Sigismund III of Haense
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Sigismund Karl Barbanov-Bihar (Common: Sigismund Charles; High Imperial: Sigismundus Carolus; New Marian: Sigmund Karl), (1815-1873), regally known as Sigismund III and remembered as Sigismund the Golden was the nineteenth King of Hanseti-Ruska and the first born son of King Heinrik II and Mariya of Aurveldt. With his reign lasting 35 years, Sigismund III is the longest reigning monarch to have ruled over Hanseti-Ruska.
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Early Life (1815-1838)
Sigismund Karl Barbanov-Bihar was born on the 9th of the Deep Cold, 1815, in the capital of Haense, the Royal City of Karosgrad, as the eldest son to Heinrik II thus making him the Grand Prince of Kusoraev, the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska. Some months after his birth, Sigismund’s mother, Queen Mariya, was mysteriously murdered in the King’s office in 1815, however this was later revealed over a decade later to be a convoluted means to end her marriage and escape to the Orenian Empire by faking her death.
During his early childhood, Sigismund was noted as being a recluse and rarely in the public light, instead keeping to the Royal apartments of the Nikirala Palace. Whether this was done at the behest of his father, for fear of losing his son similarly to Queen Mariya, or if it came around due to Sigismund’s own wishes, is unclear but it undoubtedly had an effect on the future King. Due to his limited access to the wider world, Sigismund had few childhood friends besides his own sister, Princess Petra, to whom he was incredibly close to throughout their entire lives. With the kind princess being his primary source of companionship, and with little influence of his stern father on him as he was busy with rulership, Sigismund grew up a far more temperate figure than King Heinrik II.
Education
Sigismund received an education befitting a future King, being taught extensively in the subjects of politics, history, warfare, stewardship, and theology. Under the tutelage of future Grand Maer and Aulic Envoy Feodor May primarily, Sigismund progressed well with all his lessons, being an especially studious child and showing a great aptitude for writing himself, being able to convey himself well in the written word from an early age.
By far Sigismund’s favourite topic of study was history, but not for the academic practice of it. Instead he enjoyed the stories it told of bygone ages and the romanticisation of tales, taking a particular interest in the retellings of knights, folk stories and legends. Sigismund brought his passion for these into constructive changes and literary works later in his life once he was King of Hanseti-Ruska.
Though not an especially gifted swordsman himself, Sigismund was trained by one of the finest of his generation, Ailred, Duke of Vidaus, in the later half of his childhood after getting a late start. With the late Duke’s guidance, Sigismund became a capable enough swordsman and tactician, putting both to show in his reign later during the Urguani-Orenian War.
Reign
Sigismund became the King of Hanseti-Ruska at the age of twenty-three following the abdication of his father, Heinrik II, in the ‘Edict of Abdication of 391 E.S’[1] in 1838, the second time ever a King of Hanseti-Ruska has abdicated and the first time for non-illness related reasons. Whilst an unusual occurrence, and potentially problematic for Sigismund that a former King still lived to be a claimant to his new throne, Sigismund was accepted very quickly and with little controversy being widely more popular than his controversial father. Sigismund III’s coronation took place in the Basilica of Saint Henrik by High Pontiff Everard VI in 1840.[2]
Early Reign (1838-1849)
Sigismund III’s first act as King was to put to use the system his father had all but ignored, petitioning the nobility and gentry of Haense to send their sons to serve as pages below him in a notice from the Nikirala Palace[3] in 1839. This eased Sigismund’s transition into ruler as he not only came to know a number of current and future peers after his reclusive childhood but also gained favour amongst them for taking nobles from their families under his wing. Notably, Sigismund put on show the staunch difference from his father, where he was stern and cold, Sigismund displayed compassion by taking Mariya Vyronov as a page. This was unusual due to her family’s relegation from nobility to commoner the previous year, by King Heinrik II, and a large departure from the norm for an acceptable squire. Later in his reign, Sigismund began incorporating this system of pages into the ranks of the knightly Order of the Crow as squires, many of whom he put through their trials and taught personally.
