born Feb. 15, 1368, probably Nürnberg
died Dec. 9, 1437, Znojmo, Bohemia
Holy Roman emperor (143337), king of Hungary (from 1387), German king (from 1411), king of Bohemia (from 1419), and Lombard king (from 1431).
He became king of Hungary by marriage and pawned his German lands to raise funds for defense (1388). He pursued an expansionist policy that brought him into conflict with his brother Wenceslas , whom he imprisoned (140203) in an abortive effort to seize Bohemia. As German king, Sigismund helped to end the Western Schism . He was twice defeated by the Turks (1396, 1428). Although he inherited the Bohemian crown in 1419, wars against the Hussite s delayed his coronation until 1436. He gained the imperial crown in 1433, becoming the last emperor of the house of Luxembourg.