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Augenis - You Were the Chosen One, Bathory!
I'm pretty sure this will be the first such list in this thread.
You Were the Chosen One, Bathory!
List of Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania since the Union of Lublin (1569-present)
1548-1572: Sigismund III Augustus (Jagiellon Dynasty)
OTL. Childless romantic whose all three wives either failed to produce an heir or dies (Barbora best waifu), and the nobles of Poland and Lithuania, fearing that a childless king will destroy the personal union, while also wishing to join forces in the face of the Livonian War, decide to unite the two monarchies into one indivisible state.
1573-1574: Henry I Valois (French faction)
1573 Convocation Sejm def.: Archduke Ernst von Habsburg (Habsburg faction), Johan III of Sweden (Protestant faction), Ivan IV 'the Terrible' (Orthodox faction)
Also OTL. Treacherous guy who became King because he accepted each and every one of the szlachta's demands, then almost immediately ran back to his homeland France because the throne became vacant.
1575-1581: Stephen I Bathory/Anna Jagiellon (Piast faction)
1575 Convocation Sejm def.: Emperor Maximilian II (Habsburg faction)
1581-1605: Stephen I Bathory (Bathory Dynasty)
One of the greatest Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania known, Stephen Bathory, former ruler of Transylvania, entered the throne of the Commonwealth as a compromise to keep the Habsburgs from winning, having to marry the dead Sigismund II's sister Anna and rule as co-monarchs to become King. Anna Jagiellon did not bear Stephen a child, and there were rumors that she was incapable of giving birth at all, but her sudden death from typhus in 1581 allowed the King to remarry and have three sons from his second wife.
Bathory was a warrior king, and his 30 year reign marked a number of successful campaigns against Russia and the Ottoman Empire. He inherited the Livonian War from his predecessors and rapidly reformed the army of the Commonwealth to deal with the Russian threat - but even after a favorable peace was signed, he laid eyes on the Russian throne. In 1598, after Tsar Feodor's death without an heir, Stephen I masterfully exploited the situation, using Russia's weakness yo his advantage and managing to dismantle the Tsardom into a number of weaker, more easily manageable states. The King also waged wars against the Ottoman Empire to protect his home in Transylvania, and while he was not very successful, it gave the Commonwealth access to the Black Sea and ended the threat of yearly Crimean raids.
1605-1651: Stephen II (Bathory Dynasty)
1605 Convocation Sejm def.: Istvan Bathory (Alternative Heir)
After Stephen I's death, it had become obvious that a Bathory will succeed him, but the question of which of Bathory's sons would succeed him. The youngest, Franciszek, declined, and moved on to become a priest, while Stephen and Istvan took their battle to the Convocation Sejm, which elected the elder of the two. Of course, Istvan didn't take this lightly and raised the banner of revolt, but his rebellion was defeated quite easily.
King Stephen II, taking the reins of the state at the age of 26, lived exceptionally long, ruling Poland-Lithuania for the next 46 years. The main event during his reign was the Thirty Years' War, in which the King threw his lot, allying with the Habsburgs in order to take down Sweden. While the initial stages of the war were not very successful, especially with France joining the Protestant side, eventually the Catholics managed to turn the tide just enough to secure a stalemate in the following Treaty of Breslau. Poland-Lithuania gained most of Livonia and Prussia as fiefs.
1651-1679: Nicholas I (Bathory Dynasty)
1651 Convocation Sejm def.: no serious opposition
By now, the Convocation Sejm had basically become a rubber stamp for the heir of the Bathory dynasty.
The main event in Nicholas I's reign was the Great Turkish War, one of the longest and most brutal wars in the history of European-Ottoman Wars. King Nicholas I led a Christian coalition against the might of the Ottoman Empire in order to liberate Hungary from Turkish rule. And at first, it went pretty badly - so badly, in fact, that a grand Ottoman army reached Krakow and began sieging the Wavel Castle, where the King had barricaded himself.
A cry for help was sent in time of need. Await relief from Holy League, but it didn't seem to come. Sixty days of siege had passed, the Poles were outnumbered and weak. Sent a message to the sky. Wounded Polish soldiers were left to die. Will they hold the wall or will the Wavel fall?
Desperation. Desperation. They're outnumbered 15:1... and the battle's begun...
Then the German Knights arrived!!!
It was the largest cavalry charge in European history, with thousands of knights from the Holy Roman Empire and the rest of Europe, bolstered by Polish Winged Hussars, mowed down the Turkish ranks sieging Krakow and saved Poland-Lithuania from the Turkish scourge. But, as you expect, the Ottomans were not driven out of Europe.
In slightly more positive news, King Nicholas's reign also marked the beginning of Polish colonization of Siberia, helped by the fact that the disunited Russian states were now fully incorporated into the Commonwealth.
