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 p122  Chapter XIV
First of the Vasas

(The numbers link directly to the sections.)

After the death of Stephen Bathory at Gardinas in 1586, the Kingdom of Poland found its ruling class divided. The family of Zborowski, which had played an important role in the election of Bathory, had long since been at odds with John Zamoyski, the leader of the lesser gentry. The latter, immediately after the coronation, had been appointed Chancellor (May 1, 1576) and later even assigned to the post of Grand Hetman, thereby, contrary to the desires of the Zborowskis, attaining a position in Poland second only to that of the King. In an attempt to gain the prominence and the power, which Zamoyski had centered upon his own individual person, the Zborowskis established what have been termed as traitorous relations with the House of Austria. And for that reason, in 1584, the magnate, Samuel Zborowski, was condemned to death. His brothers appealed to the magnate and lesser gentry to take precautions against any other similar actions on the part of the ruler. The results of their efforts were demonstrated in 1585, when a minority of the deputies caused the dissolution of the Diet, quite against the wishes of Stephen Bathory. Consequently, the reign of the third King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was ushered in with the accompaniment of actual civil strife in Poland.

 p123  1. Election of Sigismund Vasa (1588‑1632)

At the Election Diet summoned on July 9, 1587, the boyars and magnates failed to reach an agreement. The Lithuanian magnates and the party of Zborowski favored the election of the Austrian Archduke Maximilian, brother of Emperor Rudolph. The Lithuanian boyars were inclined to support Theodore, the Tsar of Muscovy, as candidate for the vacant throne. The followers of Zamoyski campaigned for Sigismund Augustus' nephew, the Swedish prince, Sigismund Vasa. Finally, on August 19th of the same year, Zamoyski's party, possessing a strong Polish majority, announced the election of the 21‑year‑old Sigismund Vasa. The opposition in turn proclaimed Maximilian as the new King. The representatives of the Lithuanian gentry, who had not taken part in the proceedings, but had waited for the Poles to reach a settlement among themselves, left the Diet, voi­cing their disapproval of both candidates. It is said that at the Diet, Zamoyski refused the immense bribe of 200,000 ducats and the promise of a noble title from the Habsburgs for the transfer of his allegiance and support to their candidate.

Recourse to arms followed the elections. And only six months later, did Zamoyski as the Grand Hetman of Poland defeat and capture Maximilian (January 24, 1588) at Byczyna in Silesia, force him to renounce all claims to the contested throne, and end the dispute.

Meanwhile, the Lithuanian gentry, directed by the Houses of Radvila and Katkevicius, succeeded in coming to terms with Sigismund Vasa. They sent a delegation to the new King's coronation; but refused to recognise him as their Grand Duke (since he had been elected without their ballot) until he would consent to three conditions laid down by them — that Livonia, which was a condominium of Poland and Lithuania since the Union of Lublin, would again be made an exclusively Lithuanian possession, and if this demand would be unacceptable to the Poles, that the lands annexed by Poland at the Diet of Lublin be restored to the Grand Duchy; that the new fifteen year truce entered into with Muscovy  p124 after Ivan's death by the Lithuanian gentry be approved; and that the revised third edition of the Lithuanian Statute be accepted, without any modifications, as the new legal code of Lithuania.

No opposition was offered to the second of these conditions. And in view of the fact that Maximilian's forces were in Poland at that time, the King with the consent of the Polish Diet approved the revised Lithuanian Statute and effected a compromise as to the status of the Livonian province. It was agreed that Livonia would continue to remain a condominium, but that offices would be distributed alternately among Poles and Lithuanians, and that the Grand Duchy and the Kingdom would share the annual revenue of the province. Thereupon, the Lithuanian delegation, led by the Vice-Chancellor Leon Sapiega, expressed its official recognition of Sigismund Vasa as the Grand Duke of Lithuania.

After receiving the news of Zamoyski's victory at Byczyna over Maximilian, the Polish leaders were reluctant to include the revised Lithuanian Statute in the Constitution of the Diet, in spite of the fact that it had already been legally enacted and approved by their common ruler. Nevertheless, it was soon promulgated and printed in the White Ruthenian language and remained in force until 1840. Its decrees continued to ignore the terms of the Union of Lublin and to exclude Polish citizens from obtaining offices or acquiring estates in Lithuania.

2. The Swedish Crown

Before Sigismund left Sweden to assume his position as ruler of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the relations between these states were determined through the Statute of Kalmar (1587) signed by Sigismund and his father, John. It provided for the acknowledgment of absolute equality between the Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Sweden. It stated that after Sigismund succeeded his father and would make his residence in Poland-Lithuania, the administration of Sweden was to be directed by a Council of seven nobles, six of whom would be selected by the King and one by his uncle, Duke Charles, while Sigismund himself  p125 was to maintain a chancery representing the Swedish nation in Poland-Lithuania and was to visit Sweden at least every three years.

