Stephen Báthory

Stephen Báthory ( hu, Báthory István; pl, Stefan Batory; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576), Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586).

The son of Stephen VIII Báthory and a member of the Hungarian Báthory noble family, Báthory was a ruler of Transylvania in the 1570s, defeating another challenger for that title, Gáspár Bekes. In 1576 Báthory became the husband of Queen Anna Jagiellon and the third elected king of Poland. He worked closely with chancellor Jan Zamoyski. The first years of his reign were focused on establishing power, defeating a fellow claimant to the throne, Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, and quelling rebellions, most notably, the Danzig rebellion. He reigned only a decade, but is considered one of the most successful kings in Polish history, particularly in the realm of military history. His signal achievement was his victorious campaign in Livonia against Russia in the middle part of his reign, in which he repulsed a Russian invasion of Commonwealth borderlands and secured a highly favorable treaty of peace (the Peace of Jam Zapolski).

Youth

Stephen Báthory was born on 27 September 1533 in the castle at Somlyó, also known as Szilágysomlyó (today's Șimleu Silvaniei). He was the son of Stephen VIII Báthory (d. 1534) of the noble Hungarian Báthory family and his wife Catherine Telegdi. He had at least five siblings: two brothers and three sisters.

Little is known about his childhood. Around 1549–1550, he briefly visited Italy and probably spent a few months attending lectures at the Padua University. Upon his return, he joined the army of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, and took part in his military struggle against the Turks. Some time after 1553, Báthory was captured by the Turks, and after Ferdinand I refused to pay his ransom, joined the opposing side, supporting John II Sigismund Zápolya in his struggle for power in the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom. As Zápolya's supporter, Báthory acted both as a feudal lord, military commander and a diplomat. During one of his trips to Vienna he was put under house arrest for two years. During this time he fell out of favor at Zápolya's court, and his position was largely assumed by another Hungarian noble, Gáspár Bekes. Báthory briefly retired from politics, but he still wielded considerable influence and was seen as a possible successor to Zápolya.

After Zápolya's death in 1571, the Transylvanian estates elected Báthory Voivode of Transylvania. Bekes, supported by the Habsburgs, disputed his election, but by 1573, Báthory emerged victorious in the resulting civil war and drove Bekes out of Transylvania. He subsequently attempted to play the Ottomans and the Holy Roman Empire against one another in an attempt to strengthen the Transylvania position.

Elected king

In 1572, the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, at the time the largest and one of the most populous states in Europe, was vacated when King Sigismund II Augustus died without heirs. The Sejm was given the power to elect a new king, and in the 1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election chose Henry of France; Henry soon ascended the French throne and forfeited the Polish one by returning to France. Báthory decided to enter into the election; in the meantime he had to defeat another attempt by Bekes to challenge his authority in Transylvania, which he did by defeating Bekes at the Battle of Kerelőszentpál.

On 12 December 1575, after an interregnum of roughly one and a half years, primate of Poland Jakub Uchański, representing a pro-Habsburg faction, declared Emperor Maximilian II as the new monarch. However, chancellor Jan Zamoyski and other opponents of Habsburgs persuaded many of the lesser nobility to demand a " Piast king", a Polish king. After a heated discussion, it was decided that Anna Jagiellon, sister of the former King Sigismund II Augustus, should be elected king and marry Stephen Báthory. In January 1576 Báthory passed the mantle of voivode of Transylvania to his brother Christopher Báthory and departed for Poland. On 1 May 1576 Báthory married Anna and was crowned king of Poland and grand duke of Lithuania. After being chosen as king in the 1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election, Báthory also began using the title of the prince of Transylvania.

Establishing power

Báthory's position was at first extremely difficult, as there was still some opposition to his election. Emperor Maximilian, insisting on his earlier election, fostered internal opposition and prepared to enforce his claim by military action. At first the representatives of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania refused to recognize Báthory as grand duke, and demanded concessions - that he return the estates of his wife Anne to the Lithuanian treasury, hold Sejm conventions in both Lithuania and Poland, and reserve the highest governmental official offices in Lithuania for Lithuanians. He accepted the conditions. In June Báthory was recognized as Grand Duke of Lithuania.

With Lithuania secure, the other major region refusing to recognize his election was Prussia. Maximilian's sudden death improved Báthory's situation, but the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) still refused to recognize his election without significant concessions. The Hanseatic League city, bolstered by its immense wealth, fortifications, and the secret support of Maximilian, had supported the Emperor's election and decided not to recognize Báthory as legitimate ruler. The resulting conflict was known as the Danzig rebellion. Most armed opposition collapsed when the prolonged Siege of Danzig by Báthory's forces was lifted as an agreement was reached. The Danzig army was utterly defeated in a field battle on 17 April 1577. However, since Báthory's armies were unable to take the city by force, a compromise was reached. In exchange for some of Danzig's demands being favorably reviewed, the city recognised Báthory as ruler of Poland and paid the sum of 200,000 zlotys in gold as compensation. Tying up the administration of the Commonwealth's northern provinces, in February 1578 he acknowledged George Frederick as the ruler of Duchy of Prussia, receiving his feudal tribute.

Policies

After securing control over the Commonwealth, Báthory had a chance to devote himself to strengthening his authority, in which he was supported by his chancellor Jan Zamoyski, who would soon become one of the king's most trusted advisers. Báthory reorganised the judiciary by formation of legal tribunals (the Crown Tribunal in 1578 and the Lithuanian Tribunal in 1581). While this somewhat weakened the royal position, it was of little concern to Báthory, as the loss of power was not significant in the short term, and he was more concerned with the hereditary Hungarian throne. In exchange, the Sejm allowed him to raise taxes and push a number of reforms strengthening the military, including the establishment of the ''piechota wybraniecka'', an infantry formation composed of peasants. Many of his projects aimed to modernize the Commonwealth army, reforming it in a model of Hungarian troops of Transylvania. He also founded the Academy of Vilnius, the third university in the Commonwealth, transforming what had been a Jesuit college into a major university.