War of the Polish Succession (1587–1588)

The War of the Polish Succession or the Hapsburg-Polish War took place from 1587 to 1588 over the election of monarch after the death of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Stephen Báthory. The war was fought between factions of Sigismund III Vasa and Maximilian III, with Sigismund eventually being crowned King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Two major battles of this conflict included the Siege of Kraków, in which Maximilian III failed to capture the capital of the Commonwealth, and the Battle of Byczyna, in which Maximilian was forced to surrender. Sigismund's victory was significantly the doing of Chancellor and Hetman Jan Zamoyski, who stood behind both the political intrigue and the military victories of this conflict.

Background

In 1576, following the death of previous Polish king, Stefan Batory, the Swedish king Sigismund III Vasa and Habsburg Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria took part in the election to the joint Polish&ndash;Lithuanian throne. Each of the two candidates had supporters in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the two opposing sides gathered around pro-Sigismund Chancellor and Hetman Jan Zamoyski and the Primate of Poland, Stanisław Karnkowski on one side and the pro-Maximilain Zborowski family on the other.<ref...
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