Gavryliuk I. Private troops of Prince Wladyslaw Dominique Zaslawski (1618 -1656) in the context of private armies' development in Early Modern Europe.

This dissertation explores the scale and principles of private magnate armies operation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the example of Prince Wladyslaw Dominique Zaslawski's private troops. To achieve this goal, the study is built upon a wide range of sources and is structured in the following way. Firstly, it investigates the reasons of emergence and the principles of existence of private armies in Early Modern Europe. It then reconstructs the biography of Prince Wladyslaw Dominique Zaslawski, examining the social and economic potential of his lands before and after the Cossack Revolution; after that, it determines the impact of this potential on the efficiency of Zaslawski's private troops. The dissertation reveals the structure of Wladyslaw Zaslawski's private troops, their quantity and command staff. By analysing financial and court sources, city and land acts, the study discovers the ways the troops were maintained, in particular by the Royal Treasury and through an unofficial permit to loot the lands of nobility and Church. This research also describes the status of Ostrogski family fee tail as being an integral part of Prince Zaslawski's dominion. Furthermore, it explores the functioning of Ostrogski family fee tail military forces in their cooperation with the private troops of Wladyslaw Dominique. Finally, the study traces the involvement of Zaslawski's private troops in the following military conflicts during 1618-1656: anti-tatar operations, the Cossack Revolution, the Deluge, and the war against the Tsardom of Russia in 1654-1667. It also reveals how Wladyslaw Dominique Zaslawski used his private troops for solving domestic conflicts as well as during official ceremonies.