The Polish nobility of the Commonwealth had become excessively dominant, and its primary aim was to remain in power.
The lower and middle classes were often exploited and heavily taxed by wealthy or influential families of that era.
This created a sense of fear among citizens of towns and villages that were privately owned by nobles.
Sigismund, as the Head of State, always sought to restrict the privileges of the upper classes and decrease the nobility's influence over the parliament in order to personally gain control.
This caused disdain for the monarch and many rebellions occurred during his reign.
These revolts, however, were all crushed by Sigismund and the nobles eventually surrendered, having achieved little.
Furthermore, one of Sigismund's desires was to be admired and idolized by his subjects; the unsuccessful rebellions were significant in strengthening his influence over the people and the country's politics.
The Sejm, however, was still directly responsible for the majority of the Commonwealth's affairs, most notably declaring wars and suing for peace.

The King was unable to officially declare a war if the decision was not fully approved or supported by the Sejm and the Senate.
The Sejm usually consisted of approximately 600 nobles, diplomats and most influential politicians, who met annually at Warsaw or elsewhere, in order to contribute as little as possible to public needs and protest vehemently against everything they did not like or could not understand.
The nobility was also in favour of absolute non-intervention in foreign affairs, as the cheapest and least troublesome policy to pursue.

The unwillingness of the Polish gentry to part with their money, especially for armaments, was entirely due to the fear that a popular monarch might curtail their privileges.
Rather than run that risk, they avoided every advantageous alliance, forgoing every political opportunity, stinted their armies, starved and abandoned their generals, and even left the territories of the Commonwealth unguarded and undefended.
This was the case of Livonia, with its fine seaboard and hundreds of towns and fortresses, which had temporarily fallen into the lap of Poland.
It was later retaken by Sweden due to poor organization of the army and disinterest of the nobles to finance any military actions or campaigns.
The regular army, on the other hand, was very effective against enemy troops, especially in Polish-occupied Ukraine (Ruthenia), where it had an almost unlimited reserve of the best raw military material.
Moreover, the army was led by notable military commanders like Zamoyski, Żółkiewski, Chodkiewicz and Stanisław Koniecpolski.
The Polish nobility of the Commonwealth had become excessively dominant, and its primary aim was to remain in power. The lower and middle classes were often exploited and heavily taxed by wealthy or influential families of that era. This created a sense of fear among citizens of towns and villages that were privately owned by nobles. Sigismund, as the Head of State, always sought to restrict the privileges of the upper classes and decrease the nobility's influence over the parliament in order to personally gain control. This caused disdain for the monarch and many rebellions occurred during his reign. These revolts, however, were all crushed by Sigismund and the nobles eventually surrendered, having achieved little. Furthermore, one of Sigismund's desires was to be admired and idolized by his subjects; the unsuccessful rebellions were significant in strengthening his influence over the people and the country's politics. The Sejm, however, was still directly responsible for the majority of the Commonwealth's affairs, most notably declaring wars and suing for peace.
The King was unable to officially declare a war if the decision was not fully approved or supported by the Sejm and the Senate. The Sejm usually consisted of approximately 600 nobles, diplomats and most influential politicians, who met annually at Warsaw or elsewhere, in order to contribute as little as possible to public needs and protest vehemently against everything they did not like or could not understand. The nobility was also in favour of absolute non-intervention in foreign affairs, as the cheapest and least troublesome policy to pursue.
The unwillingness of the Polish gentry to part with their money, especially for armaments, was entirely due to the fear that a popular monarch might curtail their privileges. Rather than run that risk, they avoided every advantageous alliance, forgoing every political opportunity, stinted their armies, starved and abandoned their generals, and even left the territories of the Commonwealth unguarded and undefended. This was the case of Livonia, with its fine seaboard and hundreds of towns and fortresses, which had temporarily fallen into the lap of Poland. It was later retaken by Sweden due to poor organization of the army and disinterest of the nobles to finance any military actions or campaigns. The regular army, on the other hand, was very effective against enemy troops, especially in Polish-occupied Ukraine (Ruthenia), where it had an almost unlimited reserve of the best raw military material. Moreover, the army was led by notable military commanders like Zamoyski, Żółkiewski, Chodkiewicz and Stanisław Koniecpolski.
Sigismund III Vasa