Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland (1520-1572)
Sigismund II Augustus (Zygmunt II August), King of Poland 1548-1572, was born 1 August 1520, the only son of King Sigismund I the Old of Poland (1467-1548) and Bona Sforza (1494-1557). Sigismund succeeded his father as King of Poland upon his father’s death in 1548.
Sigismund united Lithuania, West Prussia, Volhynia, and the Ukraine with Poland in 1569 and granted general religious freedom in 1572. He did not at first tolerate the Anabaptists, whom he considered a threat to the state. When he heard that Dutch Mennonite refugees were settling in Elbing he issued a mandate in 1556 ordering their expulsion, but later he confirmed the contract of lease concluded by the barons of Loysen with the Mennonites.
Sigismund was succeeded by Henri of Valois, who reigned as King of Poland from 1573 to 1574 before abdicating to become King Henry III of France. Sigismund’s sister Anna Jagiellon was elected Queen of Poland in 1575, ruling with her husband Stefan Batory.
Bibliography
Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. IV, 168.
Mannhardt, W. Die Wehrfreiheit der Altpreussischen Mennoniten. Marienburg, 1863.
| Author(s) | Christian Neff |
|---|---|
| Richard D. Thiessen | |
| Date Published | August 2007 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Neff, Christian and Richard D. Thiessen. "Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland (1520-1572)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. August 2007. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Sigismund_II_Augustus,_King_of_Poland_(1520-1572)&oldid=146245.
APA style
Neff, Christian and Richard D. Thiessen. (August 2007). Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland (1520-1572). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Sigismund_II_Augustus,_King_of_Poland_(1520-1572)&oldid=146245.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 525. All rights reserved.
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