Born: June 20,1566, Gripsholm Castle, Sweden
Died: April 30, 1632. Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Early days. He was the son of King John III of Sweden and his first wife, Catherine Jagellonica (Katarzyna Jagiellonka) of Poland. He was born at Gripsholm during his parents' imprisonment by King of Sweden Eric XIV. Although Sweden had become Protestant by this time, Sigismund remained a Catholic, the religion of his mother. This fact, combined with the troublesome personal union of his divided kingdoms would thwart his attempts to find support in Sweden. His mother was the daughter of King of Poland, Sigismund I the Old and his wife Bona Sforza. Sigismund inherited from her the title of King of Jerusalem. He had an excellent command of Polish and German.
Elected King of Poland. Sigismund was elected King of Poland and reigned 1587–1632. In 1587, he was a candidate for the monarch of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, following the death of previous Polish king, Stefan Batory. The election was held in the shadow of conflict between the Polish nobility (szlachta), with the two opposing sides gathered around Chancellor Jan Zamoyski and the Zborowski family. Sigismund, supported by Zamoyski and the former king's wife, Anna Jagiellon, was elected King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on 19 August 1587 and recognized as such by the interrex, the Primate of Poland, Stanislaw Karnkowski. However, the election was disputed by the other candidate, Maximilian III of Austria, and opponents of Sigismund chose not to respect the election outcome, decreeing that Maximilian was the rightful monarch. Neither Sigismund nor Maximilian were present in the Commonwealth at that time. After receiving news of his election, Sigismund quickly departed from Sweden and arrived in Oliwa on 7 October (his landing was delayed due to the hostility from the Protestant Gdansk). In his Pacta conventa Sigismund accepted a reduction of monarchal power in favor of the Sejm (Commonwealth parliament). Lesser Prussian Treasurer Jan Dulski representing the Crown Marshall Andrzej Opalinski proclaimed him to be the king. Sigismund returned to his ship on the same day, arriving in Gdansk next day, and after approximately two weeks he had departed to Krakow, where he was crowned on 27 December of that year. When Maximilian attempted to resolve the dispute by bringing a military force and starting the war of Polish succession, he was defeated at the battle of Byczyna by the supporters of Sigismund, under the command of Polish hetman Jan Zamoyski. Maximilian was taken captive and released only after intervention by Pope Sixtus V. In 1589, he waived his right to the Polish crown. Elected to the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587, Sigismund sought to create a personal union between the Commonwealth and Sweden (Polish–Swedish union), and succeeded for a time in 1592. After he had been deposed in 1599 from the Swedish throne by his uncle, Charles IX of Sweden, he spent much of the rest of his life attempting to reclaim it. Sigismund remains a highly controversial figure in Poland. His long reign coincided with the apex of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's prestige, power and economic influence. On the other hand, it was during his reign that the symptoms of decline leading to the Commonwealth's eventual demise surfaced. The question of whether the Commonwealth's decline was caused by Sigismund's decisions or had its roots in historical processes beyond his personal control, remains a highly debated topic. He was commemorated in Warsaw with Zygmunt's Column, commissioned by his son and successor, Wladyslaw IV.
In 1592 Sigismund, after his father's death, he received permission from the Sejm to accept the Swedish throne. After Sigismund promised to uphold Swedish Lutheranism he was crowned king of Sweden in 1594; for a short time there was a personal union between Commonwealth and Sweden (Polish–Swedish union). He tried to rule Sweden from Poland, leaving Sweden under control of a regent, his paternal uncle Duke Charles. In 1596 he succeeded in creating the Union of Brest, which attempted to bring part of the Orthodox religion into Catholicism. In the same year he transferred the capital of Poland from Krakow to Warsaw. Troubles were growing on the southern border of the Commonwealth, where Jan Zamoyski and other magnates were engaged in the Magnate wars in Moldavia. Eventually after the defeat of Polish forces in the battle of Cecora in 1620 Commonwealth would have to relinquish its claims to the Principality of Moldavia. Due to Sigismund's strong support of the Counter Reformation, his support back in largely Protestant Sweden eroded quickly. Charles soon took full control of Sweden and rebelled against Sigismund, claiming that Sigismund would re-Catholicize Sweden. In 1598 Sigismund, with a mixed army from Sweden and Poland, was defeated at the Battle of Stĺngebro. Sigismund was forbidden to rule Sweden from abroad but nevertheless returned to Poland, and so in 1599 was deposed. This and his decision to incorporate Livonia into the Commonwealth led to the Polish–Swedish War, which lasted, with minor breaks, to 1629. The war ended with Sweden gaining Livonia. The kingship was ultimately ceded to Charles. Sigismund, however, did not relinquish his claim to the Swedish throne, and his subsequent foreign policy was aimed at regaining the Swedish crown. This led to bitter relations and several wars between the two countries, to end only after the Great Northern War. In 1605 Sigismund attempted to strengthen the monarch's power by asking the Sejm (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's parliament) to limit the liberum veto, to impose permanent annual taxes, and to introduce a large standing army. His opponents, led by Mikolaj Zebrzydowski, declared a confederation and rokosz at Sandomierz, leading to a civil war known as rokosz Zebrzydowskiego (Zebrzydowski's Rebellion). Eventually, royalist forces defeated the rokoszans on 6 July 1607 at the Battle of Guzów, but the eventual compromise was a return to the status quo ante from before 1605. Another important conflict in his reign was the Polish-Muscovite War (1605-1618), also known as The Dymitriads. Sigismund and many Polish magnates attempted to exploit the Muscovite civil war (the Time of Troubles). In 1611 Sigismund returned triumphal from Smolensk to his new castle in Warsaw with the captive Muscovite Tsar,Vssyliy Szuyski. The 1618 Truce of Deulino gave some territorial concessions to the Commonwealth (mainly the Smolensk Voivodship). Sigismund was a gifted artist. A painter and goldsmith, of his three paintings known to survive, one was for centuries erroneously attributed to Tintoretto (a notable Renaissance Italian painter); and from his own, personal workshop came the main part of the famous silver coffin of St. Adalbert of Prague at the Cathedral in Gniezno. Sigismund died at the age of 65 in the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
Marriages. Sigismund married twice. Firstly, in 1592, to Anna of Austria daughter of Archduke Charles II of Austria and of Maria Anna of Bavaria . They had five children: Anna Maria; Katarzyna; Władysław who reigned 1632–1648 as Wladyslaw IV Waza of Poland, Katarzyna; Krzysztof. Secondly in 1605, to his first wife's sister, Constance of Austria. They had seven children: Jan Kazimierz; Jan Kazimierz who reigned 1648–1668 as John II Casimir Vasa of Poland;Jan Albert/Olbracht; Karol Ferdynand; Aleksander Karol; Anna Konstancja;Anna Katarzyna Konstancja who was the first wife of Philip William, Elector Palatine.
Sigismund III Vasa is one of the personages in a famous painting by Jan Matejko, depicting the preaching of Piotr Skarga.
This article uses mostly material from the Wikipedia article "Zygmunt III Waza, King of Poland" which has been slightly reduced. This text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply
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