Free election, 1587
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Stephen Báthory and Anna Jagiellon
The third free election in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in 1587, after the death of King Stefan Batory. It began on June 30, 1587, when Election Sejm was summoned in the village of Wola near Warsaw, and ended on December 27 of the same year, when King Sigismund III was crowned in Kraków’s Wawel Cathedral.
Death of Stefan Batory (12 December 1586) began a third period of interregnum in 15 years. The Commonwealth was left without a monarch, since Anna Jagiellon, who was regarded as co-ruler of the country (together with her husband, Stefan Batory), had relinquished her claims to the crown. As a result, Poland - Lithuania was again ruled by an interrex, Primate and Archbishop of Gniezno, Stanisław Karnkowski, who organized the election and met with foreign envoys.
At that time, the Commonwealth was deeply divided between the powerful magnates and the szlachta (nobility). Stefan Batory had been backed by noble families (the Radziwills, the Zamoyskis, the Lubomirskis), while szlachta accused him of tyranny (see also Samuel Zborowski). Furthermore, there were internal divisions between Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, also between Polish provinces (Lesser Poland, Mazovia, Greater Poland, Red Ruthenia, Royal Prussia).
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