John III Sobieski

Born into Polish nobility in 1629, Sobieski studied at Jagiellonian University and traveled Europe before turning to war. He fought through the Khmelnytsky Uprising, the Russo-Polish War, and the Swedish Deluge, sharpening himself into a commander who knew how to move against long odds. His campaigns against the Ottoman Empire made his name, and in 1674, after King Michael Korybut Wiśniowiecki died suddenly, the Commonwealth elected Sobieski to the throne. His 22-year reign steadied a state battered by decades of conflict, and his subjects liked him - rare for a king. The Pope called him the saviour of Western Christendom after Vienna. In later years his health collapsed, weight piling on until he died in 1696 and was laid at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków.