Jan Sariusz Zamoyski (;
19 March 1542 – 3 June 1605) was a
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
* Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...
nobleman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...
,
magnate
The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...
, statesman and the 1st ''
ordynat
In English common law, fee tail or entail is a form of trust, established by deed or settlement, that restricts the sale or inheritance of an estate in real property and prevents that property from being sold, devised by will, or otherwise ali ...
'' of
Zamość
Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021.
Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...
. He served as the
Royal Secretary Royal Secretary is a position at the court of a monarch generally responsible for communicating the sovereign's wishes to the other members of government. At times and places it may have a number of other duties. In most cases the royal secretary is ...
from 1565, Deputy
Chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
from 1576, Grand Chancellor of the Crown from 1578, and Great
Hetman
''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...
of the Crown from 1581.
Zamoyski was the General
Starost
Starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', ) is a community elder in some Slavic lands.
The Slavic root of "starost" translates as "senior". Since the Middle Ages, it has designated an official in a leadersh ...
of the city of
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
from 1580 to 1585, Starost of
Bełz
Belz (, ; ; ) is a small city in Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine, located near the Poland–Ukraine border, border with Poland between the Solokiya River (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the administration of Belz ...
,
Międzyrzecz
Międzyrzecz (; , , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Obra (river), Obra and Paklica river, with 17,667 inhabitants (2020). The capital of Gmina Międzyrzecz and Międzyrzecz County. Since the Local Government Reorganization Act of 1998, it ha ...
,
Krzeszów,
Knyszyn
Knyszyn (, ) is a town in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland, northwest of Białystok. It is situated on the Jaskranka River, within the historic region of Podlachia.
History
In 1358 the territory became part of the Grand Duchy o ...
and
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...
. An important advisor to
Kings
Kings or King's may refer to:
*Kings: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations.
*One of several works known as the "Book of Kings":
**The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts
**The ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persia ...
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus (, ; 1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548. He was the first ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and t ...
and
Stephen Báthory
Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576).
The son of Stephen VIII Báthory ...
, he was one of the major opponents of Bathory's successor,
Sigismund III Vasa
Sigismund III Vasa (, ; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632
N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Re ...
, and one of the most skilled diplomats, politicians and statesmen of his time, standing as a major figure in the politics of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
throughout his life.
Biography
Childhood and education
Jan Zamoyski was born on 19 March 1542 to
Stanisław Zamoyski
Stanisław Zamoyski (1519–1572) was a Polish nobleman (szlachcic). He was Łowczy of Chełmno since 1561, castellan of Chełmno since 1566, Court Hetman of the Crown and starost of Belz.
He was married to Anna Herburt and had three child ...
and Anna Herburt in
Skokówka
Skokówka () is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Zamość, within Zamość County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Zamość and south-east of the regional capital Lublin.
Jan Zamoyski ( ...
.
He started his education in a school in
Krasnystaw
Krasnystaw is a town in southeastern Poland with 18,630 inhabitants (31 December 2019). It is the capital of Krasnystaw County in the Lublin Voivodeship.
The town is famous for its beer festival called ''Chmielaki'' ( means hops, hop), and for i ...
but when he was thirteen years old he was sent to study abroad; from 1555 to 1559 he was a page at the royal court in Paris.
Already at this young age he attended lectures at the
Sorbonne University
Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...
and
Collège de France
The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
.
In 1559 he briefly visited Poland, then attended the
University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...
; after a few months there he moved to
University of Padua
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
, where from 1561 he studied law and received a doctorate in 1564.
During his years abroad he converted from
Calvinism
Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...
to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
During his education, he became active in university politics, and in 1563 he was elected the rector of the law department.
Around that time he also wrote ''De senatu Romano'', a
brochure
A brochure is an promotional document primarily used to introduce a company, organization, products, or services and inform prospective customers or members of the public of the benefits. Although, initially, a paper document that can be folded ...
about
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
government.
He returned to the Commonwealth in 1565, and was the first person to receive a commendation letter from the senate of the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
.
File:Palazzo Bo sala dei 40 busto Zamoyski - Wikigita Padova 16 settembre 2022 f27.jpg, Bust of Zamoyski in the University of Padua
The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...
