and donations his possessions grew to include 14 cities and 50 villages with 7600 serfs. By
1648 he ruled the second largest domain in the Ukraine. The ways in which he acquired
new estates were not always peaceful and legal. For example, in 1640, following the death
of his aunt Aleksandra Hojska, he and his brothers raided and pillaged Hoszcza, at the same
time reintroducing the Arians expelled from that city earlier. In the next years he attacked
the estates of his cousins; in 1650 he was raided in turn by his own brother.
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Despite being chosen as a member for nearly every parliament held, Niemirycz’s
political fortunes did not prosper. In 1641, when he was chosen chamberlain of Kyiv
(podkomorzy kijowski), his Roman Catholic friend and protector Stanislaw Koniecpolski
said that he might have been nominated to the Senate «if his faith did not stand in the way».
On this occasion, in his Arian pride, Niemirycz went too far. When about to be installed
as chamberlain, he was asked if he was ready to swear by the Trinity. He replied that he
would swear not only by a Holy Three, but also, if needed, by Four. This witticism led to
a lawsuit for blasphemy that dragged on for years before it was quashed in 1645 by his
relative, Andrzej Leszczynski, and the Roman Catholic bishop of Kijуw. This episode did
not endear Niemirycz to the Roman Catholic nobility. In 1646 the Supreme Court ordered
him to close down all the Arian churches in his estates, to expel his fellow Brethren, and to
pay a fine of 10,000 zlotys. Like other Arians, he ignored the ruling.
Niemirycz fled his estates in the Ukraine and attended the Diet in Warsaw. King
Wladyslaw (Ladislas) IV Vasa had died and the nobles met to choose a successor. Niemirycz
and his Protestant allies campaigned for the Calvinist Sigismund of Transylvania, whom
they hoped would grant religious toleration. Initially refused admittance to the Diet because
he denied the Trinity, Niemirycz was let in after he claimed that he came to talk politics
and not religion. Although not given permission to speak in the drafting of the articles of
confederation, he was nominated to a council to aid the regent. After an ex-Jesuit cardinal
was crowned King Jan II Kazimierz Vasa (John Casimir), Niemirycz began seeking favor
and protection at the Transylvanian court. He took part in warfare against the Cossacks,
but advised moderation and tried to explore settlement with them.
Niemirycz returned to his estates in the Ukraine in 1649, but after the Cossacks
defeated the Polish army at Batik in 1652, he was forced to resettle in Wolyn (Volhynia).
He became disillusioned with the new Polish king, who in 1654 failed to prevent the loss
of the Ukraine to Russia. Thus, in 1655, when the Swedes invaded Poland, Niemirycz
threw himself wholeheartedly into the Swedish camp. He led the delegation that petitioned
Swedish king Charles X to restore civic and religious liberties to Polish Protestants,
including the Polish Brethren. While the king expressed sympathy, he declined to officially
endorse toleration for fear of offending the majority Catholic population. This did not
dampen Niemirycz’s pro-Swedish enthusiasm. He served in the Swedish army and wrote
letters to dignitaries urging them to submit to the Swedish King. These letters, widely
circulated in Poland, not only harmed Niemirycz’s reputation, but also incited resentment
and retaliation against the Polish Brethren. Catholic resistance to the Swedes made an
especial target of Arian nobles and congregations, whose populations were decimated and
scattered. The embattled King Jan II Kazimierz, rallying popular support, vowed to banish
the Arians from the Commonwealth. In 1657 Niemirycz, hoping to restore his fortunes and
perhaps those of the Brethren, negotiated a treaty to partition Poland among the Cossacks
under Chmielnicki, Sweden, and Transylvania. This was regarded as plain treason.
When the Swedish invasion receded, Niemirycz returned to his estates in the Ukraine,
which had been restored to him by Khmelnytsky, and sided there with a Cossack faction
opposed to Moscow. He worked tirelessly to design and promote the Union of Hadziacz,
1658. Under the terms of this treaty, the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania was to
be joined by a third entity, the proposed Duchy of Ruthenia (Ukraine and Volhynia). They
would have in common a king, a parliament, and a foreign policy. The Duchy would retain
its own treasury, courts, and system of education. Its lay senators and Orthodox clergy
would sit in the Polish Senate. The Uniate Church (which put Orthodox believers under
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the Roman Catholic hierarchy) would be dissolved. In the new duchy, freedom of religion
was explicitly granted only to the Orthodox and Catholics.
Since Niemirycz intended to be the grand chancellor of the new duchy and the
position of the Arian community in the Commonwealth was no longer tenable, he
officially converted to Orthodoxy that year. In a tract (Skrypt), Exhortation to all
Dissidents from the Romish Religion to Take Refuge in the Bosom of the Greek Church,
he entreated the Polish Brethren and other Protestants to convert to Orthodoxy. This,
he claimed, was the truly apostolic church, whose dogmas are based on the Scripture.
He rejected the idea that faith can be based on reason alone, pointing out the internal
discords among Polish Arians. He stressed the advantages of belonging to a larger
church body. Although no copy of Skrypt survives, its content is preserved in the Latin
Responsio ad scriptum (Answer to the Skrypt) of Samuel Przypkowski. Niemirycz’s
conversion shocked the Polish Brethren. None of them followed his lead; most were
utterly appalled by it. The conversion was treated with universal skepticism: the
papal nuncio said sardonically that for a cardinal’s hat Niemirycz would have become
a Catholic. Since he did not close the Arian churches on his estates, the Russians
considered Niemirycz a secret Unitarian.
In 1659 Niemirycz made a famous speech before the Polish Diet in support of the
Hadziacz Union, which the Diet reluctantly ratified. With the prospect of a new and
glorious career ahead of him, he returned to his Ukrainian estates, where he tried to
crush the Cossacks allied with Moscow. After an initial military success, he was defeated
and killed while trying to flee. Reportedly he received over 70 stab wounds in the chest
and, just before dying, cried out «Lord Jesus, save me now!» His death exposed a nearly
universal hatred of him. At the news Orthodox, Catholics, and Arians all expressed joy.
Katarzyna Lubieniecka, mother of the theologian Stanislaw, who might have known
Niemirycz personally, wrote, not without some satisfaction, «The Lord has made quick
justice through a peasant’s hand… It did not help him, though be became Ruthenian».
The provisions of the Hadziacz Union, of which he was the principal architect, were
never implemented, and Ukraine was eventually divided by Poland and Russia.