Free choice (1587)
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| Elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania | ||||
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| candidate | Sigismund III. Wasa | Maximilian III | ||
| Political party | Jagiellonian faction | Habsburg faction | ||
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Elected
Sigismund III. Wasa |
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The free election of 1587 was the third of its kind to determine the king and grand duke of the Royal Republic of the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by the nobility as a whole. It took place between June 30 and August 19, 1587. The coronation of Sigismund III. Wasa took place on December 27, 1587 in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow .
background
With the death of Stephan Báthory on December 12, 1586, an interregnum took control of Poland-Lithuania . With that his wife and equal ruler Anna Jagiellonica lost her claims to the Polish crown. The official business took over Interrex , Primate Poloniae and Archbishop of Gniezno Stanisław Karnkowski . Karnkowski organized the election and met with foreign envoys.
Meanwhile, the confederation with the influential magnates and the Szlachta split into two camps. Stephan Báthory was supported by the noble families Radziwiłł , Zamoyski and Lubomirski . The Polish petty nobility, on the other hand, had accused him of tyranny. There were also territorial tensions. On the one hand between the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania itself, as well as between the Polish provinces ( Lesser Poland , Mazovia , Greater Poland , Red Ruthenia and Royal Prussia ).
The Konvokationssejm (pl. Sejm konwokacyjny) began on February 2, 1587 and was immediately shaped by a discussion between the magnates and the Szlachta.
Candidates
In the Sejm, four different factions formed with the House of Habsburg , the Swedish Kingdom (and the Jagiellonians ), the Russian tsarism and proponents of the Piasts and native inhabitants . The Habsburgs were supported by the noble family Zborowski , the voivod Posens Stanislaus von Gorka , Jerzy Radziwiłł ( Bishop of Vilnius ) and Sejm Marshal Stanisław Sędziwój Czarnkowski . Each of them received large sums of money from the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Rudolf II. A strict Catholic candidate was seen as a threat to the religious tolerance that had established itself since the Confederation of Warsaw . Tsar Fyodor I was also a plausible candidate who enjoyed the approval of the Lithuanians; they hoped for an end to the wars between Russia and Lithuania. Piasts were considered popular with the Poles, but were rejected by the Lithuanians. The Jagiellonian-Swedish applicant Duke Sigismund III. Wasa was the son of Katharina Jagiellonica and the Swedish King Johann III. Sigismund III. was advocated by Anna Jagiellonica and the powerful magnate Jan Zamoyski . A Swedish king should guarantee freedom of movement for shipping in the Baltic Sea . Poland-Lithuania could also annex Estonia as part of a Polish-Swedish alliance directed against Russia .
choice
The Wahlsejm met on June 30, 1587 in Wola . Magnates of Polish and Lithuanian origin appeared with their own soldiers. The voters were divided into two camps:
- the "Pro-Konvokation" ("Pro-Habsburg"; forced by the Zborowski brothers) and
- "Anti-Convocation" sponsored by Jan Zamoyski
The Sejm was influenced in the first few weeks by the death of Samuel Zborowski and the dispute between the Zborowski family and Jan Zamoyski. Since Zamoyski did not want to make any statements about the death, this led to a Rokosz . He was supposed to take on the role of a court martial for Zamoyski and the dignitaries of the late king. On July 27, 1587, both parties to the conflict sent military personnel with orders to prepare a battle. Ultimately, through mediation under Stanisław Karnkowski ( Primate ), the voivode of Sandomierz Stanisław Szafraniec and Bishop Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki from Kamjanez-Podilskyj, the dispute was settled.
The Swedish ambassador Erik Sparre convinced the Szlachta of the virtues of a king from Sweden after his arrival. Zamoyski stood Sigismund III. initially skeptical about it, but changed his mind when Primate Karnkowski, Marshal of the Crown Andrzej Opaliński and Olbracht Łaski expressed their support for Sigismund. On August 19, 1587, the Primate nominated him to be king. Three days later, the Habsburg faction ("Pro-Convocation") announced Maximilian III. as a candidate for the Polish crown. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania did not recognize both nominations. Both Sigismund and Maximilian claimed the crown.
Aftermath
On September 27, 1587 Maximilian III took. the title of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania and sworn in on the Pacta conventa . He then marched into the confederation with his army of 5,000 soldiers, which was supplemented by 1,500 Polish supporters. The capture of the capital Krakow failed after the rebellion of the bourgeoisie . When diplomatic action was unsuccessful, Maximilian's siege withdrew on November 30, 1587.
The Swedish ambassadors Erik Brahe and Erik Sparre swore in the Pacta conventa on August 24, 1587, without the arrival of Sigismund III. waiting. The latter was published in Danzig on September 29, 1587 . He followed his father's advice to leave the ship until the annexation of Estonia was removed from the Pacta conventa. On October 7, 1587 Sigismund took an oath on the Pacta conventa in the Oliva monastery and traveled to Krakow on December 9, 1587. Maximilian and his army were close to the border with the empire , but offered no resistance. On December 27, 1587 Sigismund III. Wasa crowned.
On January 24, 1588 Jan Zamoyski won the battle of Byczyna in the Polish-Silesian border area over the troops of Maximilian; his dignitaries from Germany and Poland were interned in Krasnystaw . The conflict ended during a pacification sejm (pl. Sejm pacyfikacyjny) on March 6 and April 23, 1589 on which the followers of the Habsburg Sigismund III. Swore allegiance. This enabled them to be free and to return to Poland-Lithuania.
swell
- Stanisław Grzybowski: Dzieje Polski i Litwy (1506-1648) , in: Wielka Historia Polski, Kraków 2003
- Urszula Augustyniak: Historia Polski 1572-1795 , Warszawa 2008
- Stanisław Cynarski: Zygmunt August , Wrocław 2004
- Zbigniew Wójcik: Historia powszechna: wiek XVI-XVII , Warszawa 1988
- Mariusz Markiewicz: Historia Polski 1494-1795 , Kraków 2002
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