Before long, however, the King found himself seriously considering the abdication of the Polish-Lithuanian throne in favor of Ernest, Archduke of Austria, brother of his former opponent, Maximilian, and his own return to Sweden. This plan seemed to be prompted by his unpopularity in the Commonwealth and by the fears his father entertained about the political ambitions of Sigismund's uncle, Charles, prince of Sudermanland. During the summer of 1589, he conferred with John at Reval. Negotiations with Ernest of the House of Habsburgs continued secretly. And in 1592 Sigismund married Ernest's sister, Anne. It is at this point that he was summoned before the Diet of Inquisition, accused of treason and unnecessary dealings with the Habsburgs. The prestige of the royal crown suffered greatly on this occasion. Sigismund denied all charges and promised not to abandon the throne nor to seek the nomination of his successor.

With the death of John in November, 1592, Sigismund automatically became the ruler of Sweden, thereby uniting in a personal union the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Swedish Kingdom. On September 30, 1593, he arrived at Stockholm for his coronation. And only after Sigismund, devoted and loyal to the Catholic Church, had unconditionally guaranteed the decrees and principles of the Swedish Church as explained by the Upsala Resolution, was he crowned (February 19, 1594); he returned to Cracow that same year.

After the peace of Teusin in May, 1595, by which Sweden obtained Russian recognition of its possession of Narva and other Estonian territories, Duke Charles inaugurated a campaign which led to an inevitable conflict with Sigismund. At Soderkoping he was commissioned by the Estates to retain the political influence he had already attained. He then began a persecution of the Roman Catholic elements, the followers of Sigismund and the Council of nobles. Soon Sweden found itself in the throes of a revolution, which definitely concentrated all power in the hands of Duke Charles. In 1598, Sigismund sought to oppose this usurpation  p126 of his royal prerogatives. He ordered Stalarm to Groneborg and he himself set out for Kalmar with a small armed force. Kalmar and Stockholm received him, but in the battle of Stangebro, Sigismund was defeated by Charles and escaped to Poland. In February of the following year a gathering of bishops and nobles issued an ultimatum at Jonkoping, demanding that Sigismund return to Sweden unarmed or send his son, Ladislas, to be brought up in the Lutheran faith or forfeit the throne. Five months later Sigismund was officially deposed as the King of the Swedish state by the Riksdag at Stockholm.

Seeking aid from the Republic in his efforts to recover the Swedish crown, Sigismund officially ceded the Swedish province of Estonia to the Commonwealth in 1600. War ensued almost immediately, Sigismund ordered the army of the Republic in Livonia to attack Estonia. The Poles imprisoned the Swedish envoys. Charles himself invaded Livonia in August with brilliant success. The Lithuanian Hetman, Christopher Radvila I, with his meager forces was able to defend only Dunamunde (Ust-Dvinsk), Riga and Kokenhausen, as the other areas north of the Dvina were being occupied by Charles. And thus the struggle, which arose from Sigismund's claim to the Swedish throne, was suddenly transformed into a war for the protection of the Livonian province of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Sigismund himself marched into Livonia in 1601. The Polish Hetman, John Zamoyski, was appointed commander-in‑chief. Angered at this move, the Grand Hetman, Christopher Radvila, resigned his post in favor of the Lithuanian Field Hetman, John Katkevicius, who assumed leader­ship of the Lithuanians. And then under Zamoyski, supported by Katkevicius and Zolkiewski, the Polish-Lithuanian armies proceeded to recover a sufficiently large number of the Livonian fortresses to have Charles offer the surrender of Livonia, provided Sigismund renounced his claims to the Swedish crown. The Poles, however, mutinied because of arrears in pay, and left Katkevicius with a small force of Lithuanians in Livonia. Nevertheless, the latter captured Dorpat and even defeated the Swedes at Weissenstein in 1604.

The following year, Charles, having dispensed with Stalarm as  p127 a traitor, assumed personal command of his soldiers in Livonia. Katkevicius' appeals to Sigismund for reenforcements and financial aid brought no favorable reply. Consequently, he began to beat a slow retreat southward from Tartu to the Dvina, destroying the military installations he could not garrison, finally entrenching himself at Wenden. As the Swedish ruler continued to march on Riga, Katkevicius transferred his troops •about two miles southeast of that city to Kirkholm. There the decisive battle took place. Although outnumbered by almost four to one, Katkevicius scored a tremendous victory over the superior and model Swedish army. Only remnants escaped with Charles. Congratulations poured in from the Pope, from the Emperor, from England, and from the Turkish Sultan. But the fruits of the conquest were slight, since Sigismund soon afterwards summoned Katkevicius to assist in quelling the revolt of 1606 in Poland, which uprising greatly affected the subsequent internal affairs of the Republic.