, where he was a student and rector of the ''Universitas Iuristarum''.
Early career
After returning to Poland, he was appointed to the
Royal Chancellery
The Chancellor of Poland ( - , from ), officially, the Grand Chancellor of the Crown between 1385 and 1795, was one of the highest officials in the historic Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. This office functioned from the early Polish kingdom o ...
, and soon became a favorite secretary to King
Sigismund II.
In 1567 he commanded a royal task force, sent to remove the noble family of Starzechowscy from the
royal lands they were decreed to hold illegally.
Another major task he completed at that time was the reorganization of the Chancellery archive.
In 1571 he married Anna Ossolińska; his wife and their young son died shortly afterwards, in 1572.
After the extinction of the
Jagiellon dynasty
The Jagiellonian ( ) or Jagellonian dynasty ( ; ; ), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty (), the House of Jagiellon (), or simply the Jagiellons (; ; ), was the name assumed by a cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids upon recep ...
in 1572 during the
election sejm Election sejm (; ) was one of three kinds of special general sejm in pre-partition Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Upon vacancy of the throne, the election sejm, meeting at Wola outside Warsaw, elected a new king.
Any hereditary nobleman could ...
(special session of the Commonwealth parliament) he used his influence to enforce the ''viritim election'' (meaning all nobles had the right to vote for the new king during the upcoming
1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election).
However, his proposal for
majority voting
In social choice theory, the majority rule (MR) is a social choice rule which says that, when comparing two options (such as bills or candidates), the option preferred by more than half of the voters (a ''majority'') should win.
In political ...
did not pass, which opened the process for abuses of ''
liberum veto
The ''liberum veto'' (Latin for "free veto") was a parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a form of unanimity voting rule that allowed any member of the Sejm (legislature) to force an immediate end to the current s ...
'' in the future.
He was a colleague of
Mikołaj Sienicki and
Hieronim Ossolinski, and with them he was one of the leaders of a faction of the lesser and middle nobility (
szlachta
The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...
) in the Commonwealth, whose goal was the reform the country – the
execution movement
The Executionist movement was a 16th-century political movement in the Kingdom of Poland and, later, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was popular among lesser, middle and even some higher nobility, and it also enjoyed the support of the Pol ...
– preserving the unique constitutional and parliamentary government of the Commonwealth with the dominant role of poorer nobility (
Golden Freedom
Golden Liberty (; , ), sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth ( or ''Złota wolność szlachecka'') was a political system in the Kingdom of Poland and, after the Union of Lublin (1569), in the Polish ...
).
He was so influential and popular among the lesser nobility that he was known as the "first tribune of nobility"
or "Polish
Gracchus
The Gracchi brothers were two brothers who lived during the beginning of the late Roman Republic: Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus. They served in the plebeian tribunates of 133 BC and 122–121 BC, respectively. They have bee ...
."
Chancellor and Hetman
In that first election he was in favour of
Henry de Valois (later, Henry III of France).
Subsequently, he was part of the
diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...
that traveled to France to finish formalities with the newly elected king.
He also published a pamphlet praising the new king, and thus suffered a loss of face when Henry secretly abandoned Poland and returned to France.
During the following
1575 election
Year 1575 ( MDLXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
Events
January–March
* January 21 – Queen Elizabeth I of England grants a monopoly on producing printed sheet music, to Thomas Tallis and Will ...
he was a vocal enemy of the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
dynasty and
its candidate, and this anti-Habsburg stance, resounding among the lesser nobility, helped him regain his popularity.
For the king, Zamoyski championed the case of a Polish candidate, which ended up in the marriage of
Anna Jagiellon
Anna Jagiellon (, ; 18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596) was King of Poland, Queen of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Grand Duchess of Lithuania from 1575 to 1587.
Daughter of Polish King and Lithuanian Grand Duke Sigismund I the Ol ...
with the anti-Habsburg
Stephen Bathory
Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...
of
Transylvania
Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
.
Bathory thanked Zamoyski by granting him the office of Deputy
Chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
on 16 May 1576.
