Born: September 27, 1533, Somlyó, Hungary (presently Simleu, Romania)
Died: December 12, 1586, Grodno, Poland (presently Hrodna, Belarus)
Early days. Father Istvan Bathory Palatine of Transylvania; mother Katalin (Katherine) Telegdi
Higher education. Batory studied in Padua and served at the imperial court in Vienna. He took part in the Hungarian civil war of Szapolyai against the Habsburgs. In 1562 he was wounded at the siege of Hadad. From 1565 to 1567 was held prisoner in Prague. In 1571 he was elected Prince of Transylvania but was forced to become a vassal of Turkey and of the Habsburgs.
Elected King of Poland. After Henry III of Valois, King of Poland, returned suddenly to France, Batory declared his candidacy for the King of Poland with the support of the Zborowskis, of bishop Karnkowski and of Jan Zamoyski. On December 15, 1575, he was elected to become king of Poland while remaining the Prince of Transylvania.
Marriage. He was crowned in Cracow on March 23, 1576 and in the same year he married Anna Jagiellonka, sister of Zygmut August (Sigismundus Augustus), King of Poland, last of the Jagiellons.
Gdansk. Upon becoming king of Poland, he tried to take Gdansk by force. Unable to storm the city Batory agreed to a compromise: he accepted Gdansk's continued status as independent city state but Gdansk had to pay high contribution and recognize its subservience to the Polish King.
Judicial system. Batory reformed the judicial system. A new system was devised by the Crown Chancellor Jan Zamoyski. Now the judicial affairs were directly controlled by the nobility. A Crown Tribunal was instituted in 1578 and the Lithuanian Tribunal in 1581 both acting as courts of appeal. Batory was ruthless toward those who broke the law, including the magnates who were feuding with their neighbors. On the other hand he liberally rewarded his loyal supporters.
Reform of the royal army. He also transformed the royal army. The Sejm approved the formation of “selected infantry” (piechota wybraniecka) composed of peasants drawn from the Crown estates. The winged Husaria was gradually replacing former “mounted spearmen” (jazda kopijnicza). A register of Cossack volunteers, taking the oath of allegiance, was established.
War against Muscovy. From 1578 to 1582 lasted the war against Muscovy prompted by the invasion of Grand Duke of Moscow, Ivan IV " the Terrible", who became the first Russian tsar. Initially the Muscovites had invaded Livonia and took Dorpat. Then, in 1577, the Lithuanian Hetman, Radziwill the Red took Duneburg; in 1578 the Poles captured Wenden and in 1579-1580 Batory’s army, counting 100,000 men, took Polotsk and Velike Luki. In 1581 Pskov was besieged by about 170,000 knights and servants of Polish and mercenary armies. The peace was signed in Yam Zapolski in 1582. During the period 1583-1584 Stefan Batory planned a Christian alliance against the Ottomans. He also tried to make Russia a vassal state of Poland. He considered this a necessary step for his anti-Ottoman crusade. But the Sejm did not approve any taxes needed for the new enterprise. Batory was very disappointed and berated the Poles for their ingratitude. He led a solitary life for more than a year and died suddenly in Grodno. Poisoning was suspected.
When Stefan Batory died, there was a one year interregnum, and he was then succeeded by Sigismund III Vasa (Zygmunt III Waza) of Sweden.
Sources:
This article uses, among others, material from the Wikipedia article "Stephen Batory" licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. :
Wikipedia
Poczet Wladcow Polski (in Polish)
Poczet Krolow Polskich (in Polish)
Polish Kings
Norman Davies, History of Poland, Vol.I, Chapter Thirteen: Batory, Columbia Univ.Press, New York 1982
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