3. The Revolt of 1606

The groundwork for this event was laid by the continuance of the difficulties between Zamoyski and Sigismund, which had not come to an end even with the Diet of Inquisition in 1592. Sigismund's Austrian sympathies had never ceased. He remained in favor of reforms to increase the power of the King and lessen that of the gentry. His ideas coincided with those proposed by the Jesuit, Peter Skarga. And at the Diet of 1605 Sigismund attempted to introduce an amendment to the Constitution abolishing the use of the principle of unanimity. Zamoyski opposed this proposal most violently. He proceeded to accuse Sigismund of actions injurious to the welfare of the Commonwealth; namely, traitorous connections with the Habsburgs,⁠1 Swedes, Muscovites; gross neglect in the administration of state affairs; indifference towards matters of taxation and defense; plans to arrange for the coronation of his son. The following year (Zamoyski had died in the meantime), the aroused gentry under the leader­ship of Nicholas Zebrzydowski,  p128 Palatine of Cracow, revolted against the supposedly absolutist policies of their monarch and in defense of their traditional liberties.

The rebellion lasted until 1607 and centered its activities in Poland. The Lithuanian Calvinist, Jonusas Radvila, son of Christopher Radvila I, joined Zebrzydowski at the head of the Lithuanian rebels. Through the efforts of the Polish Vice-Hetman, Stanislas Zolkiewski, and the Lithuanian Hetman, John Katkevicius, the revolt was subdued. And at the Diet of 1609 a general amnesty was voted for all the revolutionaries.

This uprising, although quickly suppressed, imposed lasting results upon the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Definitely weakening the prestige of the Crown, it demonstrated clearly that the gentry would not permit any alteration of the existing Constitution and would resort to arms and even depose their King in accordance with the terms of the Henrican Articles (de non praestanda obedientia), were an attempt made to violate that Constitution. And Lithuania as a member of this composite state, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was destined to share whatever benefits or ills were created in this manner.

4. The Muscovite Throne

While still at odds with the Swedes and harassed by internal difficulties, Poland-Lithuania became involved in a struggle with Muscovy by reason of the ambitions of the Polish nobles and Sigismund himself.

Ivan IV, Tsar of Muscovy, had died in 1584. During the reign of his son, Theodore (1584‑1598), all governmental power had gradually passed into the hands of a boyar, one Boris Godunov, his brother-in‑law. Seeking to prevent a conflict, which threatened to arise among the various social classes (the landed gentry, free peasants, and cossacks), Godunov pursued Ivan's policy, and definitely favored the small landlords; he sought to suppress the old nobles and the peasants, and in 1597 officially sanctioned the existence of serfdom.

Theodore died in 1598 and left no heirs. His two possible successors  p129 had also perished: Theodosia, his only offspring, in 1594, and Demetrius, his half-brother, who had been mysteriously killed at Uglich, in 1591, of which crime Boris has been suspected. Consequently, Godunov, in spite of the opposition offered him by Theodore Romanov, nephew of Ivan IV (known later as Philaret), success­fully engineered his own election to the Tsar's throne by the Sobor, the Muscovite Assembly.

In 1603, there appeared in Poland an individual, whose origin is not definitely known, but who claimed to be Demetrius, the supposedly murdered son of Ivan IV. Boris Godunov attempted to identify him as Grishka Otrepiev, a fallen away monk. Securing to "regain" the Muscovite throne, this Demetrius managed to ingratiate himself with some of the Polish nobility, especially George Mniszech and his daughter, Marina. In 1604, he formally adopted Roman Catholicism. And that very year, with the armed assistance of the Polish nobles and the help rendered by the Cossack forces of the Don, he invaded Muscovy. Boris Godunov died in the early months of 1605. Thereupon, the so‑called Pretender entered Moscow with his Polish, Lithuanian and Cossack allies, and was accepted by the boyars in preference to Theodore Romanov.

