Assessment and Legacy
Having control of both the Chancellorship and the Grand Hetman office, Zamoyski was one of the most powerful people in the country, having obtained both the power of Grand Hetman (commander in chief of the armed forces) and that of chancellor, combined for the first time in the hands of one person. He was responsible for much of the Polish internal and foreign policies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent statesmen in Polish history.
Some of Zamoyski's pupils attempted to dehtrone Sigismund in the Zebrzydowski's Rokosz.
Zamoyski is remembered as one of the most accomplished Polish military commanders. In his tactics, he favored sieges, flanking maneuvers, conserving his forces, and the new Western art of fortification and artillery. The war with Muscovy shown him to be a skilled commander in sieges, and latter events would prove him to be an equally able leader in the open field.
He also gathered a significant fortune; his lands covered 6,445 square kilometers, and included eleven towns and over 200 villages. In 1580 he founded the city of Zamość, built and designed as a Renaissance citta ideale or "ideal city" by the Italian architect Bernardo Morando. During his life he gathered much wealth - he owned 11 cities and 200 villages (around 6400 km²) and was a royal caretaker of another 112 cities and 612 villages (around 17500 km²). In 1595 he founded the Akademia Zamojska
Jan Zamoyski is one of the characters in the famous paintings by Jan Matejko: Sermon of Skarga and Batory at Pskov.
Read more about this topic: Jan Zamoyski
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