For other nobles of the same name, please see Sigismund

Sigismund

Sigismund is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German sigu "victory" + munt "hand, protection". Tacitus Latinises it Segimundus...

.

Sigismund Korybut ' onMouseout='HidePop("81470")' href="/topics/Pabaiskas">Pabaiskas

Pabaiskas

Pabaiskas is a small town in Ukmergė district of Vilnius County, Lithuania, south-west of Ukmergė, with 249 inhabitants. The Battle of Pabaiskas took place here in 1435, when Sigismund Kestutaitis defeated Švitrigaila and his Livonian Order allies...

) was a duke from the Gediminid dynasty, best known as a military commander of the Hussite

Hussite

The Hussites were a Christian movement following the teachings of Czech reformer Jan Hus , who became one of the forerunners of the Protestant Reformation...

 army and a governor of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

 and Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 during the Hussite Wars

Hussite Wars

The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1419 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were notable for the extensive use of early hand-held gunpowder weapons such as hand cannons...

.

Sigismund was most likely born in Novhorod-Siverskyi

Novhorod-Siverskyi

Novhorod-Siversky is a historic city in the Chernihiv Oblast of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Novhorod-Siversky Raion, and is situated on the bank of the Desna River, 330 km from the capital, Kiev, and 45 km south of the Russian border. Current estimated population:...

 to Dymitr Korybut

Dymitr Korybut

Kaributas was a son of Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and reigned in Severian Novgorod until 1393....

, son of Algirdas

Algirdas

Algirdas was a monarch of medieval Lithuania. Algirdas ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1345 to 1377, which chiefly meant monarch of Lithuanians and Ruthenians...

, and Anastasia, daughter of Grand Prince Oleg of Ryazan

Ryazan Principality

The Grand Duchy of Ryazan existed from 1078 when it was separated from the Chernigov Principality as the provincial Murom Principality.-Prior to the invasion of Batu Khan:...

, and raised in the court of his uncle Jogaila

Jogaila

Jogaila, later 'He is known under a number of names: ; ; . See also: Jogaila : names and titles. was Grand Duke of Lithuania , king consort of Kingdom of Poland , and sole King of Poland . He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle Kęstutis...

 (Władysław Jagiełło) in Kraków

Kraków

Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

 since 1404. Sigismund was rumored to be expected to become his successor on the Polish throne. Being just an adolescent, he commanded his own banner of the Army of the Crown

Crown of the Polish Kingdom

The Crown of the Kingdom of Poland , or simply the Crown , is the name for the unit of administrative division, the territories under direct administration of Polish nobility from middle-ages to late 18th century...

 in the victorious Battle of Grunwald

Battle of Grunwald

The Battle of Grunwald or 1st Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410, during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King Jogaila and Grand Duke Vytautas , decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led...

 in 1410.

His elder sister, Olena (Helena) had been married to an important magnate of Bohemian kingdom, duke Jan of Opava and Ratiborz.
As a regent of Bohemia for Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, he was commissioned to lead his army to Bohemia in April 1422. The army of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...

 retreated to Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 in avoidance of the encounter. Sigismund Korybut arrived to Prague on 16 May 1422, where he became a commander of local Hussites, in the Hussite internal fights and the ruler of Bohemia. Pope Martin V

Pope Martin V

Pope Martin V , born Odo Colonna, was Pope from 1417 to 1431. His election effectively ended the Western Schism .-Biography:...

 insisted, that Vytautas and Jogaila would recall Sigismund from Bohemia. On 24 December 1423, under Jogaila's agreement with the Emperor Sigismund, Sigismund Korybut left Prague with his army.

However, he could not refuse an offer of the Bohemian throne and on 29 June 1424 he once again came to Prague with 1,500-strong army, this time against Vytautas' and Jogaila's consent; their primary objective had been a successful implementation of the Treaty of Melno

Treaty of Melno

The Treaty of Melno or Treaty of Lake Melno was a peace treaty ending the Gollub War. It was signed on September 27, 1422, between the Teutonic Knights and an alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at Lake Melno , east of Graudenz...

, thus a conflict with the Emperor Sigismund was undesirable. Therefore, Jogaila ordered a confiscation of Sigismunds estates, whereas the Papal legate

Papal legate

A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....

 excommunicated him. Meanwhile, as a governor of Prague, he dismissed the city's council, summoned a new one and succeeded to terminate the internal discords between Jan Žižka

Jan Žižka

Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha , Czech general and Hussite leader, follower of Jan Hus, was born at small village Trocnov in Bohemia, into a gentried family. He was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka"...

 and Utraquists, enabling a successful Hussite military campaign to Moravia

Moravia

Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...

 against Emperor Sigismund. Afer Žižka's death, he became a supreme commander of his army, leading it to victory in the Battle of Usti nad Labem

Battle of Usti nad Labem

The Battle of Aussig or Battle of Ústí nad Labem was fought on June 16, 1426, between Roman Catholic crusaders and the Hussites during the Fourth Crusade of the Hussite Wars. It was fought near Aussig in northern Bohemia....

 on 16 June 1426.
Sigismund Korybut began negotiations with Sigismund the Holy Roman Emperor, with an intention to reconcile the Catholics and Hussites. However, his political career came to an end in 1427, when by the initiative of suspicious Prague Taborites, he was imprisoned in Valdštejn Castle for the organization of a revolt in Prague. After release from prison in 1428, Sigismund participated in Taborite

Taborite

The Taborites were members of a religious community considered heretical by the Catholic Church. The Taborites were centered on the Bohemian city of Tábor during the Hussite Wars in the 15th century. The religious reform movement in Bohemia splintered into various religious sects...

s' battles in Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

. The decisive loss in the Battle of Lipany

Battle of Lipany

The Battle of Lipany or Lipan, also called the Battle of Česky Brod, was fought at Lipany 40 km east of Prague on 30 May 1434 and virtually ended the Hussite Wars...

 forced him to return to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Sigismund Korybut was among the commanders in the Battle of Pabaiskas

Battle of Pabaiskas

The Battle of Pabaiskas took place on September 1, 1435 near Ukmergė , by the Šventoji River in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania...

 on the side of his uncle Švitrigaila

Švitrigaila

Švitrigaila Švitrigaila Švitrigaila (ca 1370 – 10 February 1452; was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1430 to 1432. He spent most of his life in largely unsuccessful dynastic struggles against his cousins Vytautas and Sigismund Kęstutaitis.-Struggle against Vytautas:...

 on 1 September 1435. His army was decisively defeated by Sigismund Kęstutaitis

Sigismund Kestutaitis

Sigismund Kęstutaitis was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440. Sigismund was his baptismal name; Sigismund's pagan Lithuanian birth name is unknown. He was son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kęstutis and his wife Birutė....

' forces. Sigismund Korybut has been wounded during the battle, however he fought till the end. According to Jan Długosz, a cause of his death was severe infection of his wounds (extremo mortis horrendae supplicio).

Literature

• Chłędowski Kazimierz. Zygmunt Korybut: szkic historyczny (1420-1428). Warszawa, 1864.
• Grygiel Jerzy. Życie i działalność Zygmunta Korybutowicza. Studium z dziejów stosunków polsko-czeskich w pierwszej połowie XV wieku // PAN, oddział w Krakowie. Wydawnictwo Ossolineum. Wrocław, 1988.
• Nikodem Jarosław. Polska i Litwa wobec husyckich Czech w latach 1420-1433. Studium o polityce dynastycznej Władysława Jagiełły i Witolda Kiejstutowicza // Instytut Historii UAM. Poznań, 2004.