THE LITHUANIAN UNION 115after more than a century as vassals of the Polish King, the Hospodars of
Moldavia transferred their allegiance to the Ottoman Porte. In 1497, Stephen of
Moldavia defeated the Polish disciplinary expedition at Kozin in Bukovina, and
introduced a further element of uncertainty into the confused politics of the
region. In the next thirty years, Moldavian ambitions flourished on the sidelines
of the Ottomans' own advance into the Danube Basin, and some headlong col-
lision with the Poles became increasingly likely. In 1529, in the name of the
Sultan but without the Sultan's permission, Hospodar Petrylo invaded the fron-
tier district of Pokucie. There, on the banks of the Dniester at Obertyn, on 22
August 1531, he was confronted by Hetman Tarnowski with a small force of
some 6,000 men. The furious attacks of 17,000 horsemen repeatedly failed to
break the Polish square, until at the end of the day, the garrison sallied forth to
sweep the attackers from the field. It was a classic victory - at once the vindica-
tion of careful tactics and of the obrona potoczna. Ten years later, when the
unlucky Hospodar was dethroned at the Sultan's instigation, his removal was
declared a fitting punishment for someone 'who had disturbed the Forte's best
friend, the King of Poland'.
Sigismund II Augustus (Zygmunt-August, 1520-72), was schooled for king-
ship from his gilded cradle. In 1529, he was formally elected to the Polish throne
on the wishes of his father, and began to rule under his father's guidance as
Grand Duke in Lithuania. Hence for nearly twenty years, there were two King
Sigismunds - the 'Elder' one in Cracow, and the 'Young Augustus' in Wilno.
The contrast was striking. Despite his regal manner and cosmopolitan educa-
tion, Sigismund II entirely lacked the assertiveness of the typical Renaissance
prince. His temper was mild, and in his later years distinctly melancholy. He
was nobody's 'wise fool', but he administered the realm with a grace and ease
that bordered on the nonchalant. He was interested in all the progressive move-
ments of the age, from Protestant theology to 'Executionist' politics, and natur-
ally took the part of lesser men who were battling against the privileges of
bishops and magnates. Yet he would have nothing of violence and bias; and
refused categorically to be drawn into the religious quarrels of the age. His
famous statement that he was 'King of the people, not of their consciences' com-
plemented his father's remark to the learned Dr Eck: 'Please permit me, Sir, to
be King of both the sheep and the goats.' His personal life was cast before the
public eye, and caused him much pain. His mother, Bona Sforza, who had
assumed considerable political influence during her husband's dotage, resorted
to the most desperate tactics of a Renaissance harpy. In 1545, she poisoned the
atmosphere of his first marriage and in due course poisoned the abandoned
wife. In 1547, she took offence at his secret marriage with the widowed Barbara
Radziwill, daughter of the Lithuanian Hetman, and was strongly suspected in
due course of poisoning her also. In 1556, she absconded to her native duchies
of Ban and Rossano in Southern Italy, taking some 430,000 ducats in cash and
jewels from the royal treasury. These 'Neapolitan Sums', which were
bequeathed to the King of Spain were still in dispute in the eighteenth century.