Who was Stefan Batory?

A Transylvanian prince (1533 to 1586) elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, who reigned from 1576 to 1586.

What did Batory win against Ivan the Terrible?

He took Połock in 1579 and Velikiye Luki in 1580, besieged Pskov in 1581, and in the Truce of Jam Zapolski in 1582 Ivan gave up Livonia.

Why did Danzig rebel against Batory?

The city refused to recognise his election. After a war in 1577 it submitted, paid an indemnity and kept its privileges.

What was the piechota wybraniecka?

A Polish foot militia created by Batory in 1578, raised from peasants on the royal estates who served in return for exemption from rents and dues.

Did Batory found Vilnius University?

Yes, in 1579 he raised the Jesuit college in Vilnius to an academy, which grew into today's Vilnius University.

Stefan Batory: the king who beat Ivan the Terrible

The Polish nobles who elected a Transylvanian prince as their king in 1575 could hardly have known what they were getting. In ten years Stefan Batory brought a rebellious Danzig to heel, strengthened the army and drove Ivan the Terrible out of Livonia.

A Transylvanian prince

István Báthory was born in 1533 into a Hungarian noble family in Transylvania. He served at the Transylvanian court, spent time as a captive in Vienna, and in 1571 was chosen Prince of Transylvania¹, ruling under Ottoman overlordship.

Portrait of Stefan Batory in a red coat and dark fur cap with a Latin inscription — Portrait of Stefan Batory by his court painter Martin Kober (National Museum in Kraków). Public domain

Election and Danzig

After the flight of Henry of Valois, the Commonwealth faced a disputed election. In December 1575 the gathered nobility chose Batory on condition that he marry Anna Jagiellonka, sister of the last Jagiellonian king, and he was crowned in Kraków on 1 May 1576². Danzig refused to recognise him, and in 1577 the king's forces defeated the city's army at Lubieszów² and laid siege to Danzig. The siege failed, but the city eventually submitted, paid a large indemnity and kept its privileges.

War with Ivan the Terrible

Batory then turned on Muscovy, which had overrun most of Livonia in the long Livonian War. Instead of fighting in Livonia itself, he struck at Muscovite territory to the east. In 1579 he took Połock, lost to Muscovy in 1563³, and in 1580 captured Velikiye Luki³. In 1581 he laid siege to Pskov³, one of the strongest fortresses in Russia. The city held out through the winter, but the pressure of the siege, conducted by Jan Zamoyski after the king left the camp, pushed Ivan to negotiate.

Engraving of Batory on horseback directing cannon against the walls of a fortress — Stefan Batory besieging Velikiye Luki in 1580, an engraving by Francesco Corsi published in 1831. Public domain

The Truce of Jam Zapolski

Under the truce signed in January 1582¹, with a papal envoy as mediator, Ivan gave up Livonia and Połock to the Commonwealth⁴, while Velikiye Luki was returned to Muscovy. Historians count it among the most successful wars in the Commonwealth's history.

Old hand-drawn bird's-eye plan of the fortress of Połock and its surroundings during the siege — Stanisław Pachołowiecki's 1579 plan of the siege and storming of Połock, the fortress the truce confirmed for the Commonwealth. Public domain

Army and academy

Batory strengthened the army with Hungarian infantry and, in 1578, created the piechota wybraniecka, a foot militia raised from the royal estates, where selected peasants served in return for freedom from rents and dues. He made Zamoyski chancellor in 1578² and Grand Hetman of the Crown in 1581. In 1579 he raised the Jesuit college in Vilnius⁵ to the rank of an academy, the forerunner of today's Vilnius University. He died suddenly at Grodno in 1586, reportedly while planning a further war against Muscovy, and was buried in Wawel Cathedral.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Stephen Báthory” ↩ a b
Jerzy Besala, Stefan Batory (Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1992). ↩ a b c
Dariusz Kupisz, Psków 1581-1582 (Wydawnictwo Bellona (seria Historyczne Bitwy), 2006). ↩ a b c
Norman Davies, God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 1: The Origins to 1795 (Oxford University Press, 2005). ↩
Vilnius University, “Facts and History” ↩
Wikipedia, “Stephen Báthory”
Wikipedia, “Siege of Pskov”
Wikipedia, “Stefan Batory”