Micha? Wi?niowiecki becomes King of Poland

Historical Context Note

Pawel Styrna (University of Illinois at Chicago)
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Domains

  • Changes of government, elections and reigns

Dates

  • Date of occurrence 1669-06-19-1673-11-10

Places

  • Poland (Location)

Michał I Korybut Wiśniowiecki, son of the magnate and warlord Jarema Wieśnowiecki (1612-1651), was elected King of Poland on 19 June 1669 and is remembered primarily as a symbol of weakness and incompetence. The electoral system in Poland allowed foreign powers to interfere by bribing the electors, and Wiśniowiecki was supported by the pro-Habsburg faction. Poland's petty nobles supported him because he was nominally Polish and seen as guarantor of the “golden liberties” of the Polish-Lithuanian nobility. The opposing faction included Jan Sobieski who was to be elected king after Wiśniowiecki.

During his reign the raids into Polish-Lithuanian territory by the Crimean Tatars, the vassals of the Grand Porte, had been …

223 words

Citation: Styrna, Pawel. "Micha? Wi?niowiecki becomes King of Poland". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 June 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=2615, accessed 03 May 2024.]

2615 Micha? Wi?niowiecki becomes King of Poland 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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