Sigismund (
Hungarian Zsigmond, 14 February 1368 – 9 December 1437) was one of the longest ruling
Kings of Hungary, reigning for fifty years from 1387 to 1437, and was also
Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, and the last Emperor of the
House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Bohemia from 1419, of Lombardia from 1431, and of Germany from 1411.
[1] Sigismund was one of the driving forces behind the
Council of Constance that ended the
Papal Schism, but which in the end also led to the
Hussite Wars that dominated the later period of Sigismund's life.
Born in Nuremberg, Sigismund was the son of the Emperor Charles IV and of his fourth wife Elizabeth of Pomerania, the granddaughter of King Casimir III of Poland. In 1374 he was betrothed to Mary of Hungary, eldest surviving daughter of King Louis the Great of Hungary and Poland, who intended Mary to succeed him in the Kingdom of Poland with her future husband as was the custom of the time. Sigismund became Margrave of Brandenburg on his father's death in 1378. Sent to the Hungarian court, Sigismund became entirely devoted to his adopted country.
In 1381, the then 13-year-old Sigismund was sent to Kraków by his eldest brother and guardian Wenceslaus, King of the Romans, to learn Polish and to become acquainted with the land and its people. King Wenceslaus also gave him Neumark to facilitate communication between Brandenburg and Poland.
Because of his intrigues[citation needed], prince Sigismund was expelled from Poland, which was then given to Mary's younger sister Jadwiga I of Poland, who married Jogaila of Lithuania. When an opposing candidate for the Árpád throne appeared, Sigismund fled, leaving his wife Mary and her mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia at the mercy of conspirators. Years of civil war followed.
