Dominik Kadzik

Defense of the Ruthenian lands against the Tartar invasions in the years 1575–1578

In the years 1575–1578 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth used money to corrupt members of the court of the Sultan and Khan to protect the Ruthenian lands. On the one hand, the Poles “bought” their supporters from among the Crimean Tartars, and on the other hand, they wanted to influence the Khan using his sovereign, the Sultan. During this period, the Ruthenian nobility indeed defended their land against the Tartar invasions, but did not propose any changes to the system of defense. They did not see that their actions neither solved nor prevented the problem.
 

The List of the Courtiers of the Late Polish King Stefan Batory

The subject of this article is the list of payments for the courtiers of Stefan Batory, made after the death of the ruler. It can be assumed that most of the people mentioned in this document stayed with the king in Grodno, so it is possible to use it to explore the structure of the monarch’s court in the last moments of his life. Among the courtiers there were several people who began their career during the reign of Stefan Batory, and then played a significant role at the beginning of the rule of Sigismund III. By using this document and the regulations of the court of the first Vases, it can be analyzed who and under what circumstances moved from the Stefan Batory surroundings to the court of Sigismund III. The issue is all the more interesting as we do not exactly know how, in the reality of elective monarchy, the newly elected king treated the courtiers of his predecessor. What can also be traced is the amount of remuneration received by people from Stefan Batory’s surroundings.
 

This article is about the career and political positions of Gáspár Bekes and Ferenc Wesselényi in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during Stephen Báthory’s reign. It explains how they both achieved their positions and why they were important for the monarch. It should be emphasised that both of them are a good example of how the elected Polish king could help foreigners in their career in 16th century Poland. On the one hand, Gáspár Bekes achieved his position by serving in the army before and during Báthory’s wars, on the other hand Ferenc Wesselényi played an important role as a holder of a high office at the Polish royal court.

* The work is the result of the implementation of the research project No. 2017/27/N/HS3/01112 financed by the Narodowe Centrum Nauki (National Science Center).