To be continued.
You Were the Chosen One, Bathory!
List of Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania since the Union of Lublin (1569-present)
1548-1572: Sigismund III Augustus (Jagiellon Dynasty)
OTL. Childless romantic whose all three wives either failed to produce an heir or dies (Barbora best waifu), and the nobles of Poland and Lithuania, fearing that a childless king will destroy the personal union, while also wishing to join forces in the face of the Livonian War, decide to unite the two monarchies into one indivisible state.
1573-1574: Henry I Valois (French faction)
1573 Convocation Sejm def.: Archduke Ernst von Habsburg (Habsburg faction), Johan III of Sweden (Protestant faction), Ivan IV 'the Terrible' (Orthodox faction)
Also OTL. Treacherous guy who became King because he accepted each and every one of the szlachta's demands, then almost immediately ran back to his homeland France because the throne became vacant.
1575-1581: Stephen I Bathory/Anna Jagiellon (Piast faction)
1575 Convocation Sejm def.: Emperor Maximilian II (Habsburg faction)
1581-1605: Stephen I Bathory (Bathory Dynasty)
One of the greatest Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania known, Stephen Bathory, former ruler of Transylvania, entered the throne of the Commonwealth as a compromise to keep the Habsburgs from winning, having to marry the dead Sigismund II's sister Anna and rule as co-monarchs to become King. Anna Jagiellon did not bear Stephen a child, and there were rumors that she was incapable of giving birth at all, but her sudden death from typhus in 1581 allowed the King to remarry and have three sons from his second wife.
Bathory was a warrior king, and his 30 year reign marked a number of successful campaigns against Russia and the Ottoman Empire. He inherited the Livonian War from his predecessors and rapidly reformed the army of the Commonwealth to deal with the Russian threat - but even after a favorable peace was signed, he laid eyes on the Russian throne. In 1598, after Tsar Feodor's death without an heir, Stephen I masterfully exploited the situation, using Russia's weakness yo his advantage and managing to dismantle the Tsardom into a number of weaker, more easily manageable states. The King also waged wars against the Ottoman Empire to protect his home in Transylvania, and while he was not very successful, it gave the Commonwealth access to the Black Sea and ended the threat of yearly Crimean raids.
1605-1651: Stephen II (Bathory Dynasty)
1605 Convocation Sejm def.: Istvan Bathory (Alternative Heir)
After Stephen I's death, it had become obvious that a Bathory will succeed him, but the question of which of Bathory's sons would succeed him. The youngest, Franciszek, declined, and moved on to become a priest, while Stephen and Istvan took their battle to the Convocation Sejm, which elected the elder of the two. Of course, Istvan didn't take this lightly and raised the banner of revolt, but his rebellion was defeated quite easily.
King Stephen II, taking the reins of the state at the age of 26, lived exceptionally long, ruling Poland-Lithuania for the next 46 years. The main event during his reign was the Thirty Years' War, in which the King threw his lot, allying with the Habsburgs in order to take down Sweden. While the initial stages of the war were not very successful, especially with France joining the Protestant side, eventually the Catholics managed to turn the tide just enough to secure a stalemate in the following Treaty of Breslau. Poland-Lithuania gained most of Livonia and Prussia as fiefs.
1651-1679: Nicholas I (Bathory Dynasty)
1651 Convocation Sejm def.: no serious opposition
By now, the Convocation Sejm had basically become a rubber stamp for the heir of the Bathory dynasty.
The main event in Nicholas I's reign was the Great Turkish War, one of the longest and most brutal wars in the history of European-Ottoman Wars. King Nicholas I led a Christian coalition against the might of the Ottoman Empire in order to liberate Hungary from Turkish rule. And at first, it went pretty badly - so badly, in fact, that a grand Ottoman army reached Krakow and began sieging the Wavel Castle, where the King had barricaded himself.
A cry for help was sent in time of need. Await relief from Holy League, but it didn't seem to come. Sixty days of siege had passed, the Poles were outnumbered and weak. Sent a message to the sky. Wounded Polish soldiers were left to die. Will they hold the wall or will the Wavel fall?
Desperation. Desperation. They're outnumbered 15:1... and the battle's begun...
Then the German Knights arrived!!!
It was the largest cavalry charge in European history, with thousands of knights from the Holy Roman Empire and the rest of Europe, bolstered by Polish Winged Hussars, mowed down the Turkish ranks sieging Krakow and saved Poland-Lithuania from the Turkish scourge. But, as you expect, the Ottomans were not driven out of Europe.
In slightly more positive news, King Nicholas's reign also marked the beginning of Polish colonization of Siberia, helped by the fact that the disunited Russian states were now fully incorporated into the Commonwealth.
To be continued.
- Augenis
- Word Count: 880