EXEMPLARY LETTERS OF PAWŁA TETERY ADDRESSED TO JAN KAZIMIERZ, STEFAN CZARNIECKI AND MIKOŁAJ PRAŻMOWSKI AS A MODEL OF HETMAN'S LETTERS ADDRESSED TO REPRESENTATIVES OF POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH

Abstract

Correspondence gives us some information about individual accidents or some of occurring phenomena. It allows us to take a look at the events through the eyes of its participants. This gives us the chance to analyze the attitude of people, who wrote the letters, to reality. It is therefore a valuable addition to information collected from other sources. Letters of Paweł Tetera (Pavlo Teteria) are example of such a situation. Letters presented below cover three important moments in the life of this man, and significant in the history of the Cossacks - the decline of the rule of Jerzy Chmielnicki (Yurii Khmelnytsky) in 1662, the expedition of Jan Kazimierz (King John II Casimir) to Moscow and the moment of leaving Ukraine by Tetera (Teteria) in June 1665.