page_title: Władysław IV Vasa
section_title: Prince
hierarchical_section_title: Władysław IV Vasa / Life / Prince
context_page_description: Władysław IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV of Poland was King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania and titular King of Sweden, who ruled from 1632 until his death in 1648. Władysław IV was the eldest son of Sigismund III Vasa and his wife, Anna Habsburg of Austria.
  Born into the House of Vasa, Władysław was elected Tsar of Russia by the Seven Boyars in 1610 when the Polish army captured Moscow, but did not assume the throne due to his father's position and a popular uprising. Nevertheless, until 1634 he used the titular title of Grand Duke of Muscovy. Elected king of Poland in 1632, he was largely successful in defending the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against foreign invasion, most notably in the Smolensk War of 1632–34, in which he participated personally. He supported religious tolerance and carried out military reforms, such as the founding of the Commonwealth Navy. Władysław was also a renowned patron of the arts and music. He failed, however, at reclaiming the Swedish throne, gaining fame by defeating the Ottoman Empire, strengthening royal power, and reforming the Commonwealth's political system.
context_section_description: Before he was elected king of the Commonwealth, Władysław fought in many campaigns, seeking personal glory. After his final campaign against Russians in 1617–1618 (the end of Dymitriads), in 1619 he went to Silesia, looking for an opportunity to aid the Habsburgs in their struggle against the Czech Hussites in the Thirty Years' War. That opportunity never came, but from that point onward, Władysław had a good relationship with George William, Elector of Brandenburg.
  The following year Władysław took part in the second phase of the Polish–Ottoman War, a consequence of the long series of struggles between Poland and the Ottomans over Moldavia. In 1621 Władysław was one of the Polish commanders at the Battle of Chocim; reportedly he was struck ill, but despite that he proved a voice of reason, convincing other Polish commanders there to stay and fight. His advice was correct, and the battle eventually ended with a peace treaty that returned the status quo from before the Ottoman invasion. This peace treaty also gave Władysław an international reputation as a "defender of Christian faith", and increased his popularity in the Commonwealth itself.
  In 1623, while near Gdańsk (Danzig), he witnessed the arrogant attitude of Gustavus Adolphus, whose navy took opportunity of its sea superiority to demand concessions from Gdańsk (the Commonwealth had no navy). In 1624 king Sigismund decided that the time had come for Władysław to travel, like many of his peers, to Western Europe. For security reasons, Władysław traveled under a fake name, Snopkowski (from Polish Snopek, meaning sheaf, as seen in the Vasa's coat of arms). In his voyage (1624–1625) he was accompanied by Albrycht Stanisław Radziwiłł and other, less notable courtiers. First, he travelled to Wrocław (Breslau), then Munich, where he met Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. In Brussels he met Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain; in Antwerp, Rubens. Near Breda he met Ambrosio Spinola. It was during his stay with Spinola that he was impressed by Western military techniques; this was later reflected when he became king, as military matters were always important to him. While not a military genius, and surpassed by his contemporary, Commonwealth hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski, Władysław was known as a fairly skillful commander on his own. In Rome he was welcomed by Pope Urban VIII, who congratulated him on his fighting against the Ottomans. During his stay in Florence he was impressed by opera, and decided to bring this form of art to the Commonwealth, where it was previously unknown. In Genoa and Venice he was impressed by the local shipyards, and in Pisa he witnessed a specially organized mock naval battle, experiences that resulted in his later attempt to create the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy.
  After returning to Poland, he fought in 1626 against the Swedes in the last phase of the Polish–Swedish War, where he took part in the battle of Gniew. His involvement in this conflict, which lasted till the Truce of Altmark in 1629, was rather limited, and he spent much time in other parts of the country. During that period and afterward, he lobbied for support of his candidature for the Polish throne, as his father, Sigismund, was getting more advanced in his age, and the succession to the Polish throne did not occur through inheritance but rather through the process of royal elections. While Władysław, and his father Sigismund, tried to ensure Władysław's election during Sigismund's life, this was not a popular option for the nobility, and it repeatedly failed, up to and including at the sejm of 1631. Sigismund suffered a sudden heart attack on 23 April 1632 and died in the morning hours of 30 April, forcing the issue to be taken up again.
caption: Art Collection of Prince Władysław Vasa (Royal Castle in Warsaw), according to artist's signature painted in Warsaw in 1626, depicts treasures purchased by the Prince during his journey across Europe.
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