Candidates for the throne.The number of aspirants to the vacant throne was, as usual, considerable. The Czar Alexis massed 80,000 troops on the frontier in support of the candidature of his son, but the Poles took little notice either of him or his manœuvres. The Prince of Condé was supported by Sobieski and many of the Senate, but the prejudice against a Frenchman was universal among the lesser nobles. The two candidates most in favour were Prince Charles of Lorraine, secretly supported by Austria, and Philip, Duke of Neuberg, who, though sixty years of age, was set up as the real choice alike of the King of France and the Emperor. The personal advantages of the former were far superior to those of his rival; he was young, courageous, and affable; but he had neither money nor lands, while the offers of the Duke of Neuberg were most advantageous to the state. Disorder on the field of election.The nobles, fully alive to the value of their votes, postponed their decision till May, 1669; and meanwhile the field of election was as usual a scene of wild confusion. A large party clamoured for the exclusion of the Prince of Condé, and, although Sobieski protested against such a measure as interfering with the freedom of the proceedings, it was carried through by the violence of its promoters. At length the tumult rose to such a height that Sobieski, as Grand Marshal, threatened to fire upon the rioters. Order was thus partly restored; and soon the cry of a Piast! a Piast! was heard among the crowd. Sobieski might well suppose that no Piast (or native Pole) would be thought so worthy as himself to wear the crown, but perhaps he had made himself too unpopular during the election. The cry was followed by the proposal of Michael Wiesnowiesçki—a young noble barely thirty years of age, who had neither virtues, nor abilities, nor riches to recommend him to their suffrages. Proclamation of King Michael.Yet such was the fickle excitability of the assembly that he was chosen by acclamation; and, although he implored to be spared the honour, and even attempted to escape, he was dragged to the throne, and invested with the supreme authority.
The reign of such a king could scarcely be prosperous. Ere long the nobles had cause to regret that they had not chosen the man who of all native Poles was worthiest to hold the sceptre. Michael himself, when mounted upon the throne, could not but see that he was far from being the first man in the republic. The thought wounded his pride, which was soon to become as conspicuous as his previous humility. His hatred of Sobieski,He hated Sobieski with a hatred the more violent that he was unable to abridge his powers. He refused the grand coach-and-six which it was the established custom for the general to present to the new sovereign.[41] He plotted with Christopher and Michael Paz, respectively chancellor and grand general of Lithuania, against the man with whom they had a long-standing family feud.[42] Who was popular with the army.But Sobieski, besides having the army at his back, was zealously supported by the greater nobles, and although a struggle appeared imminent the king’s party forbore for a time. Efforts were made to promote a reconciliation by marrying Michael to the daughter of Sobieski’s sister;[43] but the plan was overthrown by the arrival of an ambassador from Leopold to offer him the hand of the Arch-Duchess Eleanor. Marriage of Michael.The honour was too tempting for the weak-minded king; he accepted from the emperor the order of the Golden Fleece, and hastily concluded the marriage without the sanction of the republic. Loud were the complaints against this breach of the constitution,[44] even among his own supporters, the lesser nobles. Austria had always been distrusted by the Poles, but at this moment there was a special reason for her unpopularity.
Siege of Candia. Designs of Ahmed Köprili.On the 2nd of September, 1669, after a most memorable defence of more than twenty years, the city and island of Candia surrendered to the Turkish fleet, commanded by the Grand Vizier, Ahmed Köprili. The vast designs of this able minister were the terror of Europe. Five years earlier (1664) he had concluded with Austria a twenty years’ peace, on terms most favourable to the Turks; and it was well known that he only awaited the fall of Candia to resume his schemes against Italy and the empire. That result was now achieved, a peace was concluded with Venice, and he was free to turn the Ottoman arms towards the west and north.Terror in Europe at The Marquis de St. André,[45] who had commanded in Candia, wrote into France that Köprili had opened the way to Rome, and by what he knew of that general’s humour, he doubted not but he had a design to turn St. Peter’s church into the Grand Signor’s stables. The rise of Turkey.It is even said that Pope Clement IX. died of grief at the Turkish successes. These fears were doubtless in part well founded. During the Thirty Years’ War, and the intestine struggles which succeeded it in many of the Christian states, the Turkish power had steadily increased. Two Grand Viziers of consummate ability, Mahommed Köprili and his son Ahmed, had strengthened the empire by numerous fortresses, had sternly quelled the frequent revolts, and had introduced a spirit of order and activity hitherto seldom seen among the Turks. If the jealousies of France and Austria were to continue, a wise vizier might well hope ere long to make a tremendous onslaught upon Christendom. It is not surprising therefore that, after the fall of Candia, the Poles should resent the Emperor’s crafty aim to secure their taking up arms in his defence.
