page_title: Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki
section_title: Internal conflicts
hierarchical_section_title: Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki / Biography / Internal conflicts
caption_attribution_description: English: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1672-1676
context_page_description: Michael I was the ruler of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 29 September 1669 until his death in 1673.
  Chosen partly because of the merit of his father, prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, a powerful border magnate who had helped suppress the Cossacks in eastern Poland during the Khmelnytsky Uprising. After Michael's early death, these setbacks were reversed at the Battle of Khotyn in 1673 by his successor, John III Sobieski, who defeated an Austrian candidate in the election.
  In 1670 Michael I was married to Eleonora Maria of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his third wife Eleonora Gonzaga.
context_section_description: Following the 1669 election, the Commonwealth was divided between two camps – pro-French, and royal. The pro-French camp had several influential members, including Primate Prazmowski, Hetman Sobieski, Andrzej Morsztyn, Voivode of Kraków Aleksander Michał Lubomirski, Voivode of Ruthenia Stanisław Jan Jabłonowski, Voivode of Poznań Krzysztof Grzymultowski, and Bishop of Kraków Andrzej Trzebicki.
  In November 1669, the French camp broke the Coronation Sejm, hoping to dethrone Michael and elect Count Charles-Paris d'Orléans-Longueville. In 1670, the internal struggle moved to the local sejmiks, during which the nobility demanded to bring a Sejm lawsuit against Hetman Sobieski. To defend their commander, Sobieski's soldiers formed a Confederation near Trembowla.
  To make matters worse, the divided Commonwealth was under constant Turkish threat. In 1671, the king supported a rebellion of a unit of Stanisław Wyżycki, who, against the explicit order of Sobieski, abandoned Volhynia, leaving the province defenceless. King Michael ordered Wyżycki and his men to spend the winter of 1671/72 in the wealthy starostwo of Sambor, and paid them their salaries, while Sobieski and his soldiers did not receive any money.
  In 1672, the Ottoman Empire declared war on the Commonwealth, and the Polish–Ottoman War of 1672–76 began. Despite this, the situation in the Polish Crown was still chaotic, with the danger of a civil war. The nobility formed a confederation near Gołąb, demanding the removal of Primate Prazmowski. Its members looted real estate owned by Hetman Sobieski and his family. On 22 November 1672 Lithuanian soldiers formed their own confederation in Kobryń, declaring their support for the Gołąb confederation. In response, soldiers under Sobieski formed a confederation in Szczebrzeszyn. John Sobieski, together with his troops, headed to Łowicz, to meet Primate Prazmowski.
  Negotiations between the two factions were carried out by Papal Nuncio Francesco Buonvisi and Bishop of Kraków Andrzej Trzebicki. Furthermore, Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire sent an offensive letter to Warsaw, demanding complete subordination of the Commonwealth. This greatly enraged the Poles but due to chaotic internal situation of the Commonwealth, both sides of the conflict reached an agreement in March 1672.
caption: Poland-Lithuania as a fief of the Ottoman Empire between 1672 and 1676
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