King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Duke of Lorraine and a count of the Holy Roman Empire. Stanislaw was born into a powerful magnate family of Greater Poland, and he had the opportunity to travel to western Europe in his youth. In 1702 King Charles XII of Sweden marched into the country as part of a continuing series of conflicts between the powers of northern Europe. Charles forced the Polish nobility to depose Poland’s king, Augustus II the Strong, and then placed Stanislaw on the throne (1704). The early 18th century was a period of great problems and turmoil for Poland.
