after the pro-Polish Hetman Mykhailo Doroshenko was killed in the Crimean campaign, the non-registered Cossacks elected Fedorovych into Hetmanship and he led them into a next campaign into the Crimea. In March, 1630 Fedorovych became the leader of an uprising (known as the Fedorovych Uprising) ignited by ever increasing enserfement and exploitation of Ukrainian peasantry by mostly Polish or polonized szlachta (nobility) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as well as the proliferation of Catholicism on the unwilling Ukrainians who were traditionally Eastern Orthodox.

The rebels proceeded from the Zaporizhian Sich towards the upper Dnieper territories and captured and executed another pro-Polish Hetman of the registered Cossacks Hryhoriy Chorny. Hryhorovych addressed the Ukrainian commoners with several Universals calling upon everyone to join his uprising agaist the Polish usurpers; the turbulence spread over the nearby territories, with many Cossacks and peasants rising against the local nobles and Jews; casuatlies were rising on both sides. After the victory at Korsun over the Polish army sent against them, rebels controlled the large territory that included Korsun, Pereiaslav, Kaniv as well as other cities, with Pereiaslav becoming their main base. In response to their successes, the Poles send a large army strengthen with the German mercenaries. The Polish army led by Stanisław Koniecpolski, harassed by the rebels, in turn plundered and massacred the Ukrainian commoners at Lysianka, Dymer and several other settlements, then crossed the Dnieper where they where met by the rebels while in the Polish rear more Ukrainian rose into what became a wide-area rebellion against the Poles. The skirmishes at Pereiaslav lasted for three weeks until the 15 (N.S. 25) May the final battle at Pereiaslav took place that ended with the rebels victory.

The military successes of Fedorovych forced Poland to negotiate with the Cossack leadership (Starshyna) concluding the 1630 Treaty of Pereiaslav where many of the demands of the non-registered Cossacks and Fedorovych, their leader, where discarded by other Cossack Starshyna. The main demand of Fedorovych and his supporters, that the Cossack privilleges routinely guaranteed to the limited number of registered Cossacks being granted to all runaway peasants who claimed the Cossackdom was rejected and, according to a narrow compromise, the Cossack register was enlarged from six to eight thousand. In return Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski demanded Fedorovych to be turned over to Poland. Fedorovych, being uncertain of the decision that would have been reached by the "compromising" faction of Cossack leadership over his head, left Pereiaslav along with other Cossacks unsatisfied with the agreement, heading towards the Zaporizhian Sich, the Cossack stronglod. In the meanwhile, the Cossack leadership faction inclined to a compromise with Poland elected Timofiy Orendarenko and his Hetmanship was confirmed by Koniecpolski. Fedorovych, unhappy with such a turn of events, tried to raise the Cossacks masses to start a new uprising but his movement did not get traction.

Fedorovych fought on the Russian side in the Smolensk War against Poland (1632-1634). In the winter of 1634-1635 he yet again tried to convince the Cossacks to turn against the Poles at the Kaniv Council but also without success. In 1635 he negotiated with Moscow about resettlement of 700 Cossacks to Russian-leaning Sloboda territories, and, in 1636, about creating a pro-Russian Cossack regiment. His propositions were discarded by the Russians who did not want to antagonize their relations with the Commownealth after their recently concluded Treaty of Polyanovka.

Details of his later life are unknown.

References

• Volodymyr Kubiyovych, Zenon Kuzelia, Енциклопедія українознавства (Encyclopedia of Ukrainian studies), articles: "Fedorovych, Taras" and "Fedorovych Uprising", 3-volumes, Kiev, 1994, ISBN 5-7702-0554-7
• Dovidnyk z istoriï Ukraïny, 3-Volumes, articles: "Fedorovych, Taras", "Fedorovych Uprising", "Treaty of Pereyaslav, 1630", Kiev, 1993-1999, ISBN 5-7707-5190-8 (t. 1), ISBN 5-7707-8552-7 (t. 2), ISBN 966-504-237-8 (t. 3).

• Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks
• 17th century deaths