Sigismund, Archduke of Austria

gigatos | May 30, 2022

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Summary

Sigismund of Austria known as the Moneymaker (Innsbruck, October 26, 1427 – Innsbruck, March 4, 1496) was duke of Austria and regent of Tyrol and Upper Austria.

Sigismund was a member of the Leopold line of Habsburgs. He was the son of Duke Frederick Pocketbook and his second wife, Princess Anne of Braunschweig-Gottinga (1390-1432).

When his father Sigismund died, he was just twelve years old. He was appointed his guardian by Emperor Frederick III, who kept him a de facto prisoner until he was nineteen so that he could profit from the rich income guaranteed by the silver mines in the County of Tyrol. Only when orders in the Diet of Tyrol threatened war did the emperor agree to let Sigismund go free.

In 1446 Sigismund assumed regency over Tyrol and Anterior Austria, leaving the seat of government in Innsbruck. From 1458 to 1461 he also had regency over Habsburg Swabia, which, however, he finally had to cede to Albert IV of Bavaria.

The conflict with Nicholas Cusanus

Sigismund attempted to remove from his lands the figure of the bishop-prince of Brixen, who was entitled to possession of the Eisack Valley, Pustertal, and Engadin, and in the meantime he had appointed Leonhard Wismair as prince-bishop of Brixen. But on March 25, 1450, news came from Rome that Nicholas Cusanus, chosen by Pope Nicholas V, had been appointed bishop of Brixen; Sigismund then proclaimed himself duke of Brixen and had a castle built outside the town; under pressure from the pope, an agreement was reached in Salzburg and the duke recognized Cusanus”s position. After a few years, however, Cusanus came into conflict with the Tyrolean nobles, loyal to Sigismund, led by Count Georg Künigl and fomented by a spiritual leader, a certain Verena von Stuben, abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Castel Badia near Bruneck: moreover, in asserting his rights, especially mining rights, the prelate argued that the Tyrolean prince should consider himself a “vassal” of the diocese of Brixen.

On July 14, 1457, however, Cusanus was forced to retreat from Brixen after several ambush attempts, several death threats, and poisoning attempts and took refuge at Andraz Castle until he clashed with Gregor Heimburg, supported by Duke Sigismund, at the Battle of Marebbe on April 5, 1458. Cusanus, strong in his victory over the nobles, launched the interdict on the county, his representative Sigismund and the abbess of Castle Badia. He therefore suffered imprisonment in 1460 by Sigismund, who, for this, was excommunicated by Pope Pius II; in April 1460 Bishop Cusanus of Brixen managed to take refuge in Bruneck Castle; Sigismund besieged Cusanus with 4,000 infantrymen and 1,000 horsemen and let him free only after he had signed a treaty against his will; on April 27 Cusanus rode into the Ampezzo Valley and then fled to the Church State, stopping in Orvieto.

Under Sigismund the mines experienced extraordinary development, and the Tyrolean mint was moved from Meran to Hall. But, taking advantage of the excommunication cast on Sigismund, the Swiss confederates had succeeded in seizing canton Thurgau from him (1460), beginning a series of clashes that would involve the other European powers.

The wars against Charles of Burgundy

Because of his wasteful and unrestrained conduct Sigismund accumulated huge debts, to repay which he was forced by the Treaty of Saint-Omer (May 9, 1469) to cede to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, the county of Sundgau (Southern Alsace) along with other towns, reserving, moreover, the right of repurchase: Sigismund mortgaged to Charles the territory he had pledged to the confederates (the Swiss), namely the towns of Laufenburg, Rheinfelden, Säckingen and Breisach, the langraviate of Upper Alsace and the county of Ferrette in exchange for 50. 000 guilders and protection against his enemies (the confederates).

