Stephen Báthory

Stephen Báthory was born 27 September 1533 into the Hungarian Báthory noble family, son of Stephen VIII. He became Voivode of Transylvania in 1571, then ruler outright by 1576 after defeating the challenger Gáspár Bekes. That same year he married Queen Anna Jagiellon and became the third elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Early reign meant consolidating power: he put down Maximilian II's claim to the throne and crushed the Gdańsk rebellion, working closely with chancellor Jan Zamoyski. His defining move came mid-reign - the Livonian campaign against Russia, where he repulsed invasion along the Commonwealth borderlands and forced the Peace of Jam Zapolski, a treaty heavily in Poland's favor. He reigned just ten years before his death on 12 December 1586, but the military wins left him ranked among the most successful kings in Polish and Lithuanian history.