However, around late March 1656, he abandoned their side, returning to the side of Polish king John II Casimir Vasa, enlisting under the command of hetmans Stefan Czarniecki and Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski. Īfter the start of the Swedish invasion of Poland known as ' The Deluge', John Sobieski was among the Greater Polish regiments led by Krzysztof Opaliński, Palatine of Poznań which capitulated at Ujście, and swore allegiance to King Charles X Gustav of Sweden.

It is likely he participated as part of the briefly allied Polish-Tatar forces in the 1655 Battle of Okhmativ.

There, Sobieski learned the Tatar language and the Turkish language and studied Ottoman military traditions and tactics. A promising commander, John was sent by King John II Casimir as one of the envoys in the diplomatic mission of Mikołaj Bieganowski to the Ottoman Empire. In 1653, he voluntarily spent time as a hostage in the Crimean Tatar capital of Bakhchysarai. John was promoted to the rank of pułkownik and fought with distinction in the Battle of Berestechko. In 1652, Marek died in Tatar captivity after his capture at the Battle of Batih. In 1649, Jakub fought in the Battle of Zboriv. Soon, the fortunes of war separated the brothers. They founded and commanded their own banners ( chorągiew) of cavalry (one light, ' cossack', and one heavy, of Polish hussars). Upon receiving the news of the death of king Władysław IV Vasa and the hostilities of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, they volunteered for the army. īoth brothers returned to the Commonwealth in 1648. During that time, he met influential contemporary figures such as Louis II de Bourbon, Charles II of England and William II, Prince of Orange, and learned French, German, and Italian, in addition to Latin. They visited Leipzig, Antwerp, Paris, London, Leiden, and The Hague. After finishing his studies, John and his brother Marek Sobieski left for western Europe, where he spent more than two years travelling. After graduating from Bartłomiej Nowodworski College in Kraków in 1643, young John Sobieski then graduated from the philosophical faculty of the University of Kraków in 1646. John Sobieski spent his childhood in Żółkiew. His father, Jakub Sobieski, was the Voivode of Ruthenia and Castellan of Kraków his mother, Zofia Teofillia Daniłowicz was a granddaughter of Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski. John Sobieski was born on 17 August 1629, in Olesko, now in Ukraine, then part of the Ruthenian Voivodeship in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to a renowned noble family de Sobieszyn Sobieski of Janina coat of arms. He was succeeded by Augustus II of Poland and Saxony.īiography Youth Olesko Castle, the birthplace of John Sobieski Suffering from poor health and obesity in later life, Sobieski died in 1696 and was buried at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. The defeated Ottomans named Sobieski the 'Lion of Lechistan', and the Pope hailed him as the saviour of Western Christendom. Popular among his subjects, he was an able military leader, most famously for his victory over the Ottoman at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Sobieski's 22-year reign marked a period of the Commonwealth's stabilization, much needed after the turmoil of previous conflicts. In 1674, he was elected monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth following the sudden and unexpected death of King Michael. Sobieski demonstrated his military prowess during the war against the Ottoman Empire and established himself as a leading figure in Poland and Lithuania. As a soldier and later commander, he fought in the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Russo-Polish War and during the Swedish invasion known as the Deluge. John III Sobieski ( Polish: Jan III Sobieski Lithuanian: Jonas III Sobieskis Latin: Ioannes III Sobiscius 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696.īorn into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Europe in his youth.

Great siege of vienna