Koca Sinan Pasha
Christopher fell seriously ill after his second wife, Elisabeth Bocskai, died in early 1581. After a false rumor about Christopher's death reached Istanbul, Koca Sinan Pasha proposed Transylvania to Pál Márkházy whom Christopher had been forced into exile. Although Christopher's only surviving son Sigismund was still a minor, the Diet elected him as voivode before Christopher's death, because they wanted to prevent the appointment of Márkházy. Christopher died in Gyulafehérvár on 27 May 1581. He was buried in the Jesuits' church in Gyulafehérvár, almost two years later, on 14 March 1583.