Stanisław Żółkiewski (; 1547 – 7 October 1620) was a Polish nobleman of the Lubicz coat of arms, magnate, military commander and a chancellor of the Polish crown of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, who took part in many campaigns of the Commonwealth and on its southern and eastern borders. He occupied a number of high-ranking posts in the administration of the Commonwealth, including castellan of Lwów (from 1590), voivod of the Kiev Voivodeship and Great Chancellor of the Crown (from 1618). From 1588 he was also a Field Crown Hetman, and in 1618 was promoted to Grand Hetman of the Crown. During his military career he won major battles against Sweden, Muscovy, the Ottoman Empire and the Tatars. Żółkiewski's best-known victory was against combined Russian and Swedish forces at the battle of Klushino in 1610, in the aftermath of which the Poles seized and occupied Moscow. He died in the 1620 battle of Cecora against the Ottomans, after allegedly refusing to retreat. Already renowned as a military leader, Żółkiewski's heroic death further boosted his fame. He is seen as one of the most accomplished military commanders in the history of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Biography Youth Stanisław Żółkiewski was born in the village of Turynka (then Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, now western Ukraine) in 1547 to of the Lubicz coat of arms, voivode of Ruthenia, and Zofia Lipska. The exact date of his birth is unknown, and even the year is disputed: most sources agree on 1547, although a few suggest 1550. Żółkiewski attended a cathedral school in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine). Unlike many of his peers he had no higher education and did not travel abroad. However, he pursued studies on his own and was particularly interested in history and historical literature. In 1566 he joined the court of King Sigismund II Augustus, as an aid to the king's secretary Jan Zamoyski. There he became familiar with the executionist movement, which advocated numerous reforms including military ones. In 1573 he took part in the diplomatic mission to France, sent to meet a newly elected king Henry III of France, and on his way back he was sent to Vienna to appease the Habsburgs. Early career Żółkiewski gained his first military experience under King Stefan Batory during the Danzig rebellion in which he commanded a rota of Polish hussars. He subsequently participated in Batory's Livonian campaign, fighting at Polotsk, Rossony (Sokół), Velizh and at