Henry Valois (1551–89) was elected king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1573 and arrived in Poland in January 1574. After five months, Henry fled Poland–Lithuania upon inheriting the French throne from his brother, Charles IX. As Henry III of France, he was branded a violent tyrant, who allowed his mignons to run the kingdom and isolated himself from his subjects. Historians have done much to rehabilitate Henry's reputation, but his first experience of kingship in the Commonwealth has been neglected in these reassessments. This article uses the previously unstudied treasury accounts of Henry's Polish court to re-examine his experience of the Polish–Lithuanian elective, parliamentary monarchy as crucial to the development of his characteristic style of kingship and court. Some of these practices were a response to the challenges posed by the Polish political system to a newly elected king. This allows us to recover a lost political connection between Poland and France. Secondly, the article demonstrates Henry's active engagement in the Polish–Lithuanian politics, challenging the narrative that he was a passive king anticipating his return to Paris. Instead, Henry planned to cement his rule in Poland by mounting his own faction and pursuing a bold diplomatic agenda.

Henry Valois (1551–89) was elected king of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1573 and arrived in Poland in January 1574. After five months, Henry fled Poland–Lithuania upon inheriting the French throne from his brother, Charles IX. 作为法国的亨利三世，他被冠以暴力暴君的标签，他允许他的侏儒管理王国并与他的臣民隔绝。历史学家为恢复亨利的声誉做了很多工作，但在这些重新评估中忽略了他在英联邦的第一次王权经历。本文使用先前未经研究的亨利波兰宫廷国库账目来重新审视他在波兰-立陶宛选举产生的议会君主制的经历，认为这对他的王权和宫廷的独特风格的发展至关重要。Some of these practices were a response to the challenges posed by the Polish political system to a newly elected king. 这使我们能够恢复波兰和法国之间失去的政治联系。其次，文章展示了亨利积极参与波兰-立陶宛政治，挑战了他是一个期待返回巴黎的被动国王的说法。相反，亨利计划通过建立自己的派系并推行大胆的外交议程来巩固他在波兰的统治。