Stephen Bathory King of Poland

Stephen Bathory: King of Poland

Stephen Bathory, also known as Stefan Bathory, was born in Transylvania in 1533 and was the son of Stephen Bathory, Deputy Voivode (Deputy Prince) of Transylvania. After years of gaining a pleasing reputation in the courts, Bathory was named Prince of Transylvania after Prince John Zapolya; this was due to the preference for religious freedom and the Transylvanians were afraid of takeover by Emperor Maximilian II and his Habsburgs. However, he did not fully take the rights to the throne until after his victory over Zapolya’s choice for predessesor.

He then later became King Stephen Bathory upon his crowning as King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania as a result of his marriage to Anna Jagiellon, also known as Anna of Poland. Upon his marriage and coronation, Bathory was initially met with struggle, as he had to face the brute force of Emperor Maximilian II’s armies, known as the Habsburgs, in their efforts to undermine his authority. This did not last long and an agreement was met, most likely due to the death of Maximilian. Under his reign, King Stephen Bathory opted for peace, which he made across his lands with nobility, gaining their trust and partiality, as well as kept the peace with international countries.

Bathory’s peace lasted a while until he had to assemble his armies for battles against Ivan the Terrible in the Livovian War between Russia, Poland and Lithuania. After a decisive blow to the Russian armies with his capture of the city of Pskov, Ivan the Terrible surrendered back the territories of Poland and Lithuania. At his death in 1586, Bathory was not only responsible for the kept sovereignty of Poland-Lithuania in the times of the conquests of the Ottoman Empire, but also for the creation of a new infantry division known as piechota wybraniecka, the establishment of the Academy of Vilna, as well as the Almae Academia et Universitas Societatis Jesu.