Ivan Pidkova
Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks
title: "Ivan Pidkova" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1578-deaths", "hetmans-of-the-zaporozhian-cossacks", "monarchs-of-moldavia", "moldavia", "people-executed-by-poland-by-decapitation", "executed-ukrainian-people", "year-of-birth-unknown", "16th-century-monarchs-in-europe", "16th-century-ukrainian-people", "16th-century-military-officers", "ukrainian-military-leaders", "ukrainian-folklore", "ukrainian-legends", "cossack-rebels", "ukrainian-people-of-romanian-descent", "executed-monarchs", "16th-century-moldavian-people"] description: "Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks" topic_path: "people/1570s" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Pidkova" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Hetman of Ukrainian Cossacks ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox royalty"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ivan Pidkova |
| image | Ivan Pidkova only portrait.jpg |
| caption | The only known portrait of Ivan Pidkova, printed in Polish album in the 17th century |
| succession | Prince of Moldavia |
| reign1 | November – December 1577 |
| predecessor1 | Peter the Lame |
| successor1 | Peter the Lame |
| birth_date | Unknown |
| death_date | 16 June 1578 |
| religion | Eastern Orthodox |
| :: |
| title = | name = Ivan Pidkova | image = Ivan Pidkova only portrait.jpg | caption = The only known portrait of Ivan Pidkova, printed in Polish album in the 17th century | succession = Prince of Moldavia | reign1 = November – December 1577 | predecessor1 = Peter the Lame | successor1 = Peter the Lame | reign2 = | predecessor2 = | successor2 = | spouse = | issue = | house = | house-type = | father = | mother = | birth_date = Unknown | birth_place = | death_date = 16 June 1578 | death_place = | religion = Eastern Orthodox
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Gdansk-Zbrojownia-Kozak-z-lbem-Pidkowy.jpg" caption="Cossack with a head of Ioan Potcoavă, baroque sculpture from Great Armoury in [[Gdańsk"] ::
Ivan Pidkova () or Ioan Potcoavă (died 16 June 1578), also known as Ioan Crețul, and Nicoară Potcoavă among Romanians, was a prominent Cossack Ataman, and short-time ruler of Moldavia (November–December 1577). His moniker ("pidkova" in Ukrainian/"potcoavă" in Romanian – "horseshoe") is said to originate in the fact that he used to ride his stallions to the point of breaking off their horseshoes; another version says that he could break and unbend both horseshoes and coins with his fists. He is perhaps best known as the hero of Ukraine's bard Taras Shevchenko's poem Ivan Pidkova (1840). Celebrated as a Ukrainian hero he led the Moldavian and Ukrainian struggle against Turkish domination. Most notably, led his famous Moldavian campaign in November 1577, due to which he temporarily took power in Moldavia.
Biography
His ethnic origins are not known, but he is generally regarded as of Ukrainian ethnicity. However, Paul Robert Magocsi states he was a Ukrainian Cossack of Romanian origin. More broadly, Pidkova was a "Kozak Otaman who led the Moldavian and Ukrainian struggle against the Turks." After rising to prominence as a successful soldier, he became a leader (Otaman) and the sworn brother of Hetman Yakiv Shah, elected by the Cossacks of the Registered Zaporozhian Host from Ukraine neighbouring Moldavia. In 1574, Ioan Vodă cel Cumplit, whose brother Pidkova claimed to be, had named the territory "Our Country from over the Dniester". Other Moldavian Atamans and Hetmans of the Cossacks were Grigore Lobodă (Hryhoriy Loboda; 1593–1596) and Dănilă Apostol (Danylo Apostol; 1727–1734).
Pidkova was one of the so-called Domnișori ("Little Princes"), named so because of a more or less based claims of belonging to Moldavian ruling families, thus exercising demands of the throne. Claiming to be Ioan III Vodă's half-brother, he together with Hetman Yakiv Shah chased Peter the Lame from the throne and resisted the first wave of violent Ottoman reaction. The Turks, their Wallachian vassal Mihnea Turcitul and their Transylvania vassal and Polish partner, King Stefan Báthory, managed to remove him. In the end, Pidkova was taken prisoner by Poles and decapitated in Lviv.
Legacy
He is the hero of Taras Shevchenko's romantic 1839 poem Ivan Pidkova, in which, Shevchenko "lets his mind travel over the Ukrainian past," expressing his admiration for the Ukrainian Cossacks. Among other works dedicated to the otaman is Romanian writer Mihail Sadoveanu's socialist realist 1952 novel Nicoară Potcoavă, as well as several Cossack ballads. His monument is placed on one of the small central squares in Lviv, Ukraine.
References
Sources
before=Petru Șchiopul| title=Prince/Voivode of Moldavia| years=1577| after=Petru Șchiopul
References
- [[William Richard Morfill]]. (1880). "Russia". S. Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington.
- William Jay Risch. (2011). "The Ukrainian West". [[Harvard University Press]].
- [[Dmytro Doroshenko]]. (1975). "A Survey of Ukrainian History". Humeniuk Publication Foundation.
- [[Volodymyr Sichynskyi]]. (1953). "Ukraine in Foreign Comments and Descriptions from the VIth to XXth Century". Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
- Paul R. Magocsi. (1996). "A History of Ukraine". University of Toronto Press.
- Linda Hodges. (1994). "Hippocrene Language and Travel Guide to Ukraine". [[Hippocrene Books]].
- Firov. Hetmans of Ukrainian Cossacks. Sevastopol, 2005. П.Т.ФИРОВ "ГЕТМАНЫ УКРАИНCКОГО КАЗАЧЕСТВА" Биографические справки, Севастополь 2005
- John Panchuk. (1965). "Shevchenko's Testament Annotated Commentaries". Svoboda Press via [[University of Michigan]].
- Soviet Ukraine Publishers. (1990). "Ukraine". Soviet Ukraine Publishers.
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