John III Sobieski () (17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was one of the most notable monarchs of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, from 1674 until his death King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Sobieski's 22-year-reign was marked by a period of the Commonwealth's stabilisation, much needed after the turmoil of the Deluge and Khmelnytsky Uprising. Popular among his subjects, he was also a military genius, most famous for the victory over the Turks in the 1683 Battle of Vienna. Following his victories over the Ottoman Empire, he was called by the Turks the "Lion of Lechistan" and held as the saviour of European Christendom by the pope.
Royal titles
Official title was (in Latin):
Joannes III, Dei Gratia rex Poloniae, magnus dux Lithuaniae, Russiae, Prussiae, Masoviae, Samogitiae, Livoniae, Smolenscie, Kijoviae, Volhyniae, Podlachiae, Severiae, Czernichoviaeque, etc.
Official title : Jan III, z łaski bożej, król Polski, wielki książę litewski, ruski, pruski, mazowiecki, żmudzki, kijowski, wołochyński, podlaski i czernichowski, etc.
English translation: John III, by the grace of God King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Smolensk, Kiev, Volhynia, Podlasie, Severia and Chernihiv, etc.
Biography
John Sobieski was born 1629 in
Olesko, a small town near
Lwów in Poland (now
Lviv,
Ukraine) to a notable
noble family
de Sobieszyn Sobieski of
Clan Janina. His father,
Jakub Sobieski, was the Palatine of
Ruthenia and
Castellan of
Kraków; his mother,
Zofia Teofillia Daniłowicz was a granddaughter of
Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski. After graduating from the
Nowodworski College in Kraków, young John Sobieski then graduated from the philosophical faculty of the
Jagiellonian University. After finishing his studies, together with his brother
Marek Sobieski, John left for western Europe, where he spent more than two years travelling. During that time he met major political figures:
Louis II de Bourbon,
Charles II of England and
William II, Prince of Orange, and learnt
French,
German and
Italian, in addition to
Latin. This proved to be vital during his later military career.
Both brothers returned to Poland in 1648 and volunteered for the army during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. Jan founded his own banner of cavalry and commanded it in the rank of Rotamaster. After the Battle of Zboriv, the brothers were separated and Marek died in Tatar captivity the following year. Jan was promoted to the rank of pułkownik and fought with distinction in the Battle of Berestechko. A promising commander, John was sent by King John II Casimir to Istanbul in the Ottoman Empire as an envoy. There, Sobieski learnt the Tatar language and studied Turkish military traditions and tactics.]]
During the three-day long battle of Warsaw of 1656, Sobieski's command of a 2,000 man strong regiment of Tatar cavalry earnt him promotion to the title of Lord Standard-Bearer of the Crown. A strong supporter of the French faction, Sobieski remained loyal to the King during the infamous Lubomirski Rebellion, which further helped his military career. In 1665 he married Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien and was promoted to the rank of Grand Marshal of the Crown, and the following year, to the rank of Field Hetman of the Crown. Polish historian Oskar Halecki and others noted, that Sobieski also planned to conquer Prussia with Swedish troops and French support]]. This secret pact, later exposed, failed because the war with Turkey took too long, by which time the Great Elector had made treaties with France, the Swedes had been repelled, and by increased opposition from the Commonwealth's magnates, with many of them on the Great Elector's side. Sobieski's plan was also hurt by Michał Pac, the hetman of Lithuania and a supporter of Brandenburg, who simply defected with his army and then disbanded it.
, ca. 1686, National Museum, Warsaw.]]
In 1676 the Tatars began a counter-offensive and crossed the Dneper, but could not retake the strategic town of Żórawno and the peace treaty was signed soon afterwards. Although Kamieniec Podolski remained a part of Turkey, Poland counteracted its significance with the construction of the Stronghold of the Holy Trinity and return of the town of Bila Tserkva. The signing of the treaty began a period of peace that was much needed for the repair the country and strengthening of the royal authority. Although constantly hampered by the magnates and foreign courts of Brandenburg and Austria (Austria even tried to oust Sobieski and replace him with Charles of Lorraine), Sobieski managed to completely reform the Polish army. Sobieski also greatly increased the number of guns and introduced new artillery tactics. In a letter to his wife he wrote, "All the common people kissed my hands, my feet, my clothes; others only touched me, saying: 'Ah, let us kiss so valiant a hand!'"
Later years
King John III Sobieski died in
Wilanów,
Poland on 17 June 1696. His wife,
Maria Kasimira, died in 1716 in
Blois, France, and her body was returned to Poland. They are interred together in
Wawel Cathedral,
Kraków,
Poland.
King John III was succeeded by Augustus II who stayed in power primarily because of Russian support. On his death in 1733, a struggle for the crown of Poland ensued, referred to as the War of the Polish Succession.
