Stephen Bathory (1533-1586), Duke of Transylvania, was elected king of
Poland in 1575, and crowned in 1576, having previously married Anne
Jagiellonian, the sister of
Sigismund Augustus.
The Polish crown was a great honour for Bathory, who immediately made it
clear that he did not take his position lightly. He opposed the licence of the
gentry and the magnates, and continued the policy of religious tolerance which
the Convocation Seym of 1573 (the so-called Warsaw Convocation) made one of
the principles of the political system of Poland. Although a proponent of
strong government, he renounced his judicial powers and instead appointed
separate tribunals for Poland and Lithuania. He introduced important
reforms in the army and the system of taxes. In a war with Muscovy he
recovered Livonia. He elevated the Jesuit college in Vilnius to the rank
of Academy (university).
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