A Campaign of the Great Hetman Jan Zamoyski in Moldavia (1595). Part I. Politico-diplomatic and military preliminaries

Polish-Turkish relations in the sixteenth century were generally peaceful, but the source of a conflict remained because of recurring bouts of Tatars and Cossacks, and the unexpired Polish claims to sovereignty over Moldavia. The outbreak of the war between the Ottomans and the Habsburgs in 1593 offered for Poland an opportunity to strengthen its policy in the southeast. The movement of the Christian vassals of the Sultan to the side of the Emperor Rudolf II resulted in the relocation of military operations to the territory of today’s Romania. The subordination of the Romanian lands to the Habsburgs or their complete subjugation by the Ottomans was dangerous to Rzeczpospolita. Thus, in the summer of 1595, the Chancellor and the Great Hetman of the Crown Jan Zamoyski decided to enter with a part of Polish troops to Moldavia.