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King John III Sobieski’s Gift to Danzig
King John III Sobieski was born at Olesko (near Lwow) in 1629 and died in 1696. He received his Latin education at the Gymnasium in Cracow and at the Jagiellonian University. In 1646-1648, he took the Grand Tour, which included the cities of Paris, London and Amsterdam. With the death of his older brother, he inherited considerable sums and began civil service through his interest in the military. Working his way up the ladder, Sobieski was presented at court in 1655, elected envoy to the Sejm in 1659, and finally received the supreme military honor, the Grand Hetman of the Crown in 1668. Surprisingly, he annihlilated the entire Ottoman army under Hussein Pasha, on the day following King Charles’ death. Three months later, Sobieski entered Warsaw in triumph and was acclaimed King by the Sejm.

One of King John’s favorite hangouts was Danzig, with its intellectual and then-thriving commercial center. He was a close friend of the astronomer Hevelius, and he understood Latin, French, Italian, German and Turkish. John was tall and plump, dressing in the same manner as his subjects. More to his value to the Danzigers, who were continually in a stew concerning the guilds and their competitors in the suburbs, John III Sobieski had a knack or concilliation and compromise that settled many major disputes. His oubiquitous Ietterwriting provides us with a glimpse of his pesonality as a picture of cotemporay Danzig life.

A fter World War II, Morienkirche and Royal Chapel stand amidst blocks of flattened buildings. Photo is looking toward the southwest. (Bill Ruh) 

 

Danzig Report  Nr. 70 - January - February - March - 1991, Page 3.