John Sigismund Zápolya or Szapolyai (; 7 July 1540 – 14 March 1571) was King of Hungary as John II from 1540 to 1551 and from 1556 to 1570, and the first Prince of Transylvania, from 1570 to his death. He was the only son of John I, King of Hungary, and Isabella of Poland. JohnI ruled parts of the Kingdom of Hungary with the support of the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman; the remaining areas were ruled by Ferdinand I of Habsburg, who also ruled Austria and Bohemia. The two kings concluded a peace treaty in 1538 acknowledging Ferdinand's right to reunite Hungary after JohnI's death, though shortly after John Sigismund's birth, and on his deathbed, JohnI bequeathed his realm to his son. The late king's staunchest supporters elected the infant John Sigismund king, but he was not crowned with the Holy Crown of Hungary.
Suleiman invaded Hungary under the pretext of protecting John Sigismund from Ferdinand. Buda, the capital of Hungary, fell to the Ottomans without opposition in 1541, but Suleiman allowed the dowager queen, Isabella, to retain the territory east of the river Tisza on John Sigismund's behalf. Isabella and John Sigismund moved to Lippa (now Lipova in Romania). Before long, they took up residence in Gyulafehérvár in Transylvania (Alba Iulia in Romania). John Sigismund's realm was administered by his father's treasurer, George Martinuzzi, who sought to reunite Hungary under the rule of Ferdinand. Martinuzzi forced Isabella to renounce her son's realm in exchange for two Silesian duchies and 140,000 florins in 1551. John Sigismund and his mother settled in Poland, but she continued to negotiate for John Sigismund's restoration with Ferdinand's enemies.
Ferdinand was unable to protect eastern Hungary against the Ottomans. At Suleiman's urging, the Transylvanian Diet in 1556 persuaded John Sigismund and his mother to return to Transylvania, where she ruled her son's realm until her death in 1559. A wealthy lord, Melchior Balassa, rebelled against John Sigismund in late 1561, and Ferdinand gained control of most counties outside Transylvania. The Székely people, whose liberties had been restricted in the 1550s, also rose up against John Sigismund, but he crushed the rebellion. During the ensuing war against the Habsburgs, the Ottomans supported John Sigismund, and he paid homage to Suleiman in Zemun in 1566. The 1568 Treaty of Adrianople concluded the war, confirming John Sigismund in the eastern territories of the medieval Kingdom of Hungary (Transylvania and "Partium").
John Sigismund initiated a series of theological debates among the representatives of the concurring theological schools of the Reformation in the 1560s. He converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism in 1562 and from Lutheranism to Calvinism in 1564. Around five years later, accepting the Anti-Trinitarian views of his physician, Giorgio Biandrata and court preacher Ferenc Dávid, he became the only Unitarian monarch in history. In 1568, the Diet passed the Edict of Torda (now Turda in Romania), which emphasized that "faith is a gift of God" and prohibited the persecution of people for religious reasons. The edict expanded the limits of freedom of religion beyond the standards of late 16th-century Europe. John Sigismund abandoned the title "elected king of Hungary" in the Treaty of Speyer in 1570. Thereafter, he styled himself "Prince of Transylvania and Lord of Parts of the Kingdom of Hungary". He died childless. The Catholic Stephen Báthory succeeded him.
Family
John Sigismund's father, John Zápolya, was the wealthiest Hungarian lord in the early . After the Ottoman Sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent, inflicted a crushing defeat on the Hungarian army in the Battle of Mohács, the majority of the noblemen elected John Zápolya king in 1526. However, a group of influential lords proclaimed Ferdinand I, Archduke of Austria, king in the same year. Hungary fell into a civil war that lasted for decades.
John paid homage to Suleiman at Mohács in 1529 to secure Ottoman support against Ferdinand. However, neither John nor Ferdinand could win control of the whole country during the next years. To conclude the civil war, the two kings' envoys signed the Treaty of Várad on 24February 1538, which confirmed both kings' right to retain the lands that they held. John, who was childless, also acknowledged Ferdinand's right to take control of his realm (the central and eastern part of the Kingdom of Hungary) after his death. John also stipulated, if he fathered a son, his son would inherit his ancestral domains. Ferdinand, however, proved unable to protect John's realm against an Ottoman invasion. At age 52 John married Isabella Jagiellon, the 20-year-old daughter of Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland, on 2March 1539. The humanist scholars Paolo Giovio and Antun Vrančić emphasized that Isabella was one of the most educated women of their age.
John Sigismund was born in Buda on 7 July 1540. On learning of his birth, his father, who was on campaign in Transylvania, rode to his soldiers' camp to inform them of the good news. The following day John fell ill, and he died on 21 or 22 July. Before his death he persuaded those present at his death bed to take an oath that they would prevent the transfer of his realm to Ferdinand.
Childhood
Accession
Soon after John Zápolya died, his treasurer, George Martinuzzi, hurried to Buda to secure John Sigismund's inheritance. On Martinuzzi's proposal, the Diet of Hungary elected John Sigismund king on 13September 1540, but he was not crowned with the Holy Crown of Hungary. The Diet proclaimed Queen Isabella and George Martinuzzi, along with two powerful lords, Péter Petrovics and Bálint Török, the guardians of the infant monarch.