One year later, 1606, after his marriage to Marina Mniszech, Demetrius perished in a short-lived rebellion sponsored by the Romanovs, Shuiskis and Galitsins. The influential Basil Shuisky was proclaimed the new Tsar (1606‑10). His favoritism towards the old nobility led to a rebellion headed by a former serf, Ivan Bolotnikov, whom a number of small landlords also supported. Moscow was besieged. But when the army of Bolotnikov began to disintegrate, Basil's forces quickly quelled the revolt. One immediate consequence of this rebellion was the enactment of severe laws in the matter of serfdom in 1607 as a repressive measure for fugitive serfs and unsettled free peasants.

In the meanwhile, another Demetrius had appeared at Severski and claimed the Muscovite throne. Marina Mniszech accepted him as her husband. And in 1608, supported by Polish and Lithuanian participants of Zebrzydowski's revolt, this Demetrius succeeded in establishing himself at Tushino near Moscow.

 p130  In 1609 Basil Shuisky entered into an alliance with Charles IX, who had crowned himself King of the Swedish state two years previously. Since Sigismund had not relinquished his claims to his father's throne, an intermittent war in Livonia between Sweden and the Republic was still in progress; the Polish-Lithuanian King suddenly manifested a desire to become Tsar, invaded Muscovy that year and surrounded Smolensk, which had been lost by Lithuania since 1514.

Events followed in rapid order. The second Demetrius left Tushino and in 1610 was slain by a Tatar. Negotiations with the Tushinites produced an agreement whereby Ladislas, Sigismund's son, was to assume the Tsar's throne. The Polish Hetman, Zolkiewski, defeated the Swedish forces of Jacob de la Gardie and the Muscovite army of Basil at Kluszyn. Shuisky was deposed and taken prisoner to Warsaw and Ladislas was elected to the Tsar's throne by the Muscovite Sobor. Sigismund, however, indicated his intentions to control the government of Moscow personally, and this immediately initiated a series of revolts.

Instigated by the patriarch Hermogenes, who bitterly opposed the notion of a foreign Tsar and the pretensions of Sigismund, Liapunov organized an uprising of the middle classes consisting of small landlords assisted by the Cossacks under Zarutsky and Trubetskoy. Lack of discipline rendered their attack on Moscow a complete failure (1611). In the meantime, Smolensk had fallen to Lithuania (1611), and the war in Livonia with the Swedes had ceased by reason of a truce, although the Swedes had definitely established themselves in Estonia and even succeeded in capturing Muscovy's Novgorod.

Soon afterwards Minin, Ephimie and Pozharski gathered forces from among the landed gentry of the noble and middle classes in the northern areas for the purpose of eliminating Poland-Lithuania from Muscovy and subduing the unruly Cossacks. Moscow was again besieged. Even the arrival of Katkevicius failed to save the Polish-Lithuanian troops from defeat towards the end of 1612. Then early the following year the Muscovite National Assembly elected a new Tsar, Michael Romanov, Philaret's son.

Sigismund's son, Ladislas, however, refused to relinquish his pretensions  p131 to the Muscovite throne on the basis that he had been duly elected by the boyars. In 1617, with Lithuanian and Polish soldiers led by Katkevicius, he marched of Moscow. His expedition proved to be un­success­ful. And at Deulino a sixteen-year truce was arranged between Muscovy and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth — Smolensk and Novgorod-Severski remaining in Lithuanian possession and Chernigov in Polish hands. Ladislas even at this time was unwilling to renounce them.

5. Truce of Altmark with Sweden

Having brought to an end his war with Denmark by the peace of Knared in 1613, and having come to terms with Muscovy by the treaty of Stolbova in 1617 (whereby he acquired northwestern Estonia and Livonia), Gustavus Adolphus, successor of Charles IX, attacked the Polish-Lithuanian possessions in Livonia and seized Pernau. A three-year truce followed in 1618. Meanwhile Sigismund had involved himself with the Turks.

It seems that the activities of the Cossacks and the intense interest shown by the Potockis in the events occurring in Moldavia, which since 1612 had fallen away from Polish control and had come under Turkish jurisdiction, prepared for the day when the Turks and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth would face one another in armed combat. Finally, when Sigismund rendered material assistance to the Emperor against Bethlen of Transylvania, war broke out. The Sultan Osman II (1617‑22) had promised support to the leader of the Hungarian Protestants. And in 1620, at Cecora, the Polish Hetman, Zolkiewski, and his forces suffered a crushing defeat. The next year, in 1621, John Katkevicius, the Lithuanian Hetman and Palatine of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, likewise perished in battle, but succeeded in scoring the victory of Chocim, by virtue of which the Turks agreed to a Christian governor for Moldavia.

That same year Gustavus Adolphus had once again laid siege to Livonia. And the day before Katkevicius died in defense of Chocim,  p132 Christopher Radvila II, the Lithuanian Field Hetman, receiving no reenforcements was compelled to surrender Riga to the Swedes. This city never again returned to the Polish-Lithuanian Republic.

