An election with two victors

The election of 1587 ends with rival groups proclaiming two candidates: Sigismund Vasa and Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg. Sigismund’s supporters control Kraków and have him crowned in December. His rival still has troops and supporters within the nobility. In January 1588, Chancellor and Hetman Jan Zamoyski defeats Maximilian at Byczyna and takes him prisoner. The victory secures the new king’s position. Subsequent negotiations with the Habsburgs consolidate the result. Sigismund has won an elective crown through a coalition that also expects to influence his government; the monarch’s interests and those of his supporters will soon reveal their differences.