In August, Ferdinand's envoys had demanded the transfer of the late John Zápolya's realm to Ferdinand in accordance with the Treaty of Várad. Peter Perényi, who had been the commander of Zápolya's troops in Upper Hungary, and Franjo Frankopan, Archbishop of Kalocsa, soon deserted to Ferdinand. The wealthy Stephen Majláth expelled most of John Sigismund's supporters from Transylvania in an attempt to seize the province for himself. Ferdinand's envoy, Hieronymus Łaski, informed Suleiman of the Treaty of Várad, asking the sultan to consent to the unification of Hungary under Ferdinand's rule. Instead, the sultan stated that he supported John Sigismund and had Łaski arrested.
Ferdinand's army seized Visegrád, Vác, Pest, Tata and Székesfehérvár in October, but could not capture Buda. His military commander, Wilhelm von Roggendorf, again laid siege to Buda on 4May 1541. Suleiman left Istanbul at the head of a large army in June to take advantage of the new civil war in Hungary. On his command, Petru Rareș, Prince of Moldavia, captured Stephen Majláth and forced the Transylvanian Diet to swear fealty to John Sigismund in late July. Roggendorf lifted the siege of Buda before Suleiman reached the town on 26August.
Suleiman said that he had come to protect John Sigismund's interests, but also announced that he wanted to see the infant king, because he had heard rumours about Isabella's having actually given birth to a daughter. Six Hungarian lords (including George Martinuzzi and Bálint Török) accompanied John Sigismund to the sultan's camp on 29August. During the meeting, janissaries entered Buda, saying that they wanted to see the town. This turned out to be a trick that enabled them to seize the capital of Hungary without opposition. Bálint Török was captured in the sultan's camp. Suleiman declared that John Sigismund could retain the territories to the east of the river Tisza in exchange for a yearly tribute of 10,000 florins.
First rule
Isabella and Martinuzzi left Buda on 5 September 1541, taking John Sigismund and the Holy Crown with them. She and her son settled in Lippa, which was the center of an old domain of the Zápolya family. The delegates of the counties of John Sigismund's realm met in Debrecen on 18October. They swore fealty to him and acknowledged the sultan's suzerainty. Martinuzzi signed a treaty with FerdinandI's representative, Caspar Serédy, in Gyalu (now Gilău in Romania) on 29December. According to the Treaty of Gyalu, Hungary was to be reunited under the rule of Ferdinand, but John Sigismund's right to the Zápolyas' domains in Upper Hungary was confirmed.
On 29 March 1542, the "Three Nations of Transylvania" urged Isabella to move from Lippa (which was located near the Ottoman Empire) to Transylvania. After John Statileo, Bishop of Transylvania, died in April, the Diet granted the domains of the bishopric to the royal family. Isabella and John Sigismund moved to Gyulafehérvár in June, taking up residence in the bishops' castle.
The Transylvanian Diet confirmed the Treaty of Gyalu in August. The representatives of the noblemen of the Partium (the counties between the Tisza and Transylvania) also consented to a war against the Ottoman Empire in November. However, the Habsburgs' army was unable to recapture Pest or defeat the Ottomans. Caspar Serédy came to Gyalu to take possession of John Sigismund's realm on Ferdinand's behalf, but Isabella refused him on 17December. Three days later, the Diet declared the Treaty of Gyalu null and void, over the objections of the delegates of the Transylvanian Saxons.
The relationship between Isabella and Martinuzzi was tense. Martinuzzi continued to control state administration and finance even after the Diet confirmed Isabella's superior position in February 1543. The first tribute from John Sigismund's realm was sent to the Ottoman Sultan in June. In the same month, Saxon clergymen from Kronstadt (now Brașov in Romania), who had adopted Lutheranism, participated in a debate with Catholic priests in the presence of the queen and Martinuzzi in Gyulafehérvár. The Saxons were allowed to leave, although Martinuzzi, who was bishop of Várad, wanted to bring them before court on charges of heresy. In April 1544, the Diet of Torda prescribed that travellers should respect the religious customs of the settlements they visited, showing that the ideas of the Reformation had spread to the whole province.
The first Transylvanian Diet at which delegates from the Partium were present met in August 1544. At the Diet, Martinuzzi was made chief justice. Five counties that had previously accepted Ferdinand's ruleBereg, Szabolcs, Szatmár, Ung and Zemplénswore allegiance to John Sigismund before the end of 1555.
The Ottomans laid claim to two fortresses, Becse and Becskerek (now Novi Bečej and Zrenjanin in Serbia), in early 1546. The sultan refused to include John Sigismund's realm in the peace treaty that he concluded with Ferdinand's brother, Emperor Charles V, in 1547. Both actions suggested that Suleiman intended to seize part of John Sigismund's kingdom, prompting Isabella and Martinuzzi to reopen negotiations with Ferdinand on the reunification of Hungary in 1548. Martinuzzi and Ferdinand's envoy, Nicolaus of Salm, signed a treaty in Nyírbátor on 8September 1549. According to their agreement, Isabella and John Sigismund were to abdicate in exchange for the Silesian duchies of Opole and Racibórz and 100,000 florins in compensation. Isabella refused to execute the treaty and remained in Gyulafehérvár. Martinuzzi laid siege to the town, forcing her to give up resistance in October 1550.
Isabella and her supporters Péter Petrovics and Ferenc Patócsy made a new attempt to prevent the execution of the Treaty of Nyírbátor in May 1551, but Martinuzzi defeated them. Under duress, Isabella abdicated in favor of Ferdinand on John Sigismund's behalf, in return for the two Silesian duchies and 140,000 florins on 19July. Two days later, she surrendered the Holy Crown to Ferdinand's representative, Giovanni Battista Castaldo. The Diet acknowledged their abdication and swore fealty to Ferdinand on 26July.
In exile