Historical calendar: the anniversary of Stefan Bator's wedding with Anna Jagiellonka and coronation of him as ruler of the Republic of Poland.
Today in our calendar we will look at the life and activities of this monarch.
Stefan Batory was the boy of a seven-garden voivode of the same name and his wife Anna Catherine Telegdi. He received a comparatively good education at the court of Archbishop Esztergom. His youth fell upon times of confusion and demolition of Hungary. These were divided into spheres of influence between Turkey and the Empire. The young nobleman connected politically with the Habsburg dynasty. As courtesan of Emperor Ferdinand, he frequently embarked on diplomatic missions on his behalf.
During his long stay in Italy in 1549 he briefly studied at the University of Padua, where he learned Italian. After returning to the 7 Garden, he supported Isabella Jagiellonka and her son, Duke of 7 Garden John Sigismund Zápolya in the fight for Hungary's independence. In 1562 he headed the national army and fought an unsolved conflict under the Hadad fortress. Taking sides with the Hungarian patriots caused Vienna's disapproval and Batory's two-year imprisonment by Emperor Maximilian II.
In 1571, after John Sigismund's premature and childless death, Stefan was elected prince by the seven-garden Sejm. It shortly turned out that Batory was a capable ruler who cared for the economical improvement of his principality. He defeated the interior opposition in the field and the Habsburg army feeding it. He was able to cleverly balance between the Empire, Turkey and the Republic, thus gaining considerable independence. The successes of the seven-yard ruler coincided with the crisis of power in the northern neighbour.
After the introduction of the rule of free election on the Polish-Lithuanian throne, Henryk Walezy sat down, who, disgusted by the limitations of the ruler's powers, fled to his native France. This did not discourage the nobles from becoming democratic; it was even worse. The legislature appointed Emperor Maximilian II as king, and standing in opposition to the magnates of the nobles – Anna Jagiellonka. Her wife was found in the form of Duke of 7 Garden Stefan Batory.
This first double election in Polish past led to civilian war. Batory's supporters took over the capital of Kraków, where they pacified political opponents. However, Lithuania and Royal Prussia did not support the winning candidate and only the military demonstration calmed the rebellious provinces. The election of Batory was besides opposed by Turkey. In order to get her approval, a lenna hare was raised from the 7 Garden to a level of 25,000 floren per year.
The interior denominations of the Seventh and Habsburg supporters ended only on May 1, 1576, erstwhile the wedding of Stefan Bator and Anna Jagiellonka took place in the Wawel Cathedral. At the same time, the visitor was crowned ruler of the Republic of Poland.
On the Kraków throne, Stefan proved to be a very good ruler, able to usage even the limited capabilities of his office. Close cooperation with the Chancellor and later hetman the large Crown John Zamoyski proved to be invaluable in his many ventures. The first war of the recently baked monarch was the revolt of Gdansk from 1577. The city consistently did not admit the legality of its power. In addition, there were anti-Catholic riots that led to the demolition of the Cistercian Abbey in Oliwa by Protestants.
Rebellious townspeople were blocked economically, and shortly afterwards beaten by royal troops in the conflict of Liked on April 17, 1577. According to the peace agreement, Gdańsk had to recognise the monarch, pay him a advanced contribution to the war with Moscow and rebuild the Oliwa monastery. In his own pacta conventa Bathors undertook to collect lands previously plundered by Moscow. He was a consistent man and so submitted to his policy to implement these promises.
As part of the collection of war funds, he led to the failure of the anticipation of incarnation of Prince Prussia into the Crown, which in retrospect was a crucial mistake. The war with Moscow was accelerated by Tsar Ivan the TerribleWho invaded Inflanty in 1578. Against the 200,000 Moscow Army, Poles and Lithuanians exhibited only 48,000 soldiers, but nevertheless rapidly moved to the counteroffensive. The army under the king's individual command in subsequent campaigns won Polock, large Bows and besieged Psków.
The defeated Tsar asked for peace and agreed to surrender the previously occupied lands to the Republic. King Batory upgraded the Polish army, which lacked infantry to conquer fortresses. He introduced the Chosen Infantry troops into service and expanded the Cossack registry introduced for Zygmunt August. In addition, he turned Hussaria from light cavalry to heavy, making it a breaking force. During his war campaigns he extensively utilized engineering troops and modern cartography to let him to learn more about the battlefield.
He was besides a pioneer of media propaganda creating social sentiments – a peculiar printing home was operating around the country, selling news from the front, celebrating further victories. After defeating Moscow, he pursued in abroad policy the restaurants of the Kingdom of Hungary, the creation of an anti-Turkish coalition and the conquest for the Republic of Sweden of Estonia. These plans collapsed due to the deficiency of support from the pacifist and democratically-responsible nobility.
His deal with Denmark turned out to be a success. Under the Kronbor Treaty of 1585, Piltyński Land was incorporated into the Republic of Poland.
In interior politics King Batory remained in constant quarrels with the General Sejm. He created the Crown Court and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the highest appeals courts and tried to improve taxation collection. He was a generous patron of education and science, including in 1579 he founded the Jesuit Vilnius Academy. He was a proponent of the regulation of law and did not hesitate to lose his erstwhile ally Samuel Zborowski for his voluntary looting expedition to the Turkish coast.
Stefan Batory was of Hungarian origin, but he worked perfectly well on the throne of the Republic of Poland. As a very hardworking, resourceful and persistent man, he consistently pursued his goals. Despite the restrictions imposed on the monarch by nobility democracy, he was able to usage the possible of the Polish-Lithuanian state adequate to bring about interior order and tame the conventional enemy – Moscow.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here..