He participated on Batory's side in the quelling of the
Danzig rebellion in 1576–1577, sponsoring a
chorągiew
Chorągiew (; literally: "banner") was the basic administrative unit of the Polish and Lithuanian cavalry from the 14th century. An alternative name until the 17th century was '' rota''.
14th to 17th centuries
Between the 14th and 17th centu ...
of
pancerni
The armoured companion (, , ) was a medium-cavalryman used by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th to 18th centuries. They are named after their chain mail armour. These units were the second-most important (and successful) cavalry in ...
(cavalry unit) and participating in close combat on several occasions.
In 1577 he married again, this time marrying Krystyna Radziwiłł, daughter of magnate
Mikołaj Radziwiłł Czarny Mikołaj is the Polish cognate of given name Nicholas, used both as a given name and a surname. It may refer to people:
In Polish (or Polish-Lithuanian) nobility:
* Mikołaj Kamieniecki, Polish nobleman and the first Grand Hetman of the Crown
* M ...
; this made him a close ally of the
Radziwiłł family
The House of Radziwiłł (; ; ; ) is a Polish princely family of Lithuanian origin, and one of the most powerful magnate families originating from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later also prominent in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. Pa ...
, the most powerful family in the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...
.
In 1578 he received the post of the
Grand Crown Chancellor
The Chancellor of Poland ( - , from ), officially, the Grand Chancellor of the Crown between 1385 and 1795, was one of the highest Offices in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, officials in the historic Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. This o ...
.
That year poet
Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who wrote in Latin and Polish and established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language. He has been called the greatest Polish poet before ...
dedicated his ''
Odprawa Posłów Greckich'', the first Polish
tragedy
A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...
, to him.

He took part in the preparation for
a war
''A War'' () is a 2015 Danish war drama film written and directed by Tobias Lindholm, and starring Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny and Søren Malling. It tells the story of a Danish military company in Afghanistan that is fighting the Taliban while t ...
against
Muscovy Muscovy or Moscovia () is an alternative name for the Principality of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721).
It may also refer to:
*Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555
*Muscovy duck (''Cairina mosch ...
in 1579–1581, where he contributed a group of 400
or 600
mercenaries. Through he had little prior military background nor experience, he was interested in mastering the military art, and proved to be an adept learner.
With Batory's support, he began filling in for some of the roles of
Grand Crown Hetman
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma, USA
* Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre
* Grand County (disambiguation), ...
Mikołaj Mielecki, particularly when Mielecki was not present.
While not campaigning, he was also instrumental in ensuring that the ongoing political support for the war continued.
In 1580 he was hit by another personal tragedy, as his wife died in labor, together with their child; entering a short period of depression.
Later that year, in August, he captured
Velizh
Velizh () is a town and the administrative center of Velizhsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Western Dvina, from Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population:
History
In the late 14th cen ...
in September he participated in the siege of
Velikiye Luki
Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-� ...
,
and then took
Zavoloc.
On 11 August 1581 he received the nomination for the post of Grand Crown Hetman; this nomination, although uncontroversial at that time, was
technically illegal.
Following that he participated in the long and inconclusive
Siege of Pskov
The siege of Pskov, known as the Pskov Defense in Russia (), took place between August 1581 and February 1582, when the army of the Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Báthory laid an unsuccessful siege and successful blockade of the ...
, which ended with the
Peace of Yam-Zapolsky in 1582.
Though Zamoyski failed to capture Pskov, he drained the Russian resources, and the ongoing siege was a major reason for the final treaty, which was highly favorable to Poland.
In June 1583 Zamoyski took his third wife,
Gryzelda Bathory, a relative of king Bathory himself.
In May 1584 Zamoyski's men captured
Samuel Zborowski
Samuel Zborowski (died 1584) was a Polish military commander and a notable member of the ''szlachta'' (Polish nobility). He is best remembered for having been executed by supporters of the Polish king Stefan Batory and chancellor Jan Zamoyski; a ...
, a noble whose death sentence for treason and murder had been pending for roughly a decade; shortly afterwards with Bathory's consent Zborowski was executed.
