Danzig rebellion

The rebellion of the city of Danzig (Gdańsk) was a revolt in the mid 1570s of the city against the outcome of the Royal elections in Poland. The Polish throne was contested by Stephen Báthory and the Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian II.

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. 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 religiousprivileges of the city being restored and recognized, in return for a large reparation and recognition of Bathory as the king.

On 20 July 1570, the Polish-Lithuanian king Sigismund II Augustus introduced Karnkowski Statutes, which partly reduced Danzig's special privileges 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 Jakub Uchański to cast a vote but declined to send a representative. Members of the Senate (including most of the Polish episcopate led by Jakub Uchański) decided to elect Emperor Maximilian II, against the will of majority of nobility, which during the royal election voted for Anna Jagiello (the last representative of the former Polish-Lithuanian Jagiellon dynasty) and Stephen Báthory as her husband and de facto King. This led to a some unrest in Poland.

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