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Sigismund's reign was a period of internal turmoil and external expansion.
He saw the invasion of Poland by the Reformation, and the democratic upheaval that placed all political power in the hands of the szlachta; he saw the collapse of the Knights of the Sword in the north (which led to the Republic's acquisition of Livonia) and the consolidation of Turkey's power in the south. Throughout this perilous transitional period, Sigismund successfully steered the ship of state amid the whirlpools that constantly threatened to engulf it. A less imposing figure than his father, the elegant and refined Sigismund II Augustus was nevertheless an even greater statesman than the stern and majestic Sigismund I the Old.
Sigismund II possessed to a high degree the tenacity and patience that seem to have characterized all the Jagiellons, and he added to these qualities a dexterity and diplomatic finesse which he may have inherited from his Italian mother. No other Polish king seems to have so thoroughly understood the nature of the Polish sejm. Both the Austrian ambassadors and the papal legates testify to the care with which he controlled his nation. Everything went as he wished, they said, because he seemed to know everything in advance. He managed to get more money than his father ever could, and at one of his sejms he won the hearts of the assembly by unexpectedly appearing before them in the simple grey coat of a Masovian squire. Like his father, a pro-Austrian by conviction, he contrived even in this respect to carry with him the nation, always distrustful of the Germans, and thus avoided serious complications with the dangerous Turks.
Sigismund II mediated for twenty years between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants without alienating the sympathies of either. His most striking memorial, however, may have been the Union of Lublin, which finally made of Poland and Lithuania one body politic, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - the "Republic of the Two Nations" (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodow, Lithuanian: Abieju Tautu Respublika). This achievement might well have been impossible without Sigismund.
Sigismund died at his beloved Knyszyn on July 6, 1572, aged 52. In 1573, Henry III of Valois was elected as King of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth for a few months, but then returned to France where he was coronated as King Henry III of France. Shortly thereafter, Sigismund's sister Anna of Poland married Stefan Batory, and they ruled as King and Queen of Poland.
(From WikiPedia)
This traditional Polish doll set is completely hand made the old fashioned way with paper mache, dress materials and paints. The doll is clothed in authentic regional folk custume as certified by the Polish Ministry of Culture. Notice the attention to detail and fine workmanship.
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Features
- Posable arms
- Mounted on a wooden base
- Size - 3" x 3" x 10.25" - 8cm x 8cm x 26cm
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