In 1572, the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, at the time the largest and one of the most populous states in Europe, was vacated when King Sigismund II of Poland died without heirs [REF].
On 12 December 1575, after an interregnum of roughly one and a half years, primate of Poland Jakub Uchański, representing a pro-Habsburg faction, declared Emperor Maximilian II as the new monarch [REF].