Sigismund I, 1467–1548, king of Poland (1506–48), son of Casimir IV Casimir IV, 1427–92, king of Poland (1447–92). He became (1440) ruler of Lithuania and in 1447 succeeded his brother Ladislaus III as king of Poland. He united the two nations more closely by placing them on an equal footing.
..... Click the link for more information. . Elected to succeed his brother, Alexander I, Sigismund faced the problem of consolidating his domestic power in order successfully to counter external threats to Poland. The enactment (1505) during Alexander's rule of the law Nihil Novi, which forbade the kings to enact laws without the consent of the diet, seriously handicapped Sigismund in his struggle with the magnates and nobles. Nevertheless, he established (1527) a regular army and a fiscal system to finance its maintenance. Intermittent war with Vasily III Vasily III (Vasily Ivanovich) (vəsē`lyē ēvä`nəvĭch), 1479–1533, grand duke of Moscow (1505–33).
..... Click the link for more information. of Moscow began in 1507; in 1514 Smolensk fell to the Muscovite forces. In 1515 Sigismund entered an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I Maximilian I, 1459–1519, Holy Roman emperor and German king (1493–1519), son and successor of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III. As emperor, he aspired to restore forceful imperial leadership and inaugurate much-needed administrative reforms in the
..... Click the link for more information. . Maximilian acknowledged the provisions of the Second Peace of Toruń Toruń (tô`r

nyə), Ger. Thorn, city (1993 est. pop.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Sigismund consented to the marriage of the children of his brother, Uladislaus II Uladislaus II (

'lä`dĭslous), Hung. Ulászló II, c.
..... Click the link for more information. of Bohemia and Hungary, with the grandchildren of Maximilian. Through this double marriage contract Bohemia and Hungary passed to the house of Hapsburg on the death (1526) of Sigismund's nephew, Louis II Louis II, 1506–26, king of Hungary and Bohemia (1516–26), son and successor of Uladislaus II. He was the last of the Jagiello dynasty in the two kingdoms.
..... Click the link for more information. . Sigismund's wars against the Teutonic Knights Teutonic Knights or Teutonic Order (t
..... Click the link for more information. ended in 1525, when their grand master, Albert of Brandenburg Albert of Brandenburg, 1490–1568, grand master of the Teutonic Knights (1511–25), first duke of Prussia (1525–68); grandson of Elector Albert Achilles of Brandenburg.
..... Click the link for more information. , having converted to Lutheranism, secularized the order and did homage to Sigismund, who invested him with the domains of the order as the first duke of Prussia. Sigismund sought peaceful relations with the khans of Crimea but was still involved in border warfare with them. Sigismund was a humanist; he and his second wife, Bona Sforza, daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza Muzio Attendolo Sforza, 1369–1424, a farmer from the Romagna who became a noted condottiere and took the surname Sforza [the forcer]. He fought in the service of several Italian states, then became involved in the struggles for the succession to the kingdom of Naples and died
..... Click the link for more information. of Milan, were patrons of Renaissance culture, which began to flower in Poland during their reign. He was succeeded by his son, Sigismund II Sigismund II or Sigismund Augustus, 1520–72, king of Poland (1548–72). Crowned in 1530 to assure his succession, he assumed the royal functions at the death of his father, Sigismund I .
..... Click the link for more information. .

Sigismund I

Polish Zygmunt Stary (“Sigismund the Old”)

(born Jan. 1, 1467—died April 1, 1548, Kraków, Pol.) King of Poland (1506–48). Son of Casimir IV, he became grand prince of Lithuania and king of Poland in 1506. After his army subdued the Teutonic Order in East Prussia, he established Polish suzerainty over the area, known as Ducal Prussia (1525). He added the duchy of Mazovia (now the province of Warsaw) to the Polish state in 1529. He established judicial and administrative reforms and encouraged a reform of the currency. A lover of the fine arts, he brought Italian artists to Poland and promoted the development of the Renaissance.