Revolt of the Cossacks.But the danger was nearer than they imagined. It threatened them as usual from the quarter of the Cossacks, who had never since their first revolt in 1648 preserved a real peace with Poland. They viewed with dismay the accession to the throne of a son of their former oppressor, Jeremiah Wiesnowiesçki, and imagining that his first object would be to recover his lost estates, they rushed to arms. Sobieski’s campaign of 1670.Immediately after the coronation of Michael (October, 1669) Sobieski was called to the frontiers. Acting with his usual vigour, he sowed discord in the enemy’s ranks, and drove them beyond the Dniester. So unexpected were these victories that the Vice-Chancellor, writing to him in the king’s name, says: “Envy itself is compelled to confess that, after God, you alone, though at the head of so small a force, have once more saved Poland.” Michael refuses a policy of concession.But the king and his general could not agree as to the measures to be taken with the subdued Cossacks. Sobieski was most anxious for a policy of concession. He had seen signs among them of a disposition to call in the Turks, which they had attempted to do in 1651, and he hoped to avert such a disaster. But Michael was wholly deaf to argument. Finding that the Diet was likely to declare against him, he easily procured its dissolution by the veto (April 17th); and the event which Sobieski dreaded came to pass. The Cossacks apply to the Porte.Doroscensko, the Cossack chief, losing all hope of justice from Poland, and persuaded by his metropolitan that he would find it at the patriarchate of the East, went to Constantinople to throw himself at the feet of the Sultan.
Köprili prepares for war with Poland.Fortune seemed to play into the hands of Ahmed Köprili. The restless janissaries needed employment, and he preferred a gradual advance upon Austria to a premature declaration of war with her. Poland seemed to offer a splendid field. Proclaiming the Sultan the champion of the oppressed, he prepared a great armament against the oppressor, and created Doroscensko hospodar of the Ukraine. But his plans required time to be fully matured, and in the meanwhile he encouraged the Tartars to burst into Poland (1671).
Austrian influence in Poland.The republic was at this moment torn in pieces by the violence of the Austrian and French factions. Leopold had followed up his success in the marriage of his sister by surrounding the weak Michael with creatures of his own, who used all their arts to persuade him that the French monarch had been guilty of bringing in the Tartars against him. Great efforts were made to include Sobieski in these accusations. His second general, Demetrius Wiesnowiesçki, the king’s cousin, who had long been jealous of him, actually put Tartar captives to the torture to obtain evidence, but without success. Sobieski, though deeply indignant, contented himself with publishing a scornful manifesto, and then hastened to defend the frontiers. At the meeting of the Diet (September 20th) the deputies demanded the dismissal of the Austrian courtiers; and the primate Prazmowski vehemently accused the king of treachery to the nation, and of breaking his coronation oaths. Michael calls out the Pospolite.Terrified at this attack, Michael called out the Pospolite, which was devoted to his interests; but he paid no attention to the entreaties of Sobieski that he would use it against the invader. He could not bring himself to save his kingdom at the expense of strengthening his rival.
