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Jan III Sobieski 1629-1696,
King of Poland and the Great Duke of Lithuania 1676-1696

Jan Sobieski was born in a Polish outstanding family. Stefan Zolkiewski, his great grandfather on the mother side was the Crown Commander in Chief. His grandfather Marek Sobieski was a distinguished officer of chancellor Jan Zamojski.
He and his brother Mark were well educated in Poland and abroad. They both took part in the fight against Chmielnicki bloody rebellion. Jan Sobieski commanding his own company turned out to be a very gifted commander. Unfortunatelly his brother was slaughtered during the massacre of Polish prisoners of war at Batoh in 1652.
Soon appreciated by the courtian was sent as ambassador to Istambul where he studied Turkish and military affairs.
After he had returned to Poland he took part in the warfare of Swedish invasion of the First Northern War ("the Deluge") 1656-1660. When the Levy of Nobility had surrendered at Ujscie, Sobieski and the rest of soldiers took side with the Swedish king only to leave him soon and join king Jan Kazimierz. Sobieski was awarded the title of Royal Standard Bearer for effectively commanding a Tatar regiment. He stayed loyal to the king during Lubomirski rebellion 1665-1666 for which he received the title of Crown Field Commander (Hetman Polny Koronny). After the victory over Cossacs and Tatars in the first battle at Podhajce in 1667 he was given the title of The Crown Commander in Chief (Hetman Wielki Koronny), the highest military post in Poland.
Jan Sobieski's participation in Polish-Turkish war 1672-1673 was his greatest military success. Turks managed to seize the fortress of Kamieniec Podolski and marched into Polish . Having a smali number of troops of the Royal Army under his command (circa 2000 horse-men) Sobieski defeated in a month 40 000 force armed Tatars freeing several dozen captives. Next year he crushed the Turkish army in its camp at Chocim skillfully using hussar cavalry charge inside the field works.
After the death of king Michal Korybut Wisniowiecki (1673) Sobieski was elected the king of Poland in 1674 and crowned in the beginning of 1676. As king of Poland Jan III Sobieski tried to strengthen the country by alliances and modernising the army. Unfortunatelly his attempts failed and after his death the position of Poland weakened which in a century resulted in the partition of Poland by its neighbours.
The top moment of king Jan’s reign was the war against Turkey in 1863. Then Grand Visier Kara Mustafa began his campaign against Austria with a strategic aim of defeating Central Europe. At the last stage of the Vienna battle on 12 September Jan III Sobieski commanding coalition forces of Austria, Poland and Germany repulsed the Turkish invaders at Kahlenberg. This last “crusade” finally thwarted Turkish plans of the conquest of Europe. Writing a letter to the Pope Sobieski summed up those events with the words: “Veni, Vide, Deus Vincit” (I came, saw and God won).