Sigismund 1368-1437
Holy Roman Emperor

The younger son of Emperor Charles IV, he became King of Hungary (1387) as husband of Mary, daughter of Louis I, the Great, after defeating his Angevin rival Charles of Durazzo, King of Naples. He was also King of Bohemia (1419) and of Lombardy (1431). His dominions were continually eroded by Venetians, Angevins and the Turks, who defeated him and his crusading allies at Nicopolis (1396). As Emperor (from 1410) he presided over the Council of Constance, which attempted to end the Hussite Schism. His refusal to provide the safe conduct he had granted Jan Huss led to Huss being burned and, in turn, to the Hussites' refusal to recognize him as King of Bohemia, and ultimately to the Hussite wars (1420-33). A year before his death he negotiated a compromise settlement which allowed his return as king in exchange for recognition of the Hussite principles embodied in the Four Articles of Prague.

Bibliography: Wilhelm Baum, Kaiser Sigismund: Hus, Konstanz und T�rkenkriege (1993)