This political conflict between Báthory, Zamoyski and the
Zborowski family
Zborowski (feminine Zborowska, plural Zborowscy) is a Polish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Andriy Zborovskyi (born 1986), Ukrainian footballer
* Eliot Zborowski (1858–1903), American racing driver
* Helmut Zborowski (1905� ...
, framed as a clash between the monarch and the nobility, would be a major recurring controversy in internal Polish politics for many years, beginning with a major dispute at the
Sejm
The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland.
The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...
of 1585.
Later years

After Báthory's death in 1586, Zamoyski helped Sigismund III Vasa
gain the Polish throne, fighting in
the brief civil war against the forces supporting Habsburg
archduke
Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: ''Erzherzog'', feminine form: ''Erzherzogin'') was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within ...
Maximilian III of Austria
Maximilian III of Austria (12 October 1558 – 2 November 1618), was a member of the House of Habsburg and the Archduke of Further Austria from 1612 until his death. He was also briefly known as Maximilian of Poland during his claim for the Polish ...
.
The camp supporting Sigismund was rallied around Zamoyski, whereas Maximilian was supported by the Zborowski family.
Zamoyski
defended Kraków and defeated Maximilian's forces in the
Battle of Byczyna
The Battle of Byczyna, also known as the Battle of Pitschen (; ), was the deciding battle of the 1587–1588 War of the Polish Succession, which erupted after two rival candidates were elected to the Polish throne. The two opposing sides had f ...
in 1588.
In that battle, which Sławomir Leśniewski describes as "one of the most important in Polish history, and the most important in Zamoyski's military career", Maximilian was taken prisoner and in the resulting
Treaty of Bytom and Będzin
Treaty of Bytom and Będzin or Treaty of Będzin and Bytom ( or ''traktat będzińsko-bytomski'') was a treaty signed between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Austrian House of Habsburg on 9 March 1589. It was favorable to the Common ...
of 1589 had to give up all pretenses to the Polish crown.
Later that year Zamoyski proposed a reform of the royal elections, which failed to pass the Sejm.
Zamoyski presented to this Sejm a project that in case the present King should die without issue none but a candidate of some Slav stock should henceforth be eligible to the Polish throne. This was a project which could even imagine the possibility of some kind of union between Catholic Poland, Orthodox Moscovy and semi-Protestant Bohemia. In fact, it was a circuitous and clumsy counter-proposal against pro-Habsburg policy.
[Bain, R. Nisbet, ''Slavonic Europe'', Cambridge University Press, 1908, p.137.]
From 1589 Zamoyski, in his role as the hetman, tried to prevent the intensifying
Tatar
Tatar may refer to:
Peoples
* Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar"
* Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia
* Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...
incursions along the Commonwealth's south-eastern border, but with little success.
In order to deal with the recurring disturbances in that region Zamoyski developed a plan to turn
Moldavia
Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...
into a buffer zone between the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire; this would lead to a
lengthy campaign.
In opposition to the throne

Meanwhile, in internal Commonwealth politics, early on in Sigismund III's reign, Zamoyski, who was once a staunch supporter of the Commonwealth kings, begun to distance himself from the King. Sigismund had quickly allied himself with the Habsburgs, much to chancellors dissatisfaction.
Zamoyski was dissatisfied with Sigismund's early plans to use Poland as a stepping stone to gaining the
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
crown, as Sigismund was plotting to cede the Polish crown to the Habsburgs in exchange for their support of his right to the Swedish throne.
The new King feared the chancellor's power, but due to Commonwealth laws he was unable to dismiss him from his posts. He offered him a prestigious
voivode of Kraków
Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
office, but Zamoyski declined, as if he was to accept, the law would require him to resign from his slightly less prestigious but more influential chancellorship.
By 1590–1591 Zamoyski was seen as one of the king's staunchest opponents.
Open quarrel between king and chancellor broke out during the Sejm of 1591, culminating in a heated exchange of words and the king storming out of the chamber.
Despite their tensed relations, neither the king nor the chancellor wanted a civil war; soon after their quarrel Zamoyski would issue a public apology to the king and their uneasy relationship would continue until Zamoyski's death.