“Miraculous campaign” of Sobieski.Sobieski determined to act without him. Equipping the regular army at his own cost, he appeared to be covering Kaminiec, the key of south-eastern Poland, but when the Tartar hordes had passed into Volhynia, he marched with surprising celerity through Podolia, and cut them off from their allies, the Cossacks. Trembling for their retreat the barbarians broke up their camp, and hurried out of the country as fast as they could, while Sobieski made a triumphant progress through the Ukraine, capturing several towns which had not seen a Polish army for twenty years, and re-establishing communications with the friendly Moldavians. Europe justly termed this “the miraculous campaign;” yet it was accomplished almost solely by the strenuous exertions of the commander. His troops were in the worst possible condition, the Lithuanian army had disbanded without joining him, and the jealousies of the different palatinates had prevented their sending him any succours. He now begged for reinforcements to enable him to dictate peace to the Tartars, and to fortify Poland against the Turks; but the infatuated malice of the king made it difficult for him even to keep together the troops under his orders. December, 1671. He falls sick.At this juncture fatigue, and perhaps chagrin at the treatment which he received, laid Sobieski on the bed of sickness at Zolkiew; and the king redoubled his efforts to separate him from the army. The attempt recoiled upon his own head. That body at once moved their winter quarters to the Palatinate of Russia, and formed themselves into a confederation to protect their beloved general.
The Sultan declares war against Poland.But the king’s attention was soon most unpleasantly diverted elsewhere. In the same month (December) an envoy from the Porte arrived at Warsaw, and announcing that the Cossacks had been taken under the protection of the Sublime Porte, demanded reparation for the injuries which they had suffered. No resource was left to the king’s party but to treat this as a mere blind intended to conceal from Austria the Turkish advance on the side of Hungary.
Confederation against the king.The patience of the great nobles was now completely exhausted. Under the leadership of Prazmowski they entered into a confederation to dethrone the king. The advice of the primate was that they should take the emperor and the Polish queen into their counsels, and provide some candidate who would be ready to accept the queen’s hand. Eleanor was consulted, and professed herself devoted to the plan, if they would choose Charles of Lorraine, to whom she was deeply attached. Joined by Sobieski.Sobieski, now convalescent, was at length made acquainted with these projects. He strongly opposed any scheme which would place the country under the espionage of Austria; but being firmly convinced of the necessity of a revolution, he exhorted them to choose the brave Duke of Longueville, nephew of Condé. Prazmowski, nothing daunted, sent the queen the duke’s portrait, and was assured of her acquiescence. Everything seemed favourable for the coup d’état; the Diet went out in a body to meet Sobieski; and the rejoicings at his recovery were universal, when suddenly news arrived that the Duke of Longueville had been slain at the passage of the Rhine (June 12th, 1672). The party of the king, and the Lithuanians, who had trembled at the coming storm, took fresh courage, while the confederates were proportionately disconcerted. Michael began to negotiate for Austrian troops to employ against the Grand General; Invasion of the Sultan.but in the midst of the confusion it was announced that Mahomet IV. in person, with the Grand Vizier and 200,000 men, was advancing upon Kaminiec. The king’s party loudly averred that this was a fabrication of their opponents; the Lithuanians swore to defend him to the death; Sobieski proscribed.and Sobieski, with others of the leading nobles, was proscribed. This violence raised a similar storm in the Polish army in Russia, who surrounded their general, and swore to follow him to the end of the earth. “I accept your oaths,” was his answer, “and the first thing I require of you is to save Poland.”
Yet Poland seemed lost beyond all hope. Sobieski’s troops scarcely amounted to 30,000 men, and there was now no chance of uniting them to the Pospolite. The Sultan takes Kaminiec,The Grand General flew to Kaminiec to reinforce and provision the garrison; but he was obliged to leave it to its fate, for the governor, who belonged to the king’s party, refused to admit any of his force. Kaminiec was the only great fortress which Poland possessed. Its natural position—defended on one side by the river Smotrycz, and on the other by an inaccessible cliff—was very strong; and the Poles constantly boasted that God, who built it, would alone be able to take it. Yet so skilful were the Turkish miners, after their long experience in Candia, that it surrendered within a month.