It was with the success of this that Sigismund went on in the next few years to introduce or augment further Haeseni traditions, steeped in the history of his new dual kingdom, naming the period himself as the ‘Sigismundic Era of Culture and Tradition’. The first of these changes came in 1840 with the introduction of the Valkskej[4], otherwise known in common as the ‘Peace of the Sword’. Originating from ancient deals made by the Scyfling house of Volik to show their willingness to bear arms if the need arose to keep their word, Sigismund decided to incorporate it in regular Haeseni pact making following house Volik’s staunch support of Haense against the belligerent Scyflings during the Scyfling Invasion of Hanseti-Ruska. Following this, Sigismund made sure to utilise this practice with every alliance made from then on. A year later, in 1841, King Sigismund also codified a ceremony for the bestowal of the golden bulava, the symbol of power for the office of the Lord Palatine who is the second most powerful person in the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska, which he entitled ‘Veinir Bulava’[5]. Sigismund took inspiration from a similar ceremony used back during the reign of one of his ancestors and predecessors, King Stefan I.
Later in the same year, tragedy struck the usually optimistic and jovial, if even sometimes immaturely so, monarch when his wife, Emma of Jerovitz, delivered their first child, son and heir; Grand Prince Edvard Arjen. Born in 1841, the first Grand Prince lived for only approximately seven minutes before passing away due to a breathing related issue and in the arms of his father. This was made public in a statement from the Nikirala Palace[6]. This sent Sigismund into a depressive episode, developing a temper in some instances and despondency in others, with no sign of it letting up until nearly two years later when his daughter, Princess Klara Elizaveta, was born in 1843 which raised Sigismund’s spirits notably. The safe birth of the Princess was detailed in a missive from the government entitled ‘News from the Nikirala Palace’[7]. In this was also detailed the King’s brief travel to the far off Kingdom of Kalden as well as the Aulic Council sponsored committee set up to begin reviewing ‘Ve Haurul Caezk’, otherwise known as the Haeseni lawbook. Whilst the changes to the law and amendments made to the unofficial constitution, Sigismund created ‘The Blubber Act’[8] in 1844 to serve as a temporary reform to the Aulic Court procedures and the role of Jovenaars, the Haeseni equivalent of judges, to help the stagnating role of the courts in the meantime.
Following these numerous, mentally and emotionally taxing events, Sigismund III carved out some time to focus on a passion project of his in a bid to bring the Knights of Haense back into relevance and merge them with his love of history and folklore. The outcome of this came in 1845 with the ‘Kossar I Haenz’[9], which is commonly interpreted as a complete rehaul of the knightly orders in Haense but is instead a resurgence of old traditions being utilised once more. The main inspiration for this came from the legendary kossars who served under the ancient King of Raev, Barbov the Black, an ancestor of Sigismund III, with each kossar, or knight, coming to represent a different lesson or aspect of chivalry that Sigismund wished to use as a rough guideline for how a modern day knight should act. The fabled tales of these kossars are most completely contained in the ‘Song of the Black’[10][11].
Following this pleasant break from the overarching politics and world diplomacy that came with his position, Sigismund returned to his kingly work and began to broker a peace with the Principality of Savoy following their decision to take the Silver State of Haelun’or under them as a protectorate. During the reign of his father, Heinrik II, Haense began a war with Haelun’or that, because of the Silver States geographical position, resulted in little more than a few successful raids for the BSK forces. With the growing stagnancy of the Haeseni-Haelun’orian War and the High Elves' submission to the Principality of Savoy, Sigismund thought it best to have Savoy present the Silver State with terms for their surrender. Following this, terms for peace were agreed on amongst Haense, Savoy and the Grand Kingdom of Urguan, who had also been grievously insulted by the Silver State. The result was the ‘Valkskej Aranyz’[12] in 1846, otherwise known as ‘The Silver Peace’, which detailed that the Silver State of Haelun’or would sell the City of Ando Alur to the Grand Kingdom of Urguan and that ten thousand minas be paid to the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska as reparations along with a formal apology for their transgressions against them in exchange for the cessation of all conflict and hostility against the Solver State of Haelun’or on the part of Haense and Urguan.
