View source for Danzig rebellion

{{Short description|16th-century armed revolt in Danzig (Gdańsk)}}
{{Campaignbox Danzig rebellion}}
The '''rebellion of the city of Danzig ([[Gdańsk]])''' was a revolt from December 1575 to December 1577 of the city against the outcome of the [[1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election]]. The Polish throne was contested by [[Stephen Báthory of Poland|Stephen Báthory]] and the Holy Roman Emperor [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximillian II]].
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Danzig Rebellion
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| date              = December 1575 - December 1577
| place             = [[Danzig]] and its surroundings
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| territory         = 
| result            = Treaty of [[Malbork]] ([[Ordensburg Marienburg|Marienburg]])
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| combatants_header = 
| combatant1        = {{flagicon|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}} [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]<br/> {{flagicon image|Flag of Transylvania before 1918.svg}} [[Principality of Transylvania (1570–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]]
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Free City of Danzig}} [[Gdańsk]]<br/> {{flagdeco|Denmark–Norway}} [[Denmark–Norway]]
| combatant3        = 
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}}  [[Stephen Báthory]]<br/>{{flagicon|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}} [[Jan Zborowski]]
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Free City of Danzig}} Johann Winkelbruch{{KIA}}
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| strength1         = Around 2,000
| strength2         = Around 12,000
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}}

It began on 12 December 1575, when Emperor Maximillian was chosen as monarch by the Polish Senate, while the majority of the [[szlachta]] (nobility) had voted for Bathory. It ended on 16 December 1577.<ref name=end/> Maximilian's II death in fall of 1576 weakened Danzig's position and made the conflict less about the recognition of the ruler than about Danzig's privileges. With neither side being able to defeat the other militarily, a compromise was reached, with economic as well as religious<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zfGrxQBcuXgC&pg=RA1-PA162|author=John H. Elliott|title=Europe Divided|publisher=Wiley|pages=336|year=2000|isbn=9780631217800|author-link=John H. Elliott}}</ref> [[Danzig's privileges|privileges of the city]] being restored and recognized, in return for a large reparation and recognition of Bathory as Grand Duke of western Prussia. Danzig made its oath conditional on the removal of the Statute of the Karnkowski commission of 1569/70.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kpulHjDt8UEC&dq=Prussia+Karnkowski+statute%3F&pg=PA273|page=111|title=The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772|isbn=9780521027755|last1=Friedrich|first1=Karin|date=2 November 2006}}</ref>

==Background==
On 20 July 1570, the Polish-Lithuanian king [[Sigismund II Augustus]] introduced [[Karnkowski Statutes]], which partly reduced [[Danzig law|Danzig's special privileges]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njEYAAAAIAAJ&q=siege+Danzig+1577|author=John Brown Mason|title=The Danzig Dilemma; a Study in Peacemaking by Compromise|publisher=[[Stanford University Press]]|year=1946|pages=377|isbn=9780598715616}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsBco40rMPcC&pg=PA112|author=Karin Friedrich|title=The Other Prussia: Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=2000|isbn=0-521-58335-7|author-link=Karin Friedrich}}</ref> granted by earlier Polish kings after the [[Prussian Confederation]] cities recognized their rule in 1454.

In 1572, the throne of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] was vacated when King Sigismund Augustus died without an heir and [[Henry III of France]] after a brief period as a Polish king returned to France. [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] was an [[elective monarchy]] and (after the [[Union of Lublin]] in 1569) in close union with Lithuania, meaning that Polish nobility ([[szlachta]]) could vote on who would become the next king. Cities had no vote; Danzig however was invited by [[primate of Poland]] and [[Interrex (Poland)|interrex]] [[Jakub Uchański]] to cast a vote but declined to send a representative.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PcBJAAAAIAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|title=Rocznik gdański|trans-title=Vintage Gdansk|publisher=[[Gdańsk Scientific Society]]|volume=24-25|language=pl|year=1965}}</ref> Members of the [[Senate of Poland|Senate]] (including most of the Polish episcopate led by Jakub Uchański) decided to elect [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Maximilian II]], against the will of majority of [[szlachta|nobility]], which during the [[Royal elections in Poland|royal election]] voted for [[Anna Jagiello]] (the last representative of the former Polish-Lithuanian [[Jagiellon dynasty]]) and [[Stephen Báthory of Poland|Stephen Báthory]] as her husband and ''de facto'' King. This led to some unrest in Poland.

The town whose economic privileges were reduced by the Karnkowski Statutes, wanted to use the situation to regain its preferential position within the [[Polish Crown]]. It also preferred Maximilian,<ref name="Davies321">Norman Davies, [https://archive.org/details/godsplaygroundhi00norm_0/page/321 ''God's Playground: A History of Poland in Two Volumes''], Oxford University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0-19-925339-0}}, p.321.</ref> who looked more likely to support the towns' economic privileges, and who could also threaten serious economic repercussions (boycott by the [[Habsburg]]s). Thus the city, encouraged by its immense wealth and almost impregnable fortifications, as well as by the secret support of [[Denmark-Norway]]<ref>Stewart P. Oakley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wPXEp45wAeQC&pg=PA35 ''War and Peace in the Baltic, 1560-1790''], Routledge, 1992, {{ISBN|0-415-02472-2}}, p.35</ref> and Emperor Maximilian himself, had supported the latter's election.

