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Sigismund II Augustus

Type Figure Region Poland Time 1520–1572 Also known as King Sigismund II of Poland

Sigismund II Augustus (1520–1572), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, sole ruler from 1548 until his death and the last Jagiellonian monarch…

Timeline

  1. 1561–1570Vilnius · Vilnius CountyIn the 1560s Sigismund II navigated the Livonian Wars among the Tsardom of Russia, Sweden, and the remnants of the Livonian Order; in 1561 the remnants of the Livonian Order swore allegiance to Poland, and the king coordinated between Vilnius and Kraków the noble assembly and frontier defense spending, striving to keep the eastern Baltic passage.
  2. 1569–1572Lublin · Lublin VoivodeshipThe 1569 Lublin Union merged the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into an elective monarchy; Sigismund II approved the union act and promoted the Warsaw religious-tolerance confederation, dying heirless in 1572, ending the Jagiellonian dynasty and opening Poland's era of free royal elections.

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