Within the same year, more good news came for Haense in that a long awaited second son and heir apparent to Sigismund was born, alongside another son, securing his line firmly. The twins, Grand Prince Karl Sigmar and Prince Sergei Aleksandr, were born mere minutes apart in 1846. Not only were Sigismund’s own worries laid to rest but also those of his council and citizens upon the birth of a living son and heir. The safe arrival of the twin princes was publicly announced in the ‘Notice of the Birth of the Grand Prince of Kusoraev & the Duke of Rothswald’[13].
March on Cathalon (1846)
Finally, towards the end of 1846, Sigismund’s younger brother, Prince Marus Aleksandr, announced his forthcoming marriage to Henrietta Helvets, the daughter of the Orenian noble Thomas Helvets, the Duke of Cathalon. Duke Thomas was vocally against this match, claiming the union to be miscegenation as he claimed to have traced Prince Marus’ ancestry back to that of Harren, who at the start of humanity ignored the warnings of the aengul’s and married an elf, going against Canonist teachings. Thus the Duke Thomas used the term ‘Harrenite’ to insult the Prince and as his reasoning for denying the marriage. It was at this point Sigismund began to involve himself in the situation, feeling the refusal and claim that the Barbanov-Bihar bloodline was tainted was a great insult to himself and the royal family, one which he could not abide. Sigismund rallied whichever peer and BSK soldier he could on short notice before taking his retinue, along with Henrietta, into Imperial land and marching on to Cathalon to confront Duke Thomas. Upon reaching Cathalon and demanding the Duke show himself, Thomas appeared from his manor but remained staunch in his beliefs and refused to apologise for what was taken as transgressions against the royal family of Haense. Whether out of anger or due to some notion that it would serve as to how matters of honour were solved in a bygone age, Sigismund had Ser Flemius, a Marian knight which is the Haeseni equivalent of a Kingsguard, duel the Duke of Cathalon so that God made decide who was in the right. Ser Flemius capably bested the Duke who had agreed and fought with honour up until the point that he lost and lashed out at the knight as he was walking away from the defeated Duke. His attempt was thwarted and King Sigismund, with his retinue, left the Imperial lands, sure that they were in the right. Henrietta and Prince Marus were married soon after, despite the wishes of her father.
Following this, the Imperial government arranged for a meeting, arriving to petition Sigismund III for a private audience during a holding of court. The Orenian group of government officials, namely the Archchancellor of Oren Princess Josephine, ambassador to Haense Joseph d’Azor, Imperial State Army Captain Erik Othaman, and finally, and most controversially, Anna Mariya, who was Sigismund’s own mother having faked her death to flee to Oren where she’d been appointed Foreign Minister. Whether this was a ploy by the Orenians to force Sigismund’s hand at the behest of his long absent mother or to throw the King of Haense’s focus off, one thing was sure; Sigismund III did not take well to the Imperial petitioners. In what the Imperial’s called ‘The Circus of Nikirala’[14], Sigismund dismissed every attempt of the Imperial party to plead their case, perhaps due to what many Haeseni in the court claimed was hypocrisy at the Imperial claims that marching soldiers into Imperial land was wrong despite bringing an armed retinue themselves to the King’s court or because Sigismund was enraged at his mother’s reappearance, leading to a thoroughly annoyed Archchancellor attempting to leave the throne room only to be blocked by a shut gate, keeping the party in place. Sigismund told a whimsical story, essentially mocking the Imperials whilst also refusing to admit any wrongdoing on his part, before letting the Archchancellor and her group go free, sending them on their way back home.
Following this, Sigismund felt it important to solidify his support at home with the growing strain in the relationship between the Kingdom of Hanseti-Ruska and the Orenian Empire. Thus Sigismund officially created ‘The Boyar Council’[15] in 1847, a council which had had an informal existence during the reigns of King Josef, Heinrik II, and now Sigismund III, as a continuation of the Royal Advisory Cabinet of Sigismund II. Sigismund filled his Boyar Council with members of his own family, former Aulic Councillors and even his own Court Chaplain to serve as his closest advisors alongside the Aulic Council itself.
