In April 1577, the troops of Stefan Batory clashed with the army raised by ... Gdańsk. What led to this bizarre king-city war?
“By the grace of God you have made me your king; I came at your pleas, with your votes. You put the crown on my head, so I am your king neither imaginary nor painted . I want to reign and rule, and I will not suffer that any of you interfere with this [...] "- said Stefan Batory in 1576 to the Polish nobility with anger.
There was no shortage of reasons to anger the new monarch. After more than a year of interregnum, the nobles and magnates, strongly divided in their sympathies, finally managed to make ... a double choice. The magnates supported the candidacy of Emperor Maximilian, while the noble masses chose the sister of the last Jagiellonian, Anna. And she was offered Stefan Batory for her husband.
The ambitious prince of Transylvania already during the first election after the death of Sigismund Augustus, he had a taste for the Polish crown . However, in the face of the power of the candidates at that time, he did not feel strong enough to take up political battles with them.
The noble masses chose the sister of the last Jagiellonian, Anna. And she was offered Stefan Batory for her husband.
Within a year, he managed to calm down the internal situation in Transylvania and restrain Vienna's attempts towards his native lands, gaining the opinion of a capable leader and uncompromising ruler. He quickly proved his unquestionable qualities and energetic actions. The emperor ran away from the race to Krakow and was the first to report to the Polish throne in May 1576.
New job, old troubles
However, the winning race for royal splendor was not the end of Batory's worries. Yes, the Polish crown was a huge advance for him, but in order to be able to use it, he had to first sort out Polish internal issues. The double election has ended, as historian Radosław Sikora writes in his book Unusual battles and charges of hussars :"The worst of wars - civil war" .
Initially, there were many indications that, as in the Transylvanian experience, this time it would be possible to deal with problems relatively quickly. Batory dealt quite efficiently with the supporters of Emperor Maximilian, who soon completely lost interest in the Polish throne. Even without crossing Polish borders, he died of a heart condition in October 1576.
Soon after, the election of the prince from Transylvania was recognized by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Royal Prussia, and the Prussian prince Albrecht Frederick Hohenzollern also swore allegiance to him.
Batory was well aware of the fact that the successes so far would prove to be of little value, if he did not summon Gdańsk to obey the royal will.
A window to the world clean in your throat
As Radosław Sikora writes, the city on the Motława River was:"The most populous, richest and most powerful city in the Commonwealth of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania." It had a comparable number of homes and population to the Spanish Habsburg capital, Madrid. It was the largest port on the Baltic Sea, getting richer on the control of the Vistula trade. In Unusual Battles and Hussars Charges we read:
In the 1770s, as much as every second ship heading west from the Baltic Sea just left Gdańsk . So one city generated the same traffic as all other Baltic ports.
The text was created, among others based on the newest book by Radosław Sikora, "Niez Niez Niezniany bitwy i graże husarii", which has just been published by the Znak Horyzont publishing house.
The Republic of Poland also benefited from the prosperity of Gdańsk, which, under the statutes of Karnkowski introduced in 1570, had the right to limit the activities of the city council, and the king was free to decide about opening and closing the port and regulating shipping.
Such a treatment of the proud and wealthy town, which appreciated the political separateness established during the Thirteen Years' War, was difficult for the Gdańsk townspeople to abolish. Thus, seeing Stefan Batory's centralist actions, Gdańsk did not recognize his election as king and strongly supported the imperial candidate . It was hoped that under the Habsburg rule it would be possible to abolish the royal control of the port.
So war!
Unfortunately, Maximilian himself failed the expectations of the inhabitants of Gdańsk with his unexpected death. In this situation, whether she wanted it or not, Gdańsk began to seek an agreement with Batory. The king, in September, approached Malbork with his troops, ravaged its vicinity and captured some important defense points , thus blocking Gdańsk from the south and east.
The grain trade had died out, but the support of allied Denmark allowed the inhabitants of Gdańsk to expect the appearance of Habsburg on the Polish throne with hope. With his death, they only had to deal with Batory. But this one did not want any settlement. Radosław Sikora in Unusual battles and charges of hussars writes:" He intended to punish the long-resisted townspeople and thus strengthen his authority in the country ”. Moreover, the new ruler:
demanded not only the unconditional recognition of his royal power, but also the demolition of new city fortifications, the issuance of eight heavy cannons, the handing over of Wisłoujście to the royal troops, and sending the army hired by Gdańsk to war with Moscow .
