John III Sobieski
John III Sobieski (1629-1696) was another Pole elected to the Polish
throne. He had won fame as the grand hetman, an outstanding military
commander and strategist in another war with Turkey. He married Marie
Casimire de la Grange d'Arquien, a woman of great political aspirations. The king's
letters to Marysienka, as he endearingly called his queen, are masterpieces
of Polish late seventeenth century literary language. At first, the king conducted a
policy of close contacts with France, later however he entered into an
alliance with the Habsburgs. His best known and greatest success was the relief
of Vienna, besieged in 1683 by the Turks, where he scored a tremendous victory over
the army of the Grand Vizier Kara Mustafa.
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