320 BATHORYwelcomed by 8,000 Polish noblemen drawn up by Teczynski. On 1 May, he
married the Jagiellonka, and, contrary to all the rules, was anointed king by
Bishop Karnkowski. At that, all resistance ceased. Zamoyski was rewarded
with the seal of the Vice-Chancellor of the Crown, and a famous partnership
began. The Republic was to be swept clean by a new broom of decisiveness,
energy, and high ambition.
Bathory's personality was dutifully described by Reinhold Heidenstein
(1556-1620), a German from the Rhineland who worked in the royal chancery
and was able to observe the King from close quarters. Heidenstein's writings,
Rerum polonicarum libri duodecim and De bello moscovico (On the Muscovite
War, 1584), form a prime source for the politics and wars of the reign. He was
an unashamed admirer:
Nature endowed King Stefan with the best attributes of body and mind. One might say
that she sought to create in him a model of rare perfection. In his bearing, in his face and
in his speech, he was the incarnation of majesty. At the same time he was possessed of a
strange sensitivity and simplicity, together with great humanity. Notwithstanding the
regal dignity and high seriousness which he affected toward everyone, he would enter into
spirited discussions even on matters of the greatest confidence, and repeatedly enjoined
the reticent members of his entourage to speak their mind more openly. It is impossible to
say whether people loved him more than they feared him. He was a Catholic of the most
devout kind. In his testament, addressed to his son-in-law, Prince Sigismund of
Transylvania, he instructed him in burning words to protect the Catholic religion and the
Jesuit College which he had founded in order to convert the Arians. Yet he maintained
that all sectarians should be tolerated, and should be left to God and to Time rather than
to persecution. His knowledge was enormous. It derived partly from his familiarity with
the practical affairs of the Hungarians, Turks, Germans, and Italians, but above all from
his reading of History. His favourite author was Caesar, whom he read and re-read con-
stantly. He was extremely eloquent, conversing customarily in Latin with everyone. His
every word was so weighed that often he would assume an oracular quality. When he
knew that the right was on his side, he would refuse absolutely to compromise. As a lover
of the truth, he never avoided it on his own behalf, and easily recognized it in others. In
many people's eyes, he was unduly given to anger and to cruelty ... but I can confirm that
there was no person who forgave and forgot more readily. Apart from that, he had a long
memory for services which had benefited him. On several occasions, men who had long
forgotten that they had ever rendered a service and who expected no reward, were over-
whelmed with largess. On the whole, when it came to increasing the estates of his mighty
subjects, he was thought to be excessively thrifty. And thrifty he was, though when nec-
essary he knew well enough how to be both generous and magnanimous...
At the Sejm of Thorn in 1576, when some of the members kept pestering him to
explain his intentions ... he flew into a rage ... 'I was not born in a pigsty', he said. 'I
was born a free man ... I love my freedom, and intend to guard it. By God's will, it was
you who elected me King. It was at your request that I came here. It was you who placed
the crown on my brow. So I am your King. But I will not be a fashioned or a painted one
(non fictus neque pictus). I wish to rule, and will not let anyone pick my nose. It is agreed
that you be guardians of your own freedom. But I will not allow you to act like school-
masters over me and my senators. Watch for your freedom, but lay off any pranks.'^3