Cultural depictions of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, from the House of Luxembourg, was the holder of five European royal crowns (Germany, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Italy, thus an "imperial association" stretching "from the North and Baltic Seas to the Mediterranean and the Black Seas") in his lifetime and played an important role in the history of East-Central Europe.^[1] For a long time though, technical difficulties like linguistic barriers, misunderstandings caused by lack of materials and political conditions made Sigismund unattractive as a research subject for historians. His morality has also been regarded as questionable, especially concerning his relationship with the Hussites. Modern historiography now generally considers him a determined, capable and visionary ruler, though not without mistakes and undesirable traits. In Hungary and Czechia in particular, his image as a ruler and cultural figure has improved.

The name Dracul (associated with the Dracula legend) traces back to Sigismund's Order of the Dragon. was an important vassal of Sigismund and member of this order.^[17]

Vlad II Dracul

The term "Bohemian" used to reference the Gypsies is related to Sigismund. In 1417, he gave Ladislas, a Gypsy "" travelling with a group of around a hundred people, a letter of safe conduct and his patronage. As Sigismund was King of Bohemia, gypsies travelling to another place via that realm were called Bohemians.^[18]

voivode

There is a story about a Gypsy called Duke Andrew: "He said he was a landowner in Hungary who had converted to Islam. His lands had then been confiscated by the King of Hungary. He had returned to Christianity and been rebaptised in 1415 after a meeting with King Sigismund of Bohemia, together with 4,000 other Gypsies. The King had told him that he and his followers should travel for seven years as a penance, visit the Pope and then return to their lands. According to the chronicler, Andrew said the King had given them permission to take what they needed to live on from the general population during their travels. Andrew may well have gone to Rome and received a letter of safe conduct from the Pope or from someone in the Vatican on behalf of the Pope. He certainly reached Bologna in Italy within reach of Rome. He later said that the Pope had imposed a further seven years of wandering, but this time, rather than confiscating property, they were to be supported with gifts from the clergy in the various places they travelled through." The story probably has its roots in the Indian legend of the Sun and the Moon, who were brother and sister determined to marry each other and thus punished by having to chase after each other forever. The Gypsies are like them, having fallen from a high place and been subject to the fate of wandering endlessly because of their sins.^[20]

[19]

The Polish poet (or Clemens Ianicius) recounts that Sigismund greatly favoured learned men: this was even described as "his only fault in life, in the opinion of all" ('Cuius id unurn / In vita, vulgo iudice, crimen erat'). As he treated learned men as a father would his sons and always wanted them to be by his side, this angered the nobles, who proclaimed that their emperor should not be devoted to "such people, most of whom come from insignificant homes and whom a poor mother nursed in some unknown place" ('Quales parva domus gignit plerumque parensque / Lactat in obscuro non opulenta loco'). The emperor replied that, 'These people to whom nature and God gave a genius greater than mine and yours I place above all others. I esteem them according to their virtues. Why do I have to know where they were born?'."^[21]

Klemens Janicki

(Thomas De Coloswar)'s 1427 Garamszentbenedek altarpiece, showing the scene of the Passion of Christ (Esztergom, Christian Museum), features Sigismund as a centurion.^[31]

Kolozsvári Tamás

A fresco at the Augustinian church at (1417) shows Sigismund in the guise of Saint Sigismund.^[32]

Konstanz

The Bamberg Altarpiece also shows Sigismund in the guise of a centurion in the scene of the Crucifixion (1429), Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, .^[33]

Munich

Brady, Thomas A.; Brady, Thomas A. Jr. (13 July 2009). . Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-88909-4. Retrieved 18 June 2022.

German Histories in the Age of Reformations, 1400–1650

Hoensch, Jörg K. (1996). Kaiser Sigismund: Herrscher an der Schwelle zur Neuzeit, 1368–1437. München: Beck. 978-3406411199. Review by David Eltis

ISBN

Hruza, Karel (2012). Kaiser Sigismund: Zur Herrschaftspraxis eines europäischen Monarchen (1368-1437). Wien: Böhlau. 978-3-205-78755-6. Review by Winfried Irgang (in German)

ISBN

Mályusz, Elemér (1990). (in German). Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 978-963-05-4978-3. Retrieved 2 July 2022. Review by Populer Michèle (in French)

Kaiser Sigismund in Ungarn, 1387–1437

Sigismund von Luxemburg: ein Kaiser in Europa. Tagungsband des internationalen historischen und kunsthistorischen Kongresses in Luxemburg, 8.–10. Juni 2005. Mainz am Rhein: P. von Zabern. 2006. 3-8053-3625-X.

ISBN

Takács, Imre; Jékely, Zsombor (2006). Sigismundus Rex et Imperator: Kunst und Kultur zur Zeit Sigismunds von Luxemburg 1387–1437. Ausstellungskatalog, Budapest, Szépművészeti Múzeum, 18. März – 18. Juni 2006; Luxemburg, Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art, 13. Juli – 15. Oktober 2006. [Mainz]. 3-8053-3626-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Review by Ansgar Frenken (in German)

ISBN

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