Page "Sigismund III Vasa" Paragraph 26

Many historians believe that Sigismund viewed Poland only as a tool that would allow him to eventually regain the throne of Sweden.

To this end he tried to strengthen his royal power and allied himself with Habsburgs and Counter-Reformation forces.

His policies were opposed by many in the Polish nobility ( the szlachta ), most notably the chancellor Jan Zamojski.

This led to a semi-legal rebellion against the king ( rokosz ), known as rokosz of Zebrzydowski ( 1606 – 1608 ), which was a response to Sigismund's attempt to introduce majority voting in place of unanimity in the Sejm.

Eventually Sigismund's forces were victorious, but the rebels went unpunished.

Partially in order to pacify the restless szlachta, Sigismund supported war with Muscovy ( the Dimitriads, 1608 – 1618 ).

Although Commonwealth forces were almost constantly shuffled between wars in the East ( with Muscovy ), north ( with Sweden ) and South ( with Ottomans – the Polish-Ottoman wars ), Sigismund took advantage of the civil war in Russia ( the Time of Troubles ) and secured temporary territorial gains for the Commonwealth.