Editing Stephen Báthory (section)

==Elected king==
[[File:Riehl Portrait of Stephen Bathory.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Stephen Báthory as King of Poland with a [[Mannerist]] crown from about 1584, most probably created for him in [[Gdańsk]] after [[Willem van den Blocke]]'s design.<ref name=artinpl/>]]
In 1572, the throne of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], at the time the largest and one of the most populous states in Europe, was vacated when King [[Sigismund II Augustus]] died without heirs.<ref name=psb116/> The [[Sejm]] was given the power to [[Royal elections in Poland|elect]] a new king, and in the [[1573 Polish–Lithuanian royal election]] chose [[Henry III of France|Henry of France]]; Henry soon ascended the French throne and forfeited the Polish-Lithuanian one by returning to France.<ref name=psb116/> Báthory decided to enter into the election; in the meantime he had to defeat another attempt by Bekes to challenge his authority in Transylvania, which he did by defeating Bekes at the [[Battle of Kerelőszentpál]].<ref name=psb116/>

On 12 December 1575, after an [[interregnum]] of roughly one and a half years, [[primate of Poland]] [[Jakub Uchański]], representing a pro-Habsburg faction, declared [[Archduke Maximilian III]] as the new monarch.<ref name=psb116/> However, chancellor [[Jan Zamoyski]], [[Piotr Zborowski]] and other opponents of Habsburgs argued against a Habsburg king, fearing the political power of a native Polish king.<ref name=psb116/><ref name="Stone2001-122"/><ref name="Lerski1996"/> Zborowski in particular supported electing a [[prince]]ly or [[ducal]] ruler. Bathory also pledged several bribes, including 200,000 [[florin]]s and ransoms for Polish captives taken by the [[Tatars]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Roşu |first=Felicia |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/990854634 |title=Elective monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1569-1587 |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-878937-6 |edition= |location=Oxford, United Kingdom |oclc=990854634}}</ref> After a heated discussion, it was decided that [[Anna Jagiellon]], sister of the former King [[Sigismund II Augustus]], should be elected 'king' and marry Stephen Báthory.<ref name="psb117"/> In January 1576 Báthory passed the mantle of voivode of Transylvania to his brother [[Christopher Báthory]] and departed for Poland.<ref name=psb117/> On 1 May 1576 Báthory married Anna and was crowned [[king of Poland]] and [[grand duke of Lithuania]].<ref name=psb117/>  After being chosen as king in the [[1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election]], Báthory also began using the title of the [[prince of Transylvania]].<ref name=psb115/>