Hetmans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

The title of hetman was given to the leader of the Polish Army and until 1581 it was awarded only for a specific campaign or war.

During peace they usually were deployed on the eastern and southern borders of the Commonwealth, and commanded all local forces against constant skirmishes and small invasions of the Ottoman Empire and its vassals.

Hetmans usually had no direct control over the levy (pospolite ruszenie), but they could give orders to the regimentars who commanded it.

While hetmans were considered to be among the highest-ranking officials in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, their hetman status gave them no right to sit in either the Senate or Sejm, unless they held another office that automatically carried with it a seat or were elected as a representatives of local szlachta during sejmiks.

Several new military titles were created after the 1635 by king Władysław IV Vasa, changing some of hetman's responsibilities: