Sigismundus I King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506, from the Jagiellonian dynasty, took (1525) the feal oath of the Prussian Duke Albrecht of Hohenzollern. In 1526 he included Mazovia into Poland. Date of Birth: 14.02.1468 Country: Poland

Biography of Sigismund I

Sigismund I was a Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506. He belonged to the Jagiellonian dynasty. In 1525, he took the feudal oath of the Prussian Duke Albert Hohenzollern. In 1526, he incorporated Mazovia into Poland. He was also the King of Hungary and Bohemia, and the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from the Luxembourg dynasty.

Sigismund was born as the second son of Emperor Charles IV and Elizabeth, the daughter of Duke Bogusław V of Pomerania. Upon his father's death in 1378, Sigismund inherited Brandenburg. In 1385, he became engaged to Maria, the daughter of King Louis (Lajos) I of Hungary and Poland, and in 1387, after overcoming many obstacles, he ascended to the throne of Hungary, where he primarily focused his efforts until 1410. During these years, he attempted to take Dalmatia from the Venetians, as well as engaged in numerous campaigns against the Turks, with the most famous being the disastrous Crusade of Nicopolis in 1396. The knightly army suffered a devastating defeat against the Ottomans, and Sigismund was one of the few Christian leaders who managed to escape death or capture.

Sigismund's first wife died in 1395, and in 1400, the electors removed him from the throne of the Holy Roman Empire due to his unsuitability for the role, choosing his older brother Wenceslaus (or Wenzel, known as Wenceslaus) and later electing Rupert of the Palatinate as his successor. Sigismund refused to help his brother in his attempts to regain the throne and even participated in imprisoning him from 1402 to 1403. After Rupert's death in 1410, Sigismund was elected as the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. However, he was only crowned many years later.

As emperor, Sigismund faced numerous problems, but was unable to resolve any of them. Since his main possessions were Hungary and Bohemia, he focused his efforts on the southeastern regions of the empire at the expense of his northern lands. In 1415, Sigismund sold Neumark to Frederick Hohenzollern, and Brandenburg was simply handed over to him. During Sigismund's reign, the Swiss Confederation further strengthened its independence. The Christian world was then in a state of depressing division (known as the "Great Schism") due to the presence of several rival popes, as well as the growing popularity of religious reformers such as Jan Hus. To resolve these issues, a council was convened in Constance from 1414 to 1418. Sigismund, who played a significant role in initiating the council, attended its sessions for several months. He provided Jan Hus with guarantees of safety in case of his arrival at the council (although he later did not prevent him from being arrested, convicted, and burned as a heretic) and assisted in the election of Pope Martin V, which ended the schism. Meanwhile, Wenceslaus became the King of Bohemia again. Sigismund received this title after his brother's death in 1419, and his coronation took place in 1420, which, however, led to mass uprisings by the Bohemians who considered him a violator of his oath and responsible for Hus' death. The Czech Diet, held in 1421, declared Sigismund deposed, and he was only able to regain the throne many years later after a series of crusades against the Hussites, which sometimes ended in embarrassing defeats for the knights.

The emperor wandered through Europe from one court to another - almost always without money, and sometimes without a respectable retinue. Finally, in 1436, when a split appeared among the Hussites, Sigismund entered Prague. He was forced to agree to a set of conditions (known as the Compactata) beforehand: complete amnesty, communion for laypeople in both kinds (bread and wine), removal of Germans and Catholics from high positions, annexation of Moravia to Bohemia, and restoration of the ancient rights to nobles and cities. Sigismund's Italian campaigns (1412-1414 and 1431-1433) were also largely unsuccessful. Nevertheless, in 1433, Pope Eugene IV finally crowned him as Emperor in Rome. Sigismund died on December 9, 1437, in Znojmo (Bohemia), where he had to flee from his subjects who were outraged by his failure to fulfill his obligations. Sigismund had no sons, so the Hungarian kingdom and the imperial crown passed to his son-in-law, Duke Albert V of Austria (as emperor, he was known as Albert II) from the House of Habsburg.