Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki

Michael I (Polish: Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki, Lithuanian: Mykolas I Kaributas Višnioveckis; May 31, 1640 – November 10, 1673) was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from September 29, 1669 until his death in 1673. Michael's reign was marked by struggles between the pro-Habsburg and pro-French political factions.

A native Pole and descendant of Korybut, brother of King Władysław II Jagiełło, Michael was freely elected by the unanimous vote of the Polish nobility after the abdication of his predecessor, John II Casimir Vasa. Chosen partly because of the merit of his father, Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, a powerful border magnate who had helped suppress the Cossacks in eastern Poland during the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Michael proved to be a passive tool in the hands of the Habsburgs. In view of this, the French party rallied round John Sobieski, a rising military commander. The dissensions between the two camps led to defeat at the hands of the united Turks and Cossacks and the signing of the Treaty of Buczacz in 1672, by which all Polish occupied Ukraine came under Turkish suzerainty. After Michael's early death, these setbacks were reversed at the Battle of Chocim in 1673 by his successor, John III Sobieski, who defeated an Austrian candidate in the election.