In September, the king approached Malbork with his troops.
Despite the necessity to reconcile with the new king, such demands were unacceptable to the proud townspeople. And Batory, the ruler of "neither imaginary nor painted," was no longer going to tolerate the city's opportunistic attitude. The war with Gdańsk has become a fact.
Goliath and…
The royal intention to tame Gdańsk was extremely difficult to implement. The wealth of the city allowed for powerful and modern fortifications. Thanks to many years of independence, Gdańsk has established numerous and friendly relations with foreign powers, which could turn the domestic conflict into a real international scandal.
However, most importantly - the money flowing with an almost uninterrupted stream of made it possible for Gdańsk to deploy really impressive forces to fight for its rights . (Although unequal in value - most were city militia). As noted by Radosław Sikora:
The army of Gdańsk residents numbered a total of about 12-14 thousand. people, of which only 3500 or [...] 3700-3900 were professional soldiers, and had 30 iron cannons transported on carts, 5 cannons and 2 mortars.
The army of Gdańsk residents totaled about 12-14 thousand. people.
Hope was also placed on the experience of the then well-known condottiere Hans Winckelbruch von Köln, who was entrusted with the command of the Gdańsk army.
… David
Meanwhile, struggling with the shortage of cash and the resistance of the nobility to leaving for the civil war, Batory had incomparably smaller forces at his disposal. Author of Unusual battles and charges of hussars because he enumerates that commanded by the court hetman, Jan Zborowski, delegated by the ruler to this role:"The royal army [...] had 1,350 full-time cavalry (including 1,135 hussars) and 730 infantry - a total of 2,080 pay rates. ”
Ultimately, after taking into account the so-called the number of blind portions and horses was probably even lower. A small consolation for the commander was the several thousand camp servants, who actually did not constitute a valuable military force.
Also, the numerical strength of the royal artillery did not fill us with optimism, because for the Gdańsk need, we managed to organize only two small cannons and 27 hook lifts . Thus, the power disproportionate of the opponents was enormous.
Isn't the devil so terrible?
The numerical superiority of the Gdańsk troops, and especially their saturation with firearms, must have made an impression on Hetman Zborowski. Moreover, when the enemy armies approached each other in the vicinity of Tczew, the Gdańsk commander was to be even initially surprised that the enemy did not retreat at the sight of his troops. His faith in victory was said to be so deep that the only thing he feared was the premature flight of the royal soldiers from the would-be battlefield.
Batory had incomparably smaller forces at his disposal.
But as Radosław Sikora aptly notices:
the value of an army is not determined only by its equipment. The quality of the human material is much more important. And here it was much worse. Lack of combat experience and panic are hallmarks of routine launch , which cannot be compensated by even the very good technical condition of the army.
The court hetman seemed to know this very well. He hoped for victory in the advantage of his cavalry, where the heavy hussars who started their great career in the Batorian era were in the lead. And in the pre-battle speech, he was to say these words to his soldiers:"You will have to deal with artisans, [...] and merchants, people who are unskilled and unskilled to fight."
On April 17, 1577, on April 17, 1577, the royal troops and banners, probably encouraged by these words, stood near Lubieszewo to a seemingly unequal battle with the mighty Gdańsk. Behind them, however, was the law and the royal majesty, so who could be against them?
Bibliography
- Bielski M., Polish Chronicle , pub. K.J. Turowski, Sanok 1856.
- Plewczyński M., Wars and Polish military in the 16th century , vol. 3: Years 1576–1599 . Zabrze – Tarnowskie Góry 2013.
- Sikora R., Lubieszów April 17, 1577 , Zabrze 2005.
- Sikora R., Extraordinary battles and charges of hussars , Krakow 2021.
- Stefan Batory near Gdańsk in 1576–77 , lists, universals, statements , pub. and a historical sketch was preceded by A. Pawiński, Warsaw 1877.
- Wolski K., Polish battlefields in the light of archeology , Racibórz 2008.
- Zackiewicz T., Art of war in the times of Stefan Batory , vol. 4: The practical aspect , Konin 2013.