Editing Jan Karol Chodkiewicz (section)

===Early life===
Chodkiewicz was born around 1561 (exact date of his birth is unknown) as the son of [[Jan Hieronimowicz Chodkiewicz]], [[Grand Marshal of Lithuania]], [[castellan]] of [[Vilnius]] and [[Krystyna Zborowska]], daughter of a Polish [[magnate (Poland)|magnate]] family of [[Zborowski (Jastrzębiec)|Zborowski]].<ref name="psb363"/> From 1573 he was a student at the Vilnius Jesuit College and the [[Vilnius University]], and from 1586 to 1589, together with his brother Aleksander, he continued his studies abroad at the [[University of Ingolstadt]].<ref name="psb363"/> He visited [[Padua]] before returning to the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in 1590.<ref name="psb363"/>

He started his military career soon after returning to the Commonwealth, raising a [[Rota (formation)|rota]] of 50 to 100 men.<ref name="psb363"/> He gained military experience in the fight against the rebellious [[Cossacks]] during the [[Severyn Nalyvaiko]]'s [[Nalyvaiko uprising|uprising]] under [[Field Crown Hetman]] [[Stanisław Żółkiewski]].<ref name="psb363"/> During that conflict he participated in the battle of Kaniów on 14 April 1596, and in the siege of the Cossack [[tabor (formation)|tabor]] near [[Lubny]].<ref name="psb363"/> In 1599, he was appointed the Elder ([[starost]]) of [[Eldership of Samogitia|Samogitia]].<ref name="psb363"/>

Chodkiewicz  subsequently assisted [[Chancellor]] and [[Great Crown Hetman]] [[Jan Zamoyski]] in his victorious [[Moldavian Magnate Wars#1599–1601|Wallachian campaign]], in which Chodkiewicz  participated in the battle of Ploiești on 15 October 1600.<ref name="psb363"/> For that campaign, he was given that year the high office of the [[Field Lithuanian Hetman]], the second commander-in-chief of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army.<ref name="psb364"/>