Modern people represent the Middle Ages as an era of religious fanaticism and high moral ideals. Maybe the world looked like this for ordinary monks and warriors, but the politicians who ruled the destinies of millions looked at issues from a broader perspective. Lev Sapieha can be called one of the most daring and enterprising statesmen of the Commonwealth. He shuffled kings like a deck of cards.
Childhood and early years
The Sapieha - one of the most powerful families of the Commonwealth, the uncrowned rulers of Lithuania, were happy with the birth of an heir to Ivan Ivanovich, the headman of Doroshynsky and the old man of Orsha. It happened in April 1557. The boy was named Leo and from an early age was prepared for public service. At the age of 7, he was sent to study at the Nesvizh school of Nikolai Radzivll Cherny, and after graduation he continued his studies in Germany at the University of Leipzig.
The young man returned home, not only having received an education, but also changing his faith - from Orthodoxy, Leo switched to Protestantism. The father was not embarrassed by such an act of his son, in 1573 he helped his son get a place in the chancellery of the city of Orsha. When local tycoons tried to sue Ivan Sapieha for land, Lev took up in court to defend his parent's rights and not only won the case, but also attracted the attention of King Stephen Batory himself.
Diplomatic service
In 1582, the monarch invited Lev Sapega to head the embassy at the court of the Russian Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. The young nobleman agreed and 2 years later set off with a peace treaty prepared by Warsaw. Upon arrival in Moscow, the ambassadors learned that the formidable autocrat had died and that his sickly son Fyodor was ruling in Russia. It was not difficult for Lev Sapega not only to obtain a signature on the document, but also to secure the return of Polish soldiers to their homeland, who were captured during border skirmishes.
At home, Sapieha was greeted as a triumphant. He was awarded the rank of Sub-Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Head of Slonim. Relatives picked up a wife for the heir, and in 1586 Leo married the daughter of the Lublin kashtelian, Dorota. She will give birth to four children, of which only the eldest Jan-Stanisla will survive. After the death of his wife, already at a venerable age, Lev Sapega will again marry, this time with the heiress of the powerful Radziwill family, Elizabeth, who will give her wife three sons and a daughter.
Power struggle
King Stefan Batory died in 1587. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had to choose a new ruler. Lev Sapega immediately offered to seat his good friend Fyodor Ioannovich on the throne. The Catholic gentry was against such a choice. Our cunning man knew this and began negotiations with one of the contenders for the crown, Sigismund Vasa. The tycoon went over to his side after promising him more autonomy for the Lithuanian lands. Lev Sapega himself, after the coronation of Sigismund Vasa, became the chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
The king, wishing to free himself from an influential intriguer, could turn the aristocrats against him, pointing to the Protestant religion of Lev Sapieha. The famous politician easily corrected the mistake of his youth and converted to Catholicism. Becoming the husband of one of the Radziwills in 1599, Leo further strengthened his status as an uncrowned ruler of Lithuania.
Hike to Moscow
In 1601, Lev Sapega, as an ambassador of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, again visits Moscow, where Boris Godunov reigns. It is impossible to establish the same warm relations with him as with the son of Ivan the Terrible. However, the reign of Tsar Boris soon ends and turmoil begins. Here Lev Sapega already had a place to turn around - the Polish king launched a military invasion of Russia and the Lithuanian ruler joined him.
In 1609 Lev Sapega with his army besieged Smolensk. The military career of the tycoon did not work out - the garrison desperately resisted, and the regiment that Sapega equipped with his own means did not show miracles of courage. In 1611, our hero was forced to return home to Vilno, where sad news awaited him - his wife Elizabeth had died. A good politician should be able to separate his personal life from public, therefore, a year later, Leo was back in the saddle and went to Moscow with the king.
Reaching the goal
A heroic page did not appear in the biography of Lev Sapega - the military campaign ended in failure. In 1619, the tycoon put an end to the ambitions of the commander and took up domestic politics. Things immediately went smoothly for him - work in the Seim allowed to strengthen Lithuania's power over the lands that Moscow ceded to the Commonwealth, according to the Deulinsky peace treaty, the king granted the rank of the Vilna voivode.
The dream came true in 1625 - Sigismund Vaza appointed Lev Sapieha the Great Hetman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Having thus evaluated the contribution of this statesman to the struggle for the expansion of the lands, the monarch struck a blow to his power. In the same year, the Swedes attacked the country, the "patriot" Sapega cared much more about his own possessions than about the needs of the Fatherland. He preferred to negotiate with the enemy over the battlefield.
The talented diplomat and great politician lived for 76 years and died in 1633. He outlived the king and a year before his death he managed to seat his eldest son Vladislav on the throne of the Commonwealth. They buried Lev Sapega in the Church of St. Michael in Vilna, which the tycoon built at his own expense. It is difficult to meet the image of this iconic man for his era in creativity - he was not a bloodthirsty villain, or a romantic hero. However, it was he who decided the fate of sovereigns and states.
