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Jan III Sobieski

1674-1696

 

Jan III Sobieski was born in Olesko, Galicja on June 2, 1624 and died 72 years later on June 17,1696. He was a native Pole of noble blood, who through his mother inherited the Ziolkowski fortune, and through his father - Jakub Sobieski- the enormous Sobieski estates. He was one of the wealthiest nobles in Poland, who later augmented his fortune by marrying Maria Kazimiera d'Arquien, the widow of John Zamoyski.

Sobieski studied at the University of Krakow and traveled all over Europe. He fought in the Cossack insurrection and helped expel the Swedes from Poland. For his services and accomplishments he was given the title of the Commander in Chief of the army.

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One of Sobieski's ambitions was to unify the Christian Europe in a crusade to drive the Turks out of Europe. He organized the Holy League to preserve the Christendom. In 1683, in alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I , he led the army that defeated the Turks in Vienna, which turned out to be a great victory and made the Polish King a hero to all of Christian Europe.



Sobieski and his family


Links:

About the battle | The Siege of Vienna plan.


Bibliography:

Hoffman, Paul, The Vienesse: Splendor, Twilight, and Exile (New York; Anchor Press, 1988)

Steven, Stewart, The Poles (New York; Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc, 1982)

Halecki, Oscar, A History of Poland (New York; Dorset Press, 1992)

Wimmer, Jan, The 1683 Siege of Vienna (Warsaw; Interpress, 1983)

Zamyoski, Adam, The Polish Way (London; Butler & Tanner Ltd, 1987)

Durant, Will & Ariel, The Age of Louis XIV (New York; Simon and Schuster, 1963)

Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe, The Times Illustrated History of Europe (London; Times Books, 1995)

 


Edited by: Margaret Telma, Von Steuben High School, Chicago, IL
Researched by: Wojtek Chrzanowski, Von Steuben High School, Chicago, IL
  Written by: Karolina Walczyk, Von Steuben High School, Chicago, IL
13 October 1998

Text copyright 1996-2020 by ThenAgain. All rights reserved.

 

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