In 1594 Zamoyski once again failed to stop a
Tatar
Tatar may refer to:
Peoples
* Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar"
* Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia
* Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...
incursion in the southern borders.
The next year was much more successful, as in Moldavia in 1595 he was victorious in the
Battle of Cecora, and helped
hospodar
''Gospodar'' or ''hospodar'', also ''gospodin'' as a diminutive, is a term of Slavic origin, meaning "lord" or " master". The compound (, , , sh-Latn-Cyrl, gospodar, господар, ) is a derivative of ''gospod'' / ''gospodin'', , or when spe ...
Ieremia Movilă
Ieremia Movilă ( ; c. 1555 – 10 July 1606) was a Voivode (Prince) of Moldavia between August 1595 and May 1600, and again between September 1600 and July 10, 1606. At the time, Moldavia was a vassal province of the Polish-Lituania CommonWealth ...
(Jeremi Mohyła) gain the throne.
In 1600 he fought against
Michael the Brave
Michael the Brave ( or ; 1558 – 9 August 1601), born as Mihai Pătrașcu, was the Prince of Wallachia (as Michael II, 1593–1601), Prince of Moldavia (1600) and ''de facto'' ruler of Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711), Transylvani ...
(Michał Waleczny, Mihai Viteazul), hospodar of
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...
and the new
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
of
Transylvania
Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, who had conquered
Moldavia
Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...
a few months earlier.
He
defeated him on the Bukova (Bucovu) and restored Ieremia to the throne.
He also helped his brother,
Simion Movilă
Simion Movilă (after 1559 14 September 1607), a boyar of the Movilești family, was twice Prince of Wallachia (November 1600 – June 1601; October 1601 – July 1602) and Prince of Moldavia from July 1606 until his death. Family
He was the gra ...
to become brief ruler of Wallachia, thus spreading the influence of the Commonwealth to the Central
Danube
The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...
.
In 1600 and 1601 Zamoyski took part in the
war against Sweden commanding the Commonwealth forces in
Livonia
Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.
By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...
(Inflanty).
At the same time he was a vocal opponent of that war on the political scene.
In 1600 he recaptured several strongholds from the Swedes and a year later captured
Wolmar
Valmiera () is the second largest city of the historical Vidzeme region, Latvia, with a total area of . As of 2002, Valmiera had a population of 27,323, and in 2020, it was at 24,879. It is a state city, and is the seat of the Valmiera Munici ...
on 19 December 1601
Fellin
Viljandi (, , , , ) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,255 in 2024. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu. The town was first me ...
on 16 May 1602, and
Bialy Kamien on 30 September 1602.
The rigours of the campaign, however, placed a strain on his health, and he resigned the command.
At the Sejm of 1603 Zamoyski led opposition to the governance reforms proposed by Sigismund; seeing in them intentions of transforming the Commonwealth into an
absolute monarchy.
Later, he also opposed Sigismund's plans to intervene in the civil war plaguing Muscovy (the
Time of Troubles
The Time of Troubles (), also known as Smuta (), was a period of political crisis in Tsardom of Russia, Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Feodor I of Russia, Feodor I, the last of the Rurikids, House of Rurik, and ended in 1613 wit ...
and the
Dymitriads).
He clashed with Sigismund for the final time during the Sejm of January 1605.
Zamoyski died suddenly on 3 June 1605, due to a
stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
.
His fortune was inherited by his single son,
Tomasz Zamoyski
Tomasz Zamoyski (1594 – 7 January 1638) was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman (szlachcic) and magnate.
He travelled to London in July 1615 and was invited to hunt with King James at Theobalds. The master of ceremonies at the English court Lewis ...
.
Assessment and legacy
Remembrance

The fame of Zamoyski, significance in life, endured after his death. He was praised by artists such as
Szymon Starowolski
Szymon Starowolski (1588 – 1656; Simon Starovolscius) was a writer, scholar and historian in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was probably born near Pruzhany, and died near Kraków. He was a very prolific writer, and left behind over 70 ...
and
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz
Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz ( , ; 6 February 1758 – 21 May 1841) was a Polish poet, playwright and statesman. He was a leading advocate for the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's Constitution of 3 May 1791.
Early life and education
Julian Ursyn Ni ...
, and historians, including
Stanisław Staszic
Stanisław Wawrzyniec Staszic (baptised 6 November 1755 – 20 January 1826) was a leading figure in the Polish Enlightenment: a Catholic priest, philosopher, geologist, writer, poet, translator and statesman. A physiocrat, monist, pan-Sla ...
,
Stanisław Tarnowski
Count Stanisław Tarnowski (7 November 1837 – 31 December 1917) was a Polish nobleman (''szlachcic''), historian, literary critic and publicist.
Life
He was born on 7 November 1837 and hailed from an aristocratic family. His father was Ja ...
and
Artur Śliwiński
Artur Śliwiński (; 17 August 1877 – 16 January 1953) was the 8th Prime Minister of Poland
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater t ...
.
There were also those critical of him:
Hugo Kołłątaj
Hugo Stumberg Kołłątaj, also spelled ''Kołłątay'' (1 April 1750 – 28 February 1812), was a prominent Polish constitutional reformer and educationalist, and one of the most prominent figures of the Enlightenment in Poland, Polish Enlighten ...
,
Józef Szujski
Józef Szujski (16 June 1835 – 7 February 1883) was a Polish politician, historian, poet and professor of the Jagiellonian University.
Life
Szujski was born on 16 June 1835 in Tarnów. He studied at Tarnów, then at Kraków (1854) and at Vi ...
,
Michał Bobrzyński
Michał Hieronim Bobrzyński (Michael Bobrzynski) (30 September 1849 – 3 July 1935) was a Polish historian and conservative politician.
Life
Bobrzynski was born at Kraków in Galicia. He was educated there, graduating from the '' gymnasi ...
.
Nonetheless, Polish historiography and culture treatment of Zamoyski is mostly positive, and historian
Janusz Tazbir
Janusz Tazbir (August 5, 1927 – May 3, 2016) was a Polish historian, specializing in the culture and religion of Poland in the 16th and 17th centuries. He was the Polish-side Chairman of German-Polish Textbook Commission from 1991 to 1997.
Ca ...
remarked that Zamoyski's posthumous career was even more magnificent than his real one.
Leśniewski, ending his recent biography of Zamoyski, concludes that he is a significant, if controversial, figure of
Polish Renaissance
The Renaissance in Poland ( , ; ) lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and is widely considered to have been the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland (from 1569 part of ...
.
Zamoyski was the subject of several paintings and drawings. Most notably, he is one of the characters in two large paintings by
Jan Matejko
Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Polish painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works include large scale ...
, featured on the ''
Skarga's Sermon
''The Sermon of Piotr Skarga'' or ''Skarga's Sermon'' () is a large oil painting by Jan Matejko, finished in 1864, now in the National Museum, Warsaw in Poland. It depicts a sermon on political matters by the Jesuit priest Piotr Skarga, a chief ...
''
and ''
Batory at Pskov''.
Political and military leader
Having control of both the Chancellorship and the Grand Hetman office, Zamoyski was one of the most powerful people in the country, having obtained both the power of Grand Hetman (commander in chief of the armed forces) and that of chancellor, combined for the first time in the hands of one person.
He was responsible for much of the Polish internal and foreign policies.
He is considered to be one of the most prominent statesmen in Polish history.
Even though his military career begun almost as an afterthought, or by accident, Zamoyski is also remembered as one of the most accomplished Polish military commanders.
In his tactics, he favored sieges, flanking maneuvers, conserving his forces, and the new Western art of fortification and artillery.
The war with Muscovy shown him to be a skilled commander in sieges, and latter events would prove him to be an equally able leader in the open field.
Wealth and cultural patronage
Zamoyski gathered a significant fortune; his estates generated a revenue of over 200,000
zlotys in the early 17th century.
His personal lands covered , and included eleven towns and over 200 villages.
He was a
royal caretaker of another dozen or so cities and over 600 villages.
Totaled, his personal and leased lands covered over , with 23 towns and cities and 816 villages.
In 1589 he succeeded in establishing the
Zamoyski Family Fee Tail
The Zamoyski family entail ( Polish: Ordynacja Zamojska) was one of the first and largest fee tails in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was owned by the Zamoyski family, the richest aristocratic family in Poland. It was established upon t ...