Michaelite Schism (1849-1850)
The Michaelite Schism, otherwise known as the Petty Schism, was an extremely short lived attempt, lasting only a month, to replace High Pontiff Everard VI with Bishop Christoff Barclay of San Luciano in Savoy, becoming Anti-Pontiff Michael I, orchestrated by Emperor Philip III, Empress Anastasia and Olivier II, Prince of Savoy.
Being at odds with the new Orenian administration that had overthrown the last during the Aster Revolution for his willingness to work with the thoroughly unpopular deposed Emperor Philip II, High Pontiff Everard was far from popular with the up-and-coming within the Empire. Amongst these, and perhaps the most notable aside from the Emperor and Empress themselves, was Prince-Emeritus Olivier of Savoy. Thus when Olivier I abdicated and his son and heir, Prince Olivier II ‘the Younger’, requested a coronation from the Pontiff himself, Everard was happy to accept believing it would help mend the previous divisions between the Church and Savoy. Olivier II proved to have the exact opposite intention though when he, alongside Emperor Philip III, his wife and Bishop Christoff, used the coronation to ensure High Pontiff Everard VI was physically present so that they could presumably detain or kill him after initiating their plan.
The fault in the plan and the Pontiff’s salvation prove to be the group of Haeseni men and women, primarily made up of Brotherhood members accompanying Lord Palatine Eirik Baruch, who were in attendance. When the true purpose of the event was revealed, the Haeseni were quick to cover and aid Everard’s escape from Savoy and back to the safety of Karosgrad. The Orenians and Savoyards proclaimed Bishop Cristoff as High Pontiff Michael I even despite Everard’s escape unscathed thus officially beginning the Michaelite Schism.
Sinners' War (1850-1868)
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Ve Haurul Caezk (1851)
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Marriage(s)
Sigismund III married Emma Kortrevich in the Basilica of Saint Henrik in 1836, officiated by the High Pontiff Everard VI. Wed two years before going on to become King, as the Grand Prince of Kusoraev the ceremony was large and lavish but by no means a surprise as the two had been courting for some years prior. The match was widely accepted as a loving and well-placed one with Emma being the sister of Count Jan Kortrevich.
Titles, Styles and Honors
- 1815-1837: His Royal Highness, Sigismund Karl, Grand Prince of Kusoraev
- 1837-1873: His Royal Majesty, Sigismund III, King of Hanseti-Ruska
Full title as King of Hanseti-Ruska
The titles of Sigismund III are: His Royal Majesty Sigismund III, by the Grace of Godan King of Hanseti and Ruska, Defender of the Faith, Grand Hetman of the Army, Prince of Bihar, Dules, Lahy, Muldav, Solvesborg, Slesvik and Ulgaard, Duke of Carnatia and Vanaheim, Margrave of Korstadt, Rothswald and Vasiland, Count of Alban, Alimar, Baranya, Graiswald, Karikhov, Karovia, Kaunas, Kavat, Kovachgrad, Kvasz, Markev, Nenzing, Torun, and Toruv, Viscount of Varna, Baron of Esenstadt, Kraken’s Watch, Kralta, Krepost, Lorentz, Rytsburg, Thurant, Venzia and Astfield, Lord of the Westfolk, Protector of the Highlanders, etcetera.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Marriage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edvard Arjen, Grand Prince of Kusoraev | 1841 | 1841 | Unwed | Firstborn son of Sigismund III and Emma. Died at birth. |
| Klara Elizaveta, Duchess of Baranya | 1843 | Alive | Jakob Morovar | Firstborn daughter of Sigismund III and Emma. |
| Karl III, King of Hanseti-Ruska | 1850 | Alive | Amadea of Susa | Secondborn son of Sigismund III. Twin to Prince Sergei. |
| Sergei Aleksandr, Duke of Rothswald | 1850 | Alive | (1) Aloisa Barclay (2) Irena de Sarkozy | Thirdborn son of Sigismund III. Twin to King Karl III. |
| Josef Frederik, Duke of Schattenburg | 1853 | 1869 | Dorothea vas Ruthern | Fourthborn son of Sigismund III and Emma. Died due to coma. |
| Maya Ceciliya, Bishop Reinmar | 1852 | 1897 | Dmitry var Ruthern | Secondborn daughter of Sigismund III and Emma. Died in her sleep. |
