322 BATHORY
The magnates, too, were brought to heel. Although feuding in the provinces
continued to be endemic, the King would not tolerate disruption on a major
scale. To this end, he permitted the Chancellor to make an example of Samuel
Zborowski. Banished in 1574 by Henry de Valois, Zborowski had taken refuge
in Transylvania and had backed Bathory's cause. But this did not save him when
he abused the King's disregard of his illegal return to Poland by feuding with his
neighbours. In 1584, he was seized by Zamoyski, and peremptorily executed. In
the same way, Bathory executed one Ivan Podkova in Lwow, who had thought
fit to lead a private expedition into Wallachia; the Lithuanian Oscik who had
dared to have treasonable communications with Muscovy; and the Castellan of
Ilgow for criminal offences. In contrast, he rewarded his loyal supporters most
liberally. Zamoyski enjoyed the two chief offices of the Crown as well as five or
six starostwa; in Lithuania, the Radziwill family were granted all the chief
offices of state both civil and ecclesiastical. The King's friends lived well, while
his enemies trembled.
Bathory displayed considerable skill in the art of finance. At the accession,
both the royal and the public treasuries were sadly depleted. The mint had
ceased to strike coin. Over ten years, almost all items of royal revenue were
increased, and the total nearly doubled:
ROYAL REVENUE (Zl.) 1576-7 1585-6- Crown estates: rent 70,000 74,000
- podwodny tax2,500 2,500
- stacyjny tax on Crown land 3,000 3,000
- Coronation tax 9,000 —
5. Customs and excise: inland 50,500 65,000
maritime — 44,000
6. Salt mines (Wieliczka) 28,000 66,000 - Ruthenian saltpans 14,000 20,000
8. Lead mines (Olkusz) 1,400 4,000
9. Royal Mint — 4,000 - Grand Ducal Revenue (Lithuania) 53,000 130,000
Total 231,400 412,500
In view of the fact that there were magnates in the Republic who took more than
a million zloties per year from their estates, or who gave 100,000 zl. for their
daughters' dowries, the royal revenue was extremely modest. Yet it was con-
served by austerity at court and by careful management. In addition to the
kwarta tax permanently earmarked for the standing army, it contributed a
grand total of 577,679 zl. to the defence of the realm during the reign.^8
Public finances were nursed accordingly. The land-tax raised by the Sejm was
notoriously hard to realize. The nobility constantly demanded the surrender of
Crown leaseholds from the magnates before voting supplies, and the sejmiki
were not averse to ignoring the votes of the Sejm. Even so, Bathory contrived to