However, Charles the Bold”s embargo policy against the cities of Basel, Strasbourg and Mulhouse, directed by his magistrate Peter von Hagenbach, prompted the aforementioned cities to turn to Bern for help; Sigismund tried to reach a peace agreement with the Swiss confederation, signed at Constance in 1474: the independence of the Swiss cantons (supported by Louis XI of France perennially arrayed against Charles of Burgundy), earned Sigismund an annual pension offered to him by the king of France. At this point the Duke of Habsburg would have liked to buy back the Alsatian domains from Charles I, but Charles I refused. Soon after, von Hagenbach was captured, summarily tried and beheaded in Alsace.

The Old Confederation, the Alsatian cities and Duke Sigismund united in an “anti-Burgundian league,” conquering part of the Burgundian Jura (Franche-Comté) thanks to the Battle of Héricourt in November 1474.Then the anti-Burgundian union was attacked by Charles the Bold, who, however, having underestimated Swiss cohesion, was beaten at the Battle of Grandson (March 2, 1476) and at the Battle of Morat, where his army was annihilated (June 22, 1476).

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Sigmund”s Castle (Sigmundskron)

In 1473 Sigismund bought, from the bishop of Trent – Castel Firmiano near Bolzano to make it in the following years, thanks to a monumental renovation of the facility, an important military bulwark toward the area of northern Italy, giving it his name – precisely Sigmundskron, literally “Sigmund”s crown.” As early as 1474 the castle is attested by this name (“unser slosz Sigmundskron”).

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Sigismund”s thaler

In 1477 Sigismund was created Archduke.

In the late 1470s and early 1480s Sigismund issued decrees reforming the poor state of the coinage of his possessions, increasing the title of his silver coins to a level not seen in centuries (.937

In 1484, Sigismund had a small quantity of “half Guldengroschen” minted, weighing about 15½ grams and worth 30 Kreuzers. This issue represented a revolutionary leap from the small coins then circulating in Austria and even surpassed the already large testone circulating in Italy, which was the largest coin in circulation at that time.

Finally taking advantage of the silver reserves, present in Schwaz, he had a new large coin called Guldengroschen, equal to 60 Kreuzers, minted in the mint in Hall in 1486, which immediately received the nickname “Guldiner” and then the name “Thaler”: the coin was an immediate success and gave its name to a series of coins with similar weights: daalder, dollar, tolar, thaler, etc.

Decadence and the end

In 1487, however, in exchange for a large loan, Sigismund had to cede the concession of the silver mines of the Tyrol to Jakob Fugger and began a war against Venice that arose for reasons of duties, but did not lead to any territorial gains. He pledged the county of Tyrol to the powerful Wittelsbachs of Bavaria and, in 1487, sold them Anterior Austria, with the exception of Vorarlberg. At this point Emperor Frederick III intervened, placing Sigismund under guardianship and removing all Wittelsbach-friendly nobles from his territories. To counter the influence of Bavaria and the Swiss confederation, in 1488, at the initiative of the Habsburgs, the imperial cities of southwestern Germany, the Count of Württemberg, and the territories subject to Sigismund (Tyrol and Vorarlberg) joined in the Swabian League.

In 1490 massive pressure from the Tyrolean states, exhausted by wars and his mismanagement, forced him to hand over management of the government to Maximilian I of Habsburg.

He died in Innsbruck on March 4, 1496 and was buried in the crypt of Stams Abbey.

Duke Sigismund proved to be very passionate about culture; he was a patron who protected literati and humanists such as Lorenz Blumenau and Gregor of Heimburg; the organist Paul Hofhaimer was also at his court for some time.

To expand his influence westward, Sigismund intended to marry Radegonda, daughter of the king of France, but she died a year before the planned marriage (1445).

On February 12, 1449, in Innsbruck, Sigismund married Princess Eleanor of Scotland, daughter of James I of Scotland. The princess died shortly after giving birth to their son Wolfgang (Nov. 20, 1480), who died the same day.

On February 24, 1484, also in Innsbruck, Sigismund took in marriage Catherine of Saxony, then 16 years old, daughter of Albert III of Saxony and Sidonia of Bohemia. No children were born of the marriage. It appears, however, that Sigismund had a large number of illegitimate children, who were called by their grandfather”s name, Frederick (Friedel), hence the origin of this very common surname in the southern German area.

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