On 1 May 1576, Stefan Bathory married King Anna Jagiello and was crowned by [[Stanisław Karnkowski]] as King of Poland. [[Jakub Uchański]] and [[nuncio]] [[Wincenty Laureo]] recognized Maximillian as a King, but soon they and others accepted the will of majority. When Stefan swore in all of existing rights of [[Royal Prussia]] and [[Duchy of Prussia]],<ref name=Jasienica>{{in lang|pl}} Paweł Jasienica: "Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów" (p.101-107),</ref> and was recognized as a rightful ruler,<ref name=krotkie/> Danzig refused to follow along and still recognized Maximillian as King of Poland.<ref>{{cite book|language=pl|author=Władysław Czapliński|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiNFAAAAIAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|title=Zarys dziejów Polski do roku 1864|trans-title=Outline of Polish history until 1864|publisher=[[Znak (publisher)|Znak]]|year=1985|place=Poland|pages=550|isbn=9788370060572 |author-link=Władysław Czapliński}}</ref>

The tensions grew as rioters looted and burned down an [[Oliwa Abbey|abbey]] in [[Oliwa]].<ref name="Davies321"/> The abbey belonged to the [[bishop of Kujawy]], Stanisław Karnkowski, who had under his jurisdiction the whole of Polish [[Pomerania]]. The [[Sejm]] (parliament) of the Commonwealth did not approve higher taxes for the war. It did however approve a ''banicja'' (form of political exile and excommunication), confiscation of the city's property, arrest of its citizens, commercial blockade and rerouting of the important trade via the port of [[Elbląg]] (which however was immediately blockaded by Denmark-Norway's navy).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFgB_l4SdHAC&pg=PA123|author=Daniel Stone|title=The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795|publisher=[[University of Washington Press]]|place=[[Seattle]] and [[London]]|year=2001|isbn=0-295-98093-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VeIuAAAAIAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|author1=Stanisława Zajchowska|author2=Maria Kiełczewska-Zaleska|author3=Feliks Nowowiejski|author4=Jerzy Antoniewicz|title=Warmia i Mazury|trans-title=Warmia and Mazury|publisher=[[Western Institute]]|year=1953|volume=1|language=pl}}</ref>

==Fighting==
In August 1576, Bathory led 2,000 (Polish soldiers and mercenaries from [[Transylvania]] and [[Wallachia]]<ref>E. Liptai: Magyarország hadtörténete (1), Zrínyi katonai kiadó 1984. {{ISBN|963-326-320-4}}; 208. p.</ref>) men to [[Malbork]] (Marienburg), from there Polish units took control of the area surrounding Gdańsk, capturing Grabina and Głowa, two strategically important villages, thereby blockading Danzig's port from the east and the south. The King left the army under the command of [[Hetman]] [[Jan Zborowski]] and most of the forces were stationed at [[Tczew]] (Dirschau). In the west the main base was at [[Puck, Poland|Puck]] (Putzig), where there was a mercenary force led by [[Ernest Weyher]]. While some Polish [[privateer]] ships fought the Gdańsk and Danish-Norwegian fleets, for the most part the control of the [[Baltic Sea]] belonged to the Danzigers and their allies.<ref name="jas">{{cite web|url=http://www.jasinski.co.uk/wojna/battles/1577-Gdansk/1577-Gdansk1.htm|title=Polish Renaissance Warfare - Muscovite Polish War 1610-18|access-date=27 May 2015}}</ref> Soon after the fighting begun, Maximilian's II death (12 October 1576) was announced; this weakened Danzig's position and made the conflict less about the recognition of the ruler than about Danzig's privileges.<ref name=psb118>Besala and Biedrzycka (2005), "Stefan Batory". Polski Słownik Biograficzny. XLIII.p.118</ref>

[[File:Mapa Gdańska 1687.jpg|thumb|320px|Map showing the fortifications of Danzig as they were over 100 years later]]
With the coming of the spring of 1577, the fighting began anew. The Danzig army, led by the German [[Condottieri|mercenary commander]] Johann Winkelbruch ([[Hans Winckelburg von Kölln]]), was about 7,000-12,000 strong (including mercenaries, among them a Scottish regiment<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=6KrUDhbGDVcC&dq=battle+Danzig+1577&pg=PA4 ''The regiment of six companies numbering about 700 men was hired by Danzig in 1577–8 and won great fame in the city's rebellion against Poland.''] - [[Richard Brzezinski]]: Polish Armies 1569-1696 (2), [[Osprey Publishing]]</ref>), but with less than 1,000 cavalry. Winckelburg decided to crush the small army of Zborowski (who had about 2,000 men, half of them cavalry), but the Danzig army was utterly defeated by Zborowski in the [[battle of Lubiszewo]] on 17 April 1577.<ref name="Davies321"/><ref>Radosław Sikora, Lubieszów 17 IV 1577, Zabrze 2005.</ref>

