Lumen 2018

of Transylvania, whose armies entered southern Poland in 1657 leav- ing smoldering ruins in their path, were to no avail. It had been as early as November of 1656 that Poland had signed a treaty with Muscovy in Vilnius, followed by a treaty with Austria in December, confirmed and expanded on May 27, 1657. Thus, being safe from the east and assured of assistance from the south, Poland could deal with the Swedes with ever greater confidence. An Austrian military contingent numbering several thousand soldiers helped the Poles to free Cracow and Torun. Later, in June of 1657, Denmark declared war on Sweden and entered into a covenant with Poland. This forced the Swedish king to move a large part of his forces to Denmark, which was a tremendous relief for Poland. Under this new balance of power, it was easy to deal with Rakoczy. As a re- venge for his attack on Poland, Lubomirski invaded Transylvania. Rakoczy suffered his final defeat in July of 1657, at Czarny Ostrow in Podolie. On September 19 th , a treaty was signed in Welawa with the traitor Frederick William. The treaty was further confirmed on November 6 th by a covenant signed in Bydgoszcz, the latter not being very ad- vantageous to Poland but necessary to finally settle accounts with Sweden. Under the terms of the Treaty of Welawa, Poland, unfor- tunately, agreed not to treat Prussia as its vassal any longer, which had disastrous consequences later. Meanwhile, however, Poland gained considerable help in its fight with the Swedish invader. Thanks to that treaty, the Brandenburg forces fought alongside the Austrian and the Polish armies in Jutland in 1658, assisting the Danish king who had been attacked again by the Swedes. The Polish army was led by Stephen Czarniecki, and the Elector of Brandenburg was the leader of the entire campaign. At that time, Czarniecki’s division be- came famous in Jutland as it participated in the crossing of the sea to get to the Island of Alsen and single-handedly captured the Castle of Kolding. John Chrisostom Pasek, who participated in this cam- paign, described the latter event very vividly in his memoirs. The memory of the campaign is still alive in the words of the Polish na- 115 At the Piarist Fathers