The article takes a closer look at the history of the monument to Hetman Stanislaw Jabłonowski, erected in Lviv in the early 18th century. Among other things, the history of the monument's destruction and reconstruction is presented, accompanied by a woodcut drawing. Additionally, a detailed physical description of the monument and the history of Jablonowski himself appears in the text. (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1860, T:1, pp. 356-357., after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text.

Statue of Hetman Jabłonowski.

The attached drawing shows a statue of Hetman Jablonowski, erected in his honour at the beginning of the last century by the citizens of Lwow in gratitude for saving the city from an attack by the Tatars and Turks in 1695. The statue was first placed in one of the Jesuit courtyards next to the church, and later in Sv. Nearly seventy years ago, the statue was knocked down from its pedestal when a military watchtower was erected there, and was first found lying by the church wall; when moved from there, it was used to decorate the well in the courtyard of Wejgel's tenement, and later served as a bench for sitting by the garden wall. In the course of these relocations, both of his legs were deformed, his arm and face significantly damaged. It was only a few years ago that the Lviv bookseller Mr Jablonski paid the first attention to it, and private persons collected contributions for its restoration, while the statue was very carefully restored by the Lviv stonemason Eisler, and the damaged parts were added in such harmony with the whole that the most expert eye could not recognise any flaws or differences. The city also contributed to the erection of the pedestal, and the statue, erected a few weeks ago next to the public walkway, on the site of the former ramparts, surrounded by an iron balustrade in the Gothic style, now looks just as the drawing shows it to us. It is strange indeed, and almost unbelievable, that the Lviv bourgeoisie should so indifferently allow the statue of this benefactor, who saved the lives and property of their ancestors from destruction, and who was one of the most distinguished men in the Republic for his merits and bravery, to be thrown down and abandoned for several decades. Stanislaw Jabłonowski, castellan of Cracow, voivode of Ruthenia, great hetman of the Crown, was the son of Stanislaw Jan Jabłonowski, swordsman and marshal of the Crown, and Anna, née Ostrorożanka. He was born in Luczy near Jablonowo in Red Ruthenia on 3 April 1634. Having lost his father early, he was sent as a young boy by his mother to study at the Kraków Academy, and later in Prague and Paris. Having returned home, he fought for the first time, aged just 17, under the command of Stanisław Potocki, Grand Hetman of the Crown. He distinguished himself at Beresteczko, and in the Swedish War under Jan Kazimierz fought on the King's side under Stefan Czarniecki. During the siege of Cracow, he carried the crown jewels entrusted to him by Czarniecki from there to Częstochowa, having broken through dozens of horses through the hosts of Swedes besieging the city. In Czarniecki's expedition to Denmark, during the taking of Koldinga, he was the first to break through the walls and here received a gunshot wound. In 1664, he became Voivode of the Ruthenia region. An inseparable companion of Sobieski in battles against the Turks, he contributed much with his valour to the glorious victory at Chocim, and during the election after the death of King Michał Wiśniowiecki, he, too, mainly through his seriousness and energetic speech, caused the elevation of Jan Sobieski to the throne. He also took an active part in all subsequent battles with the Turks. Appointed Field Hetman in 1676, he was with Sobieski at Žórawno that year. In 1682 he received the grand mace, a year later he accompanied Sobieski to Vienna and on the memorable day of 12 September 1683 he was the first to strike the Turks and started the battle, which ended so well with victory. At Parkany, he rescued the king from danger with an attack executed with great acumen of mind. In 1685, he went on an expedition to Wallachia, famous in history, where, surrounded by the Turks and Tartars three times stronger than in the Bukovina forests, he found himself in a similar position to that of Żółkiewski at Cecora; however, thanks to his extraordinary bravery and mental acuity, he managed to break through the numerous clouds of enemies and saved his army from perdition.1693. Two years later, in 1695, with a relatively small handful of knights, he won a memorable victory at the walls of Lviv over the hordes of Turks and Tatars, which saved Lviv from destruction, and to commemorate which the monument mentioned above was erected. Jabłonowski had just returned from the Sejm in Warsaw when terrible news reached Lviv that Shah Pasha Gerey with a horde of 60,000 Tatars and Turks was attacking Lviv through the Stryi route from Hungary. The hetman immediately sent for reinforcements to the nearby fortified castles, but despite this he was unable to gather more than 6 000 soldiers. He had to face an enemy ten times as