After the battle, the Danzig forces retreated behind the walls, citizens pulled down trees and houses in front of fortifications<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rPgVp3vMOjcC&dq=batory+gda%C5%84sk&pg=PA497|author1=Edmund Cieślak|author2=Czesław Biernat|title=The Structures of Everyday Life|publisher=Wydawn|year=1988|pages=547|isbn=9780520081147 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=brVFAAAAIAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|title=History of Gdańsk|publisher=Wydawn|place=[[Gdańsk]], [[Poland]]|year=1988|pages=547|isbn=9788321572116 }}</ref> and a [[Siege of Danzig (1577)|siege]] began. Reinforcement with King Batory arrived only in July.<ref name=jas/> During it King Stefan was using heated cannonballs<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmQVan-M3ykC&pg=PA169|author=W. Y. Carman|title=A History of Firearms|publisher=[[Dover Publications]]|year=2004|pages=207|isbn=9780486433905 }}</ref> and turned back the flow of the [[Radunia]] river.<ref name=Jasienica/> Bathory had about 11,000 men, and Danzig, about 10,000.<ref name=jas/> A surprise attack by the Danzigers managed to destroy two-thirds of the Polish artillery, vastly slowing the progress of the siege.<ref name=jas/> In September 1577<ref name=Jasienica/> Danzig and Danish-Norwegian fleets started a blockade of Polish trade along Elbing and attacked its suburbs. Their troops that landed were soon pushed back by Bathory's Hungarian infantry under [[Gáspár Bekes|Kacper Bekiesza]], and the city council send a note thanking the King.<ref name=Jasienica/><ref>{{cite book|author=Wacław Sobieski|language=pl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xRgBAAAAMAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|title=Dzieje Polski|publisher=Wydawn|volume=1-3|year=1923|place=Poland}}</ref>

However, after a few months, Stephen's army was unable to take the city by force. On 16 December 1577,<ref name=end>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEA7AAAAIAAJ&q=siege+danzig+bathory|author=Walter Yust|title=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|year=1956|author-link=Walter Yust}}</ref> the siege ended and citizens swore loyalty to Stefan's representatives Eustachy Wołłowicz and [[Andrzej Firlej]].<ref name=krotkie>{{cite book|language=pl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4vUKAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA184|author=Jerzy Samuel Bandtkie|title=Krótkie wyobrażenie dzieiów Królestwa Polskiego|volume=2|year=1810|page=184| publisher=u Wilhelma Bogumiła Korna |author-link = Jerzy Samuel Bandtkie}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|language=pl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iUAbAAAAMAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|author=Irena Fabiani-Madeyska|title=Odwiedziny Gdańska w XIX wieku|publisher=[[Gdańsk Scientific Society]]|place=Gdańsk, Poland|year=1957|pages=370}}</ref> (Treaty of Malbork).<ref name="Davies321"/>

==Aftermath==
The Gdańsk merchants had suffered a great deal from the blockade, especially because of lack of trade.<ref name="jas"/> In the meantime, Bathory also wanted to end the siege, as [[Ivan the Terrible]] of [[Tsardom of Russia|Muscovy]] broke a three-year truce in the same year<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fwcgAAAAMAAJ&q=siege+danzig+bathory|author=Joseph Slabey Rouček|title=Slavonic Encyclopaedia|publisher=[[Philosophical Library]]|year=1949|pages=1445|isbn=9780804605373 }}</ref> and Muscovy tried to gain control of the eastern territories of the Commonwealth ([[Livonian War]]).<ref name="Stone">Daniel Stone, [https://books.google.com/books?id=LFgB_l4SdHAC&pg=PA123 ''The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795''], University of Washington Press, 2001, {{ISBN|0-295-98093-1}}, p. 123.</ref>

The siege and all economic restrictions that were passed in the past two years were lifted in return for reparations and recognition of Bathory as the sovereign. Stefan forgave the city's rebellion and again turned Polish trade from Elbing to Danzig. The city, in turn, recognized him as ruler of Poland and promised to pay the large sum of 200,000 [[złoty]]s and an additional 20,000 repatriation to the abbey of Oliwa in five years.<ref>{{cite book|language=pl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YeY7AAAAMAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|author=Marian Pelczar|title=Polski Gdańsk|publisher=Municipal Library of Gdańsk|year=1947|place=Gdańsk, Poland|pages=187}}</ref>

On 26 November 1585 the Karnkowski Statutes from 1570 were lifted,<ref>{{cite book|language=pl|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tH8SAAAAIAAJ&q=batory+gda%C5%84sk|publisher=Instytut Historii PAN|title=Odrodzenie i reformacja w polsce|trans-title=Rebirth and reformation in Poland|volume=4-7|year=1959}}</ref> and Danzig again became the most privileged city in the Commonwealth.

==See also==
*[[History of Gdańsk]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Polish wars and conflicts}}{{Gdańsk}}{{Polish uprisings}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danzig}}
[[Category:Military history of Gdańsk]]
[[Category:1570s in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:Rebellions in Poland]]
[[Category:16th-century rebellions]]
[[Category:1570s conflicts]]