After another three year truce the Swedish armies under Gyllenhielm. la Gardie, Horn, Baner and Gustavus himself renewed hostilities and achieved tremendous successes (1625). Almost all of Livonia and Courland fell into their hands. Even Birzai, the home of the Radvilas and border stronghold of Lithuania, was captured. Finally, the forces of Gansiauskas in the southeastern part of Livonia, and the troops under Christopher Radvila II and Leon Sapiega in Courland, momentarily stemmed the onslaught. But in January of the following year, Gustavus defeated Sapiega at Wallhof and then returned to Sweden.

In the summer of 1626 Gustavus Adolphus invaded West Prussia, possession of the Polish Crown, and East Prussia, vassal of the Polish Crown, governed by George William of Brandenburg, whose sister Eleanore, the Swedish King had married. Since Sigismund flatly refused to consider any terms of peace, the Lithuanian magnates under Leon Sapiega, in 1627, made a four-month separate truce with the Swedes, which act naturally received the approbation neither of Sigismund nor of the Poles.

That same year a regiment, dispatched by Wallenstein and George William, attached themselves to Sigismund's forces. Gustavus, nevertheless, succeeded in capturing Memel and Marienwerder. Finally, in 1629, a six year truce was agreed upon at Altmark, through the intervention of Richelieu's envoy, Charnacé; all Livonia south of the Dvina, a large area of the Prussian coast with Memel, Pillau, Elbing, Braunsberg, remained under Swedish jurisdiction.

6. The Church Union of Brest

One other event took place in the early days of Sigismund's reign, which to a certain extent affected the lives of the people dwelling in the eastern portion of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was the creation of the Uniate Church at the Synod of Brest, where six Greek Orthodox patriarchs officially became  p133 members of the Roman Catholic Church by renouncing the schism of Michael Caerularius (1054), the Patriarch of Constantinople, acknowledged the dogmas of Rome, and received permission to retain their Slavonic liturgy.

This act was the culmination of a movement, which had begun in the days of the early Lithuanian Grand Dukes, Gediminas and Algirdas, and had achieved some success at the Union of Florence in 1439. However, the initiative for the Union of Brest must not be attributed to Sigismund, but to the Orthodox Christians living in the Ruthenian territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Republic.

It seems that the decrees of the Council of Trent concerning the Roman Catholic clergy had also influenced the attitude of mind for the Orthodox faithful. With the approval of the Patriarch of Constantinople they organized brotherhoods and confraternities, calculated to bring about reforms within the Orthodox Church. Rather than be subjected to the supporters of these projects, some of the Orthodox ministers seriously considered reunion with Rome.

Naturally, this notion received favorable support from Sigismund. In 1589, Jeremias, Patriarch of Constantinople, conferred upon Job, Metropolitan of Moscow, the title of Patriarch. Meanwhile, Ragoza, Patriarch of Kiev, which still formed part and parcel of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, was at odds with Jeremias. At the same time, Boris Godunov showed an interest in bringing Kiev under the spiritual jurisdiction of Moscow. Such an act, of course, would have exercised a tremendous Muscovite influence upon the Orthodox Christians of the Ruthenian territories governed by the Polish-Lithuanian Republic, an influence which even the first Lithuanian Grand Dukes sought to avoid. Consequently, the unionists received generous encouragement for their campaign from the Polish-Lithuanian government.

In 1595, Pociey of Vladimir and Terlecki of Luck journeyed to Rome and obtained the approval of Pope Clement VIII on the proposed plans of union. The next year an Orthodox synod was summoned at Brest for the purpose of making a public and official announcement of the return of all Orthodox Christians in Poland-Lithuania to the Roman Catholic Church. All the more  p134 notable Orthodox prelates, including Ragoza of Kiev, seemed to approve this step. But at Brest division in the ranks took place. Prince Constantine Ostrogski II opposed the union and formed another synod at Brest with another group of theologians. The final results were not overwhelming, since only six Orthodox patriarchs professed their allegiance to Rome and became Uniates, while the faithful and the lesser clergy remained adherents of Orthodoxy.

Neither Uniate bishops nor the Basilian monks were able to make much headway with the Disuniates or Orthodox. Two opposing bishops appeared in various dioceses. Occasionally, both Uniates and Orthodox gave vent to their feelings in the form of riots which resulted in bloodshed and deaths. Both groups, nevertheless, continued to exist without registering any substantial gains.

---

The Author's Note:

1 After the death of his first wife Anne, Sigismund married her sister Constantia.

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