John III Sobieski (Jan III Sobieski in Polish, Jonas Sobieskis in Lithuanian) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until 1696. Upon his death, there were no less than 18 candidates that were proposed for the Polish Throne. Among them, we had:
-Jakub Ludwik Sobieski, the eldest son of John III
-Aleksander Benedykt Sobieski, the second son of John III
-Konstanty Wladyskaw Sobieski, the third son of John III
-Maximilian II Emmanuel, Elector of Bavaria and son-in-law of John III
-Frederick Augustus I, Elector of Saxony, who had converted to Roman Catholicism in order to be eligible.
-François Louis, Prince de Conti, a cousin of Louis XIV of France, the latter being his main supporter.
The Prince de Conti eventually won the election but was very reluctant to go to Poland for various reason, leading him to delay his departure several times. When he finally arrived in Poland, Frederick Augustus I of Saxony had already beaten him there and had been crowned as King Augustus II of Poland. Conti didn't fought for the crown and turned back to France.
I have several questions regarding the succession of John III:
1) A Technical question: from what I understood by looking at the elective succession of the Polish Kings, the Poles seem to have always chosen relatives of previous Kings. Was that a criteria? And if so, from where came the the claims of the elector of Saxony and the Prince of Conti?
2) An informative question: apart from the six people I mentionned, who were the other candidates for the Polish Throne? And are there candidates that could have been eligible had they lived longer? Regarding the second part, I'm particularly thinking of Conti's eldest brother, Louis Armand.
3) In retrospect, what are the chances of the Poles not choosing either Frederick Augustus of Saxony nor the Prince de Conti? Who would have had the best chances in this case?
4) AH question: let's assume that the Prince de Conti wasn't so reluctant in becoming King of Poland and had left France earlier. Could he have been crowned King Francis I of Poland? If so, would the Elector of Saxony had fought for the crown? And what would be the consequences of having a Bourbon on the Polish throne?