Sigismund
EMPEROR OF GER- MANY AND KING OF HUNGARY AND BOHEMIA, second son of the Emperor Charles IV.; born in 1368. On in visiting his states, the death of his father, in 1378, he bethe death of his father, in 1378, he became Margrave of Brandenburg, and was occupied four years in and receiving their homage. He married, in 1885, Maria, daughter of Ludwig Louis, King of Hungary, and was crowned king the same year. He soon after extended his dominions by the conquest of the Wallachia. His queen dying in 1392, his claim to the crown of Hungary was contested by Ladislaus V., King of Poland, but unsuccessfully; and the frequent conspiracies formed against Sigismund by the nobles made him suspicious and cruel. Alarmed by the conquests of the Turks, he sought aid of France and England; and a great battle was fought at Nicopolis in 1396, in which the French, under the Count of Nevers, were defeated and almost all slain, the Hungarians fled without fighting, and Sigismund narrowly escaped and led a wandering life for 18 months. In 1410 he was chosen by another party, and Wenceslaus, who emperor by one party of the electors, Jobst, Marquis of Moravia, being chosen had been deposed, still retaining the title SIGISMUND of emperor. At the same period there were also three rival Popes.
But the death of Jobst and the acquiescence of Wenceslaus left Sigismund without a rival in the following year. He was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in November, 1414, and went thence to the great Council of Constance. He surrounded the town with his troops, and remained master of its gates during the council. The Bohemian reformer, John Huss, had come to Constance under a safe conduct of the emperor; but he was nevertheless burnt, as was also his disciple, Jerome of Prague. Sigismund had a conference with the Pope, Benedict XIII., at Perpignan, hoping to induce him to resign the tiara, but he failed. About the same time he sold Brandenburg to Frederick of Hohenzollern, Burgrave of Nuremberg; raised Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII., and visited France and England.
He professed to negotiate a peace between Charles VI. and Henry V., but perfidiously made a secret alliance with the latter, hoping to recover Arles. By the death of his brother, Wenceslaus, in 1419, he succeeded to the crown of Bohemia, and the Hussite war began, which lasted 15 years. The famous Zisca defeated Sigismund before Prague in ue in 1420, but agreed to a truce, and Sigismund was crowned soon after. After the death of Zisca the war was ably carried on by the two leaders, named Procopius the Great and Procopius the Less. In 1431, Sigismund was crowned King of Italy at Milan; and in 1433, Emperor of Rome by Eugenius IV.
He died Dec. 9, 1437.
SIGISMUND I., KING OF POLAND, THE GREAT, son of Casimir IV.; born Jan. 1, 1467; and succeeded his brother, Alexander, in 1507. He died April 1, 1548. SIGISMUND II., surnamed AUGUSTUS; born Aug. 1, 1520, was son of the preceding, and succeeded him in 1548. He died in 1572.
SIGISMUND III., surnamed DE VASA; born in 1566, was son of John III., King of Sweden, and of Catharine, the daughter of Sigismund I. He was elected King of Poland in 1587, and succeeded to the crown of Sweden in 1594. Being a Catholic, his uncle, Charles, Duke of Sudermania, easily undermined his authority in Sweden, and he lost that kingdom in 1604. In 1610 he succeeded in placing his Vladislaus, on the throne of Russia, but was afterward obliged to succumb, and besides that, was involved in a war with Gustavus Adolphus. He died in Warsaw in 1632.