War of the Polish Succession
The Austrian surrender of Archduke Maximilian at Byczyna.
Date Autumn 1587 – 24 January 1588 Location Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Result Pro-Sigismund victory Treaty of Bytom and Będzin
Belligerents
Supporters of Sigismund Vasa, mainly Poles	Supporters of Maximilian of Austria, mainly Germans, but including many Poles and Hungarians
Commanders and leaders
Jan Zamoyski Sigismund III Vasa	Maximilian III of Austria House of Zborowski

TheWar of the Polish Succession or theHabsburg–Polish War^[1] took place from 1587 to 1588 over theelection of the successor to theKing of Poland andGrand Duke of LithuaniaStephen Báthory. The war was fought between factions ofSigismund III Vasa andMaximilian III, with Sigismund eventually being crowned. Two major battles of this conflict included theSiege of Kraków, in which Maximilian III failed to capture the capital of the Commonwealth, and theBattle of Byczyna, in which Maximilian was forced to surrender. Sigismund's victory was significantly the doing ofChancellor andHetmanJan Zamoyski, who stood behind both the political intrigue and the military victories of this conflict.

In 1586, following the death of the previousPolish king,Stefan Batory, theSwedish crown princeSigismund III Vasa andHabsburgMaximilian III, Archduke of Austria, took part in theelection to the joint Polish–Lithuanian throne.^[2][3] Each of the two candidates had supporters in thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with the two opposing sides gathered around pro-SigismundChancellor andHetmanJan Zamoyski and thePrimate of Poland,Stanisław Karnkowski, on one side and the pro-MaximilianZborowski family on the other.^[2][3] Bad blood between Zamoyski and the Zborowski family dated years past; tensions during the elections ran high.^[4]

Sigismund, supported by Zamoyski and the former king's wife,Anna Jagiellon, was elected King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on 19 August 1587 and recognized as such by theinterrex, the Primate Karnkowski.^[3] However, the election was disputed by the other candidate,Maximilian III of Austria, and opponents of Sigismund chose not to respect the election outcome, decreeing that Maximilian was the rightful monarch three days later, on 22 August.^[3][5] Zborowscy called for therokosz (legitimate right to rebel) and the election ended in chaos, with several killed and many wounded.^[4] For both Zamoyski and Zborowski, losing was not an option, as they knew the losing side would likely pay a severe price, from confiscations and prestige loss to a possible death sentence for treason.^[4]

Neither Sigismund nor Maximilian were present in the Commonwealth at that time.^[3] After receiving news of his election, both Sigismund and Maximilan made haste for Poland.^[3] Sigismund arrived atGdańsk on the 28 September, and after approximately two weeks he had departed toKraków, where he arrived on 9 December and was crowned on 27 December.^[3]

Maximilian attempted to resolve the dispute by bringing a military force to Poland – thereby starting the War of the Polish Succession.^[5] He tookLubowla, but after a failed attempt tostorm Kraków (the capital ofPoland) in late 1587, successfully defended by Zamoyski, he retreated to gather more reinforcements, pursued by the forces loyal to Sigismund.^[3][5] While waiting for reinforcements, he was defeated at theBattle of Byczyna in January 1588, and forced to surrender.^[4] This marked the end of this conflict.^[4]

After the intervention of a Papal envoy and the Spanish diplomacy,^[6] Maximilian was released, but only after spending thirteen months as a "guest" of Zamoyski.^[4] In theTreaty of Bytom and Będzin (signed on 9 March 1589) Maximilian had to renounce the Polish crown andRudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor had to pledge not to make any alliances against Poland withMuscovy orSweden.^[4] The town ofLubowla, taken early in the conflict by Maximilian, was returned to Poland.^[4] Upon his return toVienna he failed to honor his pledge and renounce his claim to the Polish crown (he would do so only in 1598).^[4][5] Nonetheless, there would be no serious military tensions between the Commonwealth and the Habsburgs, as each would quickly become concerned with other issues.

• History of Poland (1569–1795)#Founding of the elective monarchy
• History of Poland (1569–1795)#War of the Polish Succession

• Wars of succession involving the states and peoples of Europe
• Wars involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
• Warfare of the early modern period
• Conflicts in 1587
• Conflicts in 1588
• Civil wars involving the states and peoples of Europe
• 1587 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
• 1588 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

• CS1 Polish-language sources (pl)
• CS1 Spanish-language sources (es)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata