Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania as well as Prince of Transylvania (1576–1586), after previously being Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576).

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 the 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 Gdańsk rebellion.

He reigned for only a decade, but is considered one of the most successful kings in Polish and Lithuanian history, particularly in the military realm. 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 the Commonwealth borderlands and secured a highly favorable treaty of peace (the Peace of Jam Zapolski).

Youth

thumb|left|100px|Personal coat of arms

Stephen Báthory was born on 27 September 1533 in the castle at Somlyó, also known as Szilágysomlyó (today's Șimleu Silvaniei). 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. It was deposited in the royal treasury in Kraków.]]

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. In June, Báthory was recognized as Grand Duke of Lithuania. The Báthory's ceremony of 29 May 1580 coincided with the nobles of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (e.g. Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, Eustachy Wołłowicz, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski) initial demands before the Union of Lubin to have a separate declaration act of the Grand Duke of Lithuania in Vilnius.

With Lithuania secure, the other major region refusing to recognize his election was Prussia. In addition to Hungarian, he was well versed in Latin, and spoke Italian and German; he never learned the Polish language.

Bibliography

  • Winged Hussars, Radoslaw Sikora, Bartosz Musialowicz, BUM Magazine, October 2016.
  • Stephen Báthory's szkofia in the National Museum in Kraków [https://archive.today/20130113114248/http://www.muzeum.krakow.pl/Dzial-XIV-Galeria.362.0.html?&L=0&no_cache=1&tx_devablegallery_pi1].

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