Born Aug. 17, 1629, in Olesko; died June 17, 1696, in Wilanów. King of Poland from 1674.

As grand hetmán of the crown, Sobieski commanded the Polish troops in the Polish-Turkish War of 1672–76; he crushed a Turkish army in a battle at Khotin on Nov. 11, 1673. He was elected king by the Sejm after this victory. In April 1683 he entered into an alliance with the Austrian Hapsburgs to oppose Turkish aggression; coming to the aid of the Austrians, he routed the Turks in a battle near Vienna on Sept. 12, 1683.

Sobieski drew Russia into the anti-Turkish coalition by concluding with Russia the Eternal Peace of 1686. Sobieski attempted to establish a hereditary monarchy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth but encountered resistance from the Polish magnates and opposition from Austria and Brandenburg.