Sigismund I the Old

Sigismund (Polish: Zygmunt I Stary, Lithuanian: Žygimantas II Senasis) was born in the town of Kozienice in 1467 as the 2nd youngest son of Casimir V and his wife Elizabeth II, he was one of 13 children and was not expected to become king. Sigismund's eldest brother and rightful heir Wladyslaw II instead became King of Bohemia, Hungaryand Croatia and his 2nd eldest brother Casimir died young.

When Casimir V died in 1492, the Polish-Lithuanian realm was divided between the remaining 2 older sons, John II Albert being crowned King of Poland co-ruling with Elizabeth and Alexander sovereign rule over Lithuania, Alexander inherited Poland following John II Albert's sudden death in 1501 and his mother's death in 1505.

Sigismund was married twice, first to Barbara Zápolya m.1512-1515 grand daughter of Przemysław II Duke of Cieszyn and then Bona Sforza m.1517-1548, daughter of Gian Galeazzo Duke of Milan. Their only surviving son and last Jagiellon ruler Sigismund Augustus was crowned Co-ruler in 1529 and assumed the throne when Sigismund died in 1548, a capable monarch and a patron of arts, Sigismund established Polish rule over Ducal Prussia and annexed the Duchy of Mazovia with Warsaw, while retaining the nation's wealth and prominence in the region.

Sigismund was intermittently at war with Vasili III of Muscovy beginning in 1507, before the Polish army was fully under his command. Further tensions escalated when Vasili also discovered that Sigismund was bribing Khan Meñli I Giray to attack the Grand Duchy of Moscow, in 1512, Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Konstanty Ostrogski, ransacked the region of Severia and vanquished a Russian force of approximately 6,000 men.

On 8th September 1514, Muscovy suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Orsha, which prevented the Russians to place all the former Kievan Rus lands under their lordship, Poland exploited the battle for propaganda purposes with strong anti-Russian sentiment,​ a letter sent to Rome stated that "Muscovites are not Christians; they are cruel and barbaric; they are Asians not Europeans; they are in league with Turks and Tatars to destroy Christendom, regardless of victory, the Polish–Lithuanian troops were incapable of moving quickly to retake Smolensk.

He made sure that his nephew Albert, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and Albert's Protestant successors would pay feudal homage or tribute to Polish monarchs as a sign of political and diplomatic dependence, the Chamber of Deputies extended the thumb|307x307px|Hanging of Sigismund bell in 1521, painted by Jan Matejko