JOHN III. (Jonss SourEstst), King of Poland, 1674-96; one of the greatest warriors of the 17th c.; was b: in 1624, or, according to others, in 1629, and educated with the utmost care, along with his brother Mark, by his father, James Sobieski, eastellan of Cracow, a man of virtuous character and warlike spirit. The brothers traveled in France, England, Italy, and Germany. Their father's death recalled them home in 1648. The Poles were defeated by the Russians in the battle of Pilawiecz. The Sobieskis took up arms to restore the fortunes of their country. Mark fell in battle on the banks of the Bog; John distinguished himself by his valor, and became the admkration of his coun trymen and the dread of the Tartars and Cossacks. He received the highest military dimities and appointments, and on Nov. 11,1673, defeated the Turks in the great battle in which they lost 28,000 men; after which he was, May 21, 1674, unani mously elected king of Poland, and was crowned in Cracow along with Ids wife, Maria Casimir Louisa, daughter of the marquis Lagrange d'Arquieu, and widow of the woiwode John Zamoiski. When the Turks besieged Vienna in 1683 John hastened thither with
20,000 Poles, and, along with the German auxiliaries who had also come up, raised the siege by the victory of Sept. 12 of that year. In this battle he took the banner of Mohammed, which he sent to the pope. On his entrance into Vienna he was received with unbounded enthusiasm by the inhabitants. His subsequent undertakings against the Turks were not equally successful. He died of apoplexy Juue 17, 1696. Sobieski was not only a statesman and warrior, but a lover of science, and a man of gentle disposition and agreeable manners; but his constant wars prevented that atten tion to the internal eoudition of Poland which its critical situation urgently required, and this oversight on his part helped to hasten the downfall of Poland.