King John III of Poland and the Turkish Aspects of his Foreign Policy

Abstract

King John III Sobieski is one of the best known and greastest Polish rulers. The great battle of Vienna in 1683, when united Polish and Austro - German armies under the command-in-chief of Sobieski crushed the Turkish army, brougth Poland and especially her king immortal fame. In historical consciousness of the Poles Sobieski is a national hero and at the same time conqueror of the Turks. But a question arises-was he always a foe of Turkey? Let us try to answer this question. He was like all Polish kings in 16-18th centuries especially after 1572, the year of the extinction of Jagiellonian dynasty, an elective monarch not a hereditary one. "This prince was descended of a noble and ancient family, the none of the most considerable nor richest in the kingdom" - wrote about his election the aulic physycian to him, Irishman Bernard O'Connor, the author of a very valuable and interesting book entitled "The History of Poland" published in London in 1698.