numerous. Not wishing to expose the city to the defeat of the battle within the walls, he pulled out into the field, spread out in camp, and staggered in anticipation of the enemy, who appeared near Lviv on 11 February. Jabłonowski, not waiting for an attack, was the first to strike at them with his sparse horde. Terrified by the ferocity of the attack, the Tartars dispersed and retreated sideways towards the Krakow suburbs, right up against the city walls. This is where the fierce battle began. Jabłonowski, at the head of his men, fought like a simple soldier in the thick of the battle. Kidnapped in the midst of battle by the pagans, he nearly fell into captivity. At this critical moment, Athanasius Miączyński, Grand Treasurer of the Crown, and the Hetman's younger son came running with their hordes and freed him from the hands of his enemies. Meanwhile, paganism had already invaded the Krakow suburbs and began burning down houses and looting. When Jablonowski realised that the battle needed to be fought in the streets between the houses, he dismounted from his horse, ordered the armoured and dragoon troops to do the same, and having broken through to the Kraków gate, started a new battle on foot in the cemetery near St. Mary's church. At the same time, Miączyński strikes the Turks at the church called Mogiła, next to the Theatine monastery. After a murderous battle, Jablonowski forces the pagans to flee. The slaughter and general panic begins. The Hetman instructs Stefan Potocki, the Crown Prince's huntsman, to pursue the fleeing pagans and not let them join the hordes still fighting near the Theatine monastery, where he himself rushes to support Miączyński. Here he fights a second battle and thunders the rest of the pagans. The wide, barely glimpsed meadows near Zniesienie are filled with corpses and clouds of the fleeing. Twelve thousand Turks and Tatars and ten mirzas fell on the battlefield. The Poles lost only 400 men, but of the commanders almost everyone was wounded. The battle lasted eight hours. Its effects were very salutary, not only for Lviv itself, but for the whole country. The Bishops, terrified by such a great defeat, nowhere in their flight and pushed by the Polish army sent in pursuit, escaped to Stryi and through Pokuttya, and for the whole of the following year the country was free from their onslaught. At that time, more than 30,000 prisoners were captured, whom the hetman used for castle works in Krzewina, his estate in the Ostrogski district of Volhynia. The day after the victory, a "Te Deum" was sung in Lviv Cathedral in thanksgiving for the victory. A few years later, in 1702, Hetman Jablonowski died in Lviv, at the age of 68, on 3 April, by a strange coincidence of fate, on the anniversary of his birthday, at the same hour he was born. He died of a recurrence of a wound sustained in his youth at the Battle of Koldinga, from which the bullet was not removed. He was buried in Lviv, in the Jesuit church. The statue of Hetman Jablonovsky erected in Lviv is a beautiful work of woodcarving. Carved from hard sandstone, it depicts the Hetman at life-size, fully armed, with his face raised and his features in a grim likeness. Approximately three cubits high, it is decorated on three sides with plaques of black Dębnik marble, on which the following inscriptions are set in concave, gilded letters: On the front panel: "Stanislaw Jabłonowski, coat of arms Prus III, castellan of Cracow, great crown hetman, born in 1634, died 1702 in Lviv." On the plaque on the left side: "He fought at Beresteczko, Batov, Bavorov, Kamieniec, Humanie, Krakow, Yaroslavl, Golub, Prague, Kulikow, Sandomierz, Torun, in Courland, in Holstein, at Cudnow, Chmielnik, Lachowice, in Ukraine, at Buczacz, Komarno, Kalusz, Chocim, Zloczow, Trembowl, Zórawno, Vienna, Parkanami." On the plaque to the right: "He commanded in Wallachia, Bukovina, at Kamieniec, Chwastow, Podhajce. He defended Lviv from the Turks and Tatars with victory. Grateful citizens of Lviv erected this monument to him, which was restored in 1859." On the fourth, reverse side there is a carving of the coat of arms of the Jablonowski family, Prus III. The base on which the statue is placed, carved from simple sandstone, looks rather low and does not correspond at all with the magnificence of the monument, even though it has been drawn in the colour of the statue. Couldn't the magistrate of Lviv have spent a little more to erect a decent statue of the hero and saviour of the city, especially when a large part of the cost was covered by contributions from private individuals? It was placed in an inappropriate spot in the corner of a public walkway, next to a Jewish suburb, on the dirty Poltva River, among the trees hiding an already very low statue. And is this a suitable place for it? Historical monuments are not erected for the ornamentation of city gardens, and it seems that this purpose was the main focus here. Why not place it where it stood years ago, from where it was once thrown down, in Holy Spirit Square? That would be the most appropriate place for the statue, which is the adornment of the city and the only historical monument of its kind in Lviv.