(''ordynacja zamojska''), a ''de facto''
duchy
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition.
There once existed an important differe ...
.
Zamoyski supported economical development of his lands, investing in colonization of frontiers, and the development of industry, both small (sawmills, breweries, mills and such) and large (his lands had four iron mills and four glass factories).

His most prized creation was the capital of his Fee Tail, the city of
Zamość
Zamość (; ; ) is a historical city in southeastern Poland. It is situated in the southern part of Lublin Voivodeship, about from Lublin, from Warsaw. In 2021, the population of Zamość was 62,021.
Zamość was founded in 1580 by Jan Zamoyski ...
, founded in 1580, built and designed as a
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
' or "
ideal city
In urban design, an ideal city is the concept of a City planning, plan for a city that has been conceived in accordance with a particular rational or moral objective.
Concept
The "ideal" nature of such a city may encompass the moral, Spiritua ...
" by the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
architect
Bernardo Morando
Bernardo Morando (also known as Bernardino or Morandi; 1540 - 1600) was an Italian architect from the Republic of Venice. He is notable as the designer of the ''new town'' of Zamość, modelled on Renaissance theories of the 'ideal city'.
Born ...
.
In the city, in 1595 he founded the
Akademia Zamojska, the third university in the history of
education in Poland
Education in Poland is Compulsory education, compulsory; every child must receive education from when they are 6 years old until they are 18 years old. It is also mandatory for 6-year-old children to receive one year of kindergarten (, literall ...
.
In addition to Zamość, he also funded four other towns:
Szarogród
Sharhorod (, ) is a small city located within the Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine. It served as the administrative center of the former Sharhorod Raion until its dissolution in 2020. Population:
Sharhorod also has a number of foreign names, such as , ...
,
Skinderpol,
Busza and
Jasnogród.
Zamoyski collected a significant library, and was a patron of numerous artists in his Fee Tail.
Artists under his patronage included the poets
Jan Kochanowski
Jan Kochanowski (; 1530 – 22 August 1584) was a Polish Renaissance poet who wrote in Latin and Polish and established poetic patterns that would become integral to Polish literary language. He has been called the greatest Polish poet before ...
and
Szymon Szymonowic, and the writer and historian
Joachim Bielski
Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of the New Testament apoc ...
.
Personality
Zamoyski was not a deeply religious person, and his conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism was primarily pragmatic.
Leśniewski notes that Zamoyski was often motivated by greed, for example during the Danzig Rebellion, when he supported lenient treatment of the rebels, and during the 1577–1578 negotiations with, when he favored the solution of
George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach (; 5 April 1539 in Ansbach – 25 April 1603) was Margrave of Ansbach and Bayreuth, as well as Regent of Prussia. He was the son of George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach and a member of the House of Hohenz ...
; in both cases his decision was likely influenced by bribes or favors.
In another example, Leśniewski describes how Zamoyski openly demanded rewards following his victory at Byczyna, and tried to include an article favoring him in the Bytom and Będzin treaty.
He further notes, critically, that with raising power and political success Zamoyski begun displaying negative qualities, such as egoism and arrogance.
Zamoyski was ruthless to those weaker than him.
At the same time, he was respected by his opponents, widely recognized as highly intelligent, a cunning strategist and tactician in matters political and military, and a popular political leader.
He valued the good of the country at least as high as his own, and although he could have become the king after a victorious civil war against Sigismund, he preferred to act within the limits of law instead, avoiding a war that could devastate the country, and thus curbing his own ambitions.
See also
*
Army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on Ground warfare, land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include avia ...
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zamoyski, Jan
1542 births
1605 deaths
University of Paris alumni
Secular senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
People from Zamość County
Great Crown Hetmans
Polish Calvinist and Reformed Christians
Jan 1542
Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism
University of Padua alumni
Polish people of the Livonian campaign of Stephen Báthory
Collège de France alumni
People of the Long Turkish War
16th-century Polish landowners
17th-century Polish landowners
Crown vice-chancellors