Sigismund Vasa was born in 1566 to Duke Johan of Finland and Katarzina of Poland. In 1568, Johan and his brother, Carl, overthrew their elder half brother, King Erik of Sweden, making Johan the new King. A generation earlier, Sweden had broken away from the Roman Church. 1/10
King Johan took a softer approach, attempting to reconcile with the remaining Catholics in Lutheran Sweden. Sigismund was raised as a Catholic by his mother. In 1573, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth became an elected monarchy after Katarzina's brother, King Zygmunt, died. 2/10
The first election winner got called up to rule another country. So, in 1574, Transylvanian Prince, István Báthori, got elected instead. King István was also Katarzina's brother-in-law. But the King's death in 1586 brought about another election. 3/10
Sigismund was elected King, backed by King István's Chancellor Jan Zamoyski. But it was disputed by Maximilian, son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian. Zamoyski would manage to withhold the younger Maximilian's siege of the Polish capital, Kraków, and defeat him at Byczyna. 4/10
The Polish Parliament, Sejm, managed to gain more powers in the process, but Sigismund found new allies among the Habsburgs. While the power play between the King and his court played out, King Johan died in Stockholm. 5/10
Sigismund became King of Sweden in 1592 promising to respect Lutheran beliefs. But it soon became obvious Sigismund favoured Catholics. His uncle, Carl, united the opposition and deposed Sigismund by 1599 and became King. 6/10
Back in the Commonwealth, Sigismund would make intermittent attempts to retake Sweden, and fail. In 1606, he would be faced with a rebellion in Poland. It would take till 1609 for him to put down the rebellion. By then a new opportunity to expand arose on the eastern border. 7/10
Though there was a Tsar in Russia, Russia was not stable. Once Smolensk was taken in a siege and Russian forces were beaten at Klushino, the Tsar had to resign. In his place the name of Sigismund's 14 year old son, Władysław, was proposed, provided he accept Orthodox faith. 8/10
Sigismund though could not press on the advantage, as the Russians found themselves a new Tsar and the Swedes intervened in the Commonwealth controlled Livonia. The truce with Russia in 1618 made the Commonwealth the largest nation in Europe. 9/10
But it wasn't long before Sigismund's cousin in Sweden, King Gustaf Adolf, completed his conquest of Livonia. Though Sigismund managed a victory against the Ottomans in Moldavia, the loss of Livonia would remain as a mark on his reign when he died in 1632. 10/10
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If somebody had asked me in 2019, what my biggest concerns for the future were, I would have said war and disease.
Disease, because a pandemic is always inevitable, and unpredictable. Is the field of medicine progressing fast enough to outrun the evolution of pathogens? 1/4
Looking back, the way we have handled the Covid pandemic is positive, provided it is because we have progressed in the field of medicine and not because as a disease, Covid is less dangerous than H1N1. What toll would Spanish flu have taken had it come a century later? 2/4
If the marmot/13th century origin of the plague in medieval Europe is correct, there is a line of improvement from plague to H1N1 to SARS-Cov-2. So, here's hoping we are on the right track in outrunning pathogens. 3/4
So, Dad bought this land in the late 1980s in a court auction. The court documents referred to it as a "parambu" (essentially non agricultural land). At the time, the entire area, apart from a house next door (and perhaps the one next to it), was undeveloped. 1/6
Sometime in the 1990s, when he asked for permission for construction, it was refused saying it was agricultural land, which was also the legal opinion we received at the time. We could have paid a high percent of the land value and gone ahead, but it wasn't worth it. 2/6
Cut to February 2021, the state notify the updated records of agricultural land. Our land is not among them. The area has now grown into a town centre with hotels and a hospital. But despite the notification, Revenue records are still stuck in the 1960s. 3/6
Many a time the worst things happen on a deed made with the best intentions. A nation gets broken up for centuries over a will, ushering an era dominated by foreign rulers.
Bolesław was born in 1086 to Władysław Herman, Duke of Poland and Judith of Bohemia. He also had an illegitimate half brother, Zbigniew. Władysław had become Duke after his elder brother, Bolesław, was deposed in 1079 by the nobles and the clergy. 1/10
The senior Bolesław and his predecessors had taken an expansionist view for Poland, becoming a regional power player. In 1076, Bolesław was crowned King, but was seen by the nobles and the clergy as becoming too powerful. 2/10
A nation broken by a foreign invasion, a young prince collaborating with the same invaders to gain dominance in his nation, remaking it and setting in motion a chain of events that would ultimately lead towards regaining the nation's independence.
Aleksander Iaroslavich was born in 1220 to Iaroslav Vsevolodich, Prince of Pereyaslavl, and Fedosia. Iaroslav was the younger brother of Prince Konstantin of Rostov and Grand Prince Iurii of Vladimir-Suzdal. Iurii and Iaroslav had earlier allied against the elder Konstantin. 1/10
After Andrei Iurievich had demolished Kiev in 1169, Vladimir had become the main power centre of the divided Rus' nation. Young Aleksander was installed as the Prince of Novgorod in 1236 and it is in Novgorod that he would make his mark. 2/10
Andrei Iurievich was born around 1111 to Iurii Vladimirovich, Prince of Rostov-Suzdal, and a Cuman princess.
For centuries, Kiev had been the capital of the Rus'. In 1149, Prince Iurii captured Kiev with the help of Cuman allies, but he could not hold onto it for long. 1/10
Kievan Rus' originated in the 9th century, when Rurik and his brothers founded it. But by the time of Andrei, the state had been divided among Rurik's descendants into many principalities. The Grand Prince of Kiev was still the nominal overlord, but the city was in decline. 2/10
Livia Drusilla was born in 58 BC to Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus (Born Appius Claudius Pulcher and later adopted by Marcus Livius Drusus) and Alfidia. Not much is known about her early life, except that she married Tiberius Claudius Nero around 43. 1/10
In the Roman civil wars after 44, both Livia's father and husband ended up supporting the losing side. After Gaius Octavius defeated Lucius Antonius in Perusia, they would flee from Rome. But after Octavius reconciled with Marcus, brother of Lucius, they would return. 2/10