page_title: Sigismund III Vasa
section_title: Polish–Ottoman War (1620–21)
hierarchical_section_title: Sigismund III Vasa / Polish affairs / Polish–Ottoman War (1620–21)
caption_attribution_description: English: Overview of the Khotyn fortress, the Dniester river can be seen behind
context_page_description: Sigismund III Vasa, also known as Sigismund III of Poland, was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and monarch of the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1632 as well as King of Sweden and Grand Duke of Finland from 1592 until his deposition there in 1599.
  Sigismund was the son of John III of Sweden and his first wife, Catherine Jagiellon of Poland. Elected to the throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, he sought to create a personal union between the Commonwealth and Sweden, and succeeded for a time in 1592. After he had been deposed in 1599 from the Swedish throne by his Protestant uncle, Charles IX of Sweden, and a meeting of the Riksens ständer, he spent much of the rest of his life attempting to reclaim it.
  A pious yet erratic ruler, Sigismund attempted to hold absolute power in all his dominions. Shortly after suppressing internal opposition, Sigismund took advantage of a period of civil unrest in Muscovy, known as the Time of Troubles, and invaded Russia, holding Moscow for two years and Smolensk thereafter. In 1617 the Polish–Swedish conflict, which had been interrupted by an armistice in 1611, broke out again.
context_section_description: The Principality of Moldavia was a Polish fief since the Middle Ages and Sigismund aimed at securing that despite the growing threat from the south. With the Ottoman influence and power on the rise, the Sultan aimed at expanding the Ottoman Empire westward. Furthermore, the Ottomans favoured the fertile steppes of Moldavia, Ruthenia and "Polish Ukraine". The Ottoman–Habsburg wars, which lasted almost two centuries, were also a sign of the Sultan's desperation to rule mainland Europe. Sigismund was anxious to help Habsburgs and was promised territorial gains for Poland in return for his assistance. He sent in an army consisting of mercenaries from the wars in Russia to the Principality of Moldavia, which sparked the Polish–Ottoman War.
  In 1620 the Polish forces were defeated at Cecora and Hetman Żółkiewski perished during the battle. In 1621 a strong army of Ottomans, led by Osman II, advanced from Edirne towards the Polish frontier. The Ottomans, following their victory at Cecora, had high hopes of conquering southern part of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, including Podolia, Volhynia and parts of Lesser Poland. Approximately 160,000 men besieged the Khotyn Fortress in September 1621 but were defeated at the Battle of Khotyn by a Polish garrison counting no more than 50,000 soldiers. During the siege Hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz died of exhaustion and illness in the camp.
  The Treaty of Khotyn was signed on 9 October 1621 which resulted in no territorial gain or loss, but Sigismund was to relinquish his claims on Moldavia and the Ottoman Empire was prevented from marching deep into Poland. Sultan Osman himself was not fully satisfied with the war's outcome and blamed the janissaries. His wish and plans to modernize the army, which was blamed for the defeat, were however opposed by the tradition-minded janissary units. That opposition resulted in the 1622 rebellion in which Osman II was deposed and strangled.
caption: Khotyn Fortress was the gateway to Poland from the Ottoman Empire
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