Battles commanded by Sobieski
{| width="100%" cellspacing="0" valign=top
|-
|
Battle of Podhajce (1667)
Battle of Bracław (1671)
Battle of Mohylów (1671)
Battle of Kalnik (1671)
Battle of Krasnobród (1672)
Battle of Niemirów (1672)
Battle of Komarno (1672)
Battle of Kałusz (1672)
Battle of Chocim (1673)
Battle of Bar (1674)
|
Battle of Lwów (1675)
Battle of Trembowla (1675)
Battle of Wojniłów (1675)
Battle of Żurawno (1676)
Battle of Vienna (1683)
Battle of Parkany (1683)
Battle of Jazłowiec (1684)
Battle of Żwaniec (1684)
Battle of Iaşi (1686)
Battle of Suceava (1691)
|
.]]
|}
Marriage and family
On July 5, 1665, he married the widow of
Jan "Sobiepan" Zamoyski,
Marie Casimire Louise de la Grange d'Arquien (1641–1716), of
Nevers,
Burgundy, France. Their children were:
#
Jakub Ludwik, (b. 1667 - d. 1737) - Crown Prince.
# twin daughters (b. and d. 1669).
# Teresa Teofila (b, and d. 1670).
# Adelaide Luise (b. 1672 - d. 1677).
# daughter (b. and d. 1673).
#
La Mannone (b. 1674 - d. 1675).
#
Teresa Kunegunda, (b. 1676 - d. 1730)
#
Aleksander Benedykt, (b. 1677 - d. 1714).
# daughter (b. and d. 1678).
#
Konstanty Władysław, (b. 1680 - d. 1726).
# Jan, (b. 1682 - d. 1685).
# daughter (b. 1691 - d. 1692).
# daughter (b, and d. 1694).
The family Sobieski
Legacy
After World War II, a statue of John III Sobieski was "repatriated" to
Gdańsk from the
Ukrainian city of
Lviv (, formerly in the
Second Polish Republic). The statue overlooks a little park at the old Gdańsk
City Hall museum.
After the battle of Vienna, the newly identified constellation Scutum (Latin for shield) was originally named Scutum Sobiescianum by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius, in honor of John III Sobieski. While there are some few stars named after non-astronomers, this is the only constellation that was originally named after a real non-astronomer, who was still alive when the constellation was named.
The legend of the origins of the bagel refer to John III Sobieski as the king to whom a Jewish baker gave the very first bagel in commemoration of a military victory in 1683. The round bagels were said to resemble the stirrups of Sobieski and his mounted warriors.
The EuroCity rail lines running between Vienna and Warsaw (lines 104/105) are named after Sobieski.
Further reading
Tatham, John Sobieski, (Oxford, 1881)
Dupont, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de Sobieski, (Warsaw, 1885)
Salvandy, Histoire de Pologne avant et sous le roi Jean Sobieski, (two volumes, new edition, Paris, 1855)
Coyer, Histoire de Jean Sobieski, (Amsterdam, 1761 and 1783)
Waliszewski, Acta, (three volumes, Cracow, 1684)
Rieder, Johann III., König von Polen, (Vienna, 1883)
Chełmecki, König J. Sobieski und die Befreiung Wiens, (Vienna, 1883)
Du Hamel de Breuil, Sobieski et sa politique de 1674 à 1683, (Paris, 1894)
See also
History of Poland (1569-1795)
References
Bibliography
# .
External links
Polish website about John III Sobieski
Category:1629 births
Category:1696 deaths
Category:People from Busk Raion
Category:Roman Catholic monarchs
Category:Polish Roman Catholics
Category:Polish monarchs
Category:Grand Dukes of Lithuania
Category:Secular senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Category:Members of the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Category:People of the Russo-Polish War 1654-1667 (Polish side)
Category:Recipients of the Order of the Holy Spirit
Category:House of Sobieski
Category:People of the Great Turkish War
Category:Alumni of Jagiellonian University
Category:17th-century Polish people
Category:Burials at Archcathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanisław and Vaclav, Kraków
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![Maribor (German: Marburg an der Drau) is the second largest city in Slovenia, with 106,308 inhabitants as of 2008.[1] Maribor lies on the river Drava at the meeting point of the Pohorje mountain, the Drava Valley, the Drava Plain, and the Kozjak and Slovenske gorice hill ranges. Maribor's coat of arms features a white dove flying downwards above a white castle with two towers and a portcullis on a red shield. Maribor is also the seat of the Urban Municipality of Maribor, which has 140.000 inhabi](http://web.archive.org./web/20110427200359im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/6a/f9/5b8de18a20fba642532eebdb07e7_thumb.jpg "Maribor (German: Marburg an der Drau) is the second largest city in Slovenia, with 106,308 inhabitants as of 2008.[1] Maribor lies on the river Drava at the meeting point of the Pohorje mountain, the Drava Valley, the Drava Plain, and the Kozjak and Slovenske gorice hill ranges. Maribor's coat of arms features a white dove flying downwards above a white castle with two towers and a portcullis on a red shield. Maribor is also the seat of the Urban Municipality of Maribor, which has 140.000 inhabi")
