Sigismund Korybut

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The seal of Sigismund Korybut

For other nobles of the same name, please see Sigismund.

Sigismund Korybut (Lithuanian: Žygimantas Kaributaitis; Czech: Zikmund Korybutovič) (c.1395-1435 near Pabaiskas) was the Gediminid Duke of Lithuania, military commander of the Hussite army and a governor of Bohemia and Prague during the Hussite Wars.

Born, most likely in Novgorod-Seversky to Dymitr Korybut, son of Algirdas, with Anastasia, daughter of Grand Prince Oleg of Ryazan, and grown in the court of his uncle Jogaila in Cracow since 1404, Sigismund was rumoured to be expected to become his successor on the Polish throne. Being just an adolescent, he commanded his own banner of the Army of the Crown in the victorious Battle of Grunwald. As a regent of Bohemia for Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas, he was commissioned to lead his army to Bohemia in April 1422. The army of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor retreated to Hungary in avoidance of the encounter. Sigismund Korybut arrived to Prague on 16 May 1422, where he became a commander of local Hussites, in the Hussite internal fights and the ruler of Bohemia. Pope Martin V insisted, that Vytautas and Jogaila would recall Sigismund from Bohemia. On 24 December 1423, under Jogaila's agreement with the Emperor Sigismund, Sigismund Korybut left Prague with his army.

However, he could not refuse an offer of the Bohemian throne and on 29 June 1424 he once again came to Prague with 1,500-strong army, this time against Vytautas' and Jogaila's consent; their primary objective had been a successful implementation of the Treaty of Melno, therefore a conflict with the Emperor Sigismund was undesirable. Therefore, Jogaila ordered a confiscation of Sigismunds estates, whereas the Papal legate excommunicated him. Meanwhile, as a governor of Prague, he dismissed the city's council, summoned a new one and succeeded to terminate the internal discords between Jan Žižka and Utraquists, enabling a successful Hussite military campaign to Moravia against Emperor Sigismund. Afer Žižka's death, he became a supreme commander of his army, leading it to victory in the Battle of Usti nad Labem on 16 June 1426.

Castle Waldstein: Sigismund had spent several months in prison there

Sigismund Korybut began negotiations with Sigismund the Holy Roman Emperor, with an intention to reconciliate the Catholics and Hussites. However, his political career came to an end in 1427, when by the initiative of suspicious Prague Taborites, he was imprisoned in Burg Valdštejn for the organization of a revolt in Prague. After release from prison in 1428, Sigismund participated in Taborites' battles in Silesia. The decisive loss in the Battle of Lipany forced him to return to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Sigismund Korybut fought in the Battle of Pabaiskas on the side of his uncle Švitrigaila on 1 September 1435. His army was decisively defeated by Sigismund Kestutaitis' forces. Sigismund Korybut has been wounded during the battle, however he fought till the end. According to Jan Długosz, a cause of his death was poisoning of wounds (extremo mortis horrendae supplicio) by the Polish side.