So Sigismund gave a very sorrowful goodbye to Maria when he left for Poland. It felt even sadder than when Hedwig had to move away to Austria, to be raised to be a duchess. He was now 13. His aid? The Duke of Opole and Duke of Ruthenia, Wladislaus “Naderspan” Silesia-Piast. “Just call me Naderspan, boy.” The old man was already hunched below Sigismund’s height. He was bald with a big brown beard. He held on tightly to his yellowish cloak which had a red rope tied at the waist Over this, he wore a Piast cape that shown a white eagle over a red background. And Sigismund was not even in Krakow like he expected, but in Lviv. Lviv was Naderspan’s capital, in Ruthenia (Red Russia), in the southeastern part of Poland.
“What does Naderspan mean?”
“There will be no questions from you. We will stay here for a week before going to Krakow but I assure the Poles will not like us. What do you know of the country?”
“Some things. It’s cold and they have redheads like me. They don’t have Hungarian food.”
“Redheads paler than you. Listen, Germany has counts and margraves among the princes. Those nobles are autonomous but have no choice over their ruler except for the Electors, like you. As Margrave of Brandenburg, you get the choice to make Lajos the Imperator.”
“Well he doesn’t want that.”
“Just an example. That is due to the Golden Bull.” The constitution of the HRE. “In Hungary, you see more will divested into the local counts and barons that make up the Diet. The Diet is more than just 7 families that decide the crown of the country although they are less autonomous than Germans. They have their own Golden Bull. And then in Poland, the szlachta, the collection of counts and dukes, have a golden liberty compared to other nobilities. The dozens of them participate in the Sejm where they legislate law and decide the king. Autonomy is no conversation for them as they have the same status as the King. Since you’re German, you will be mistreated. Lajos is lucky they like him and even then, he put me here to rule when in Hungary.”
“You rule from Lviv? This is just a merchant town.”
“Exactly, I don’t rule. I just give Lajos reports. The szlachta are happy the king doesn’t interfere in their local matters. They are free to torture their peasentry but at the same time, they are careful to not start any wars. Else, they have to beg the King of Hungary for help. Poland is peaceful that way.”
“And that peace is good.”
“Luxembourg, if you want to be king here, we must find you allies quickly, well before Lajos dies.”
“So let’s not stay here for a week?”
“No, you can find allies in Ruthenia with my own connections. Ignore the rest of the Rus, they are retarded. Then, when we go to Krakow, we will have to deal with the scions of Wielkopolski, Maloposki, Kujawy, and Mazovia. Those are the other regions of this horrible country. Catholic Poles, blonde and ginger all around. We will be successful.”
They were NOT successful. After a summer in Krakow, Sigismund already retreated to Neumark while Naderspan went back to Lviv. After decent relaxation, they went back to Krakow only to be tortured again. Vlad shook and groaned in his sleep as he experienced the debates with the few szlachta that Sigismund suffered. To a German noble, these arguments were utter nonsense as each szlachta found a new restriction Sigismund should have when he became king. Sigismund once asked Naderspan what would happen if he acted tyrannically. “If you used the royal army to attack a single clan to simply enforce taxes, they will have the manpower to buffer you. And even if not for that, the rest of the country, even your supporters, would obliterate and exile you. Each clan has a country’s worth of military and the royal army is that of volunteers of sorts. Or maybe, you could use Brandenburger troops. But tyranny won’t go anywhere in Poland.”
Sigismund was able to find some complacent allies in Malopolska, or Lower Poland. It was the southwestern region of which was surrounding the capital, Krakow. He also did get to learn some colder magic and learned how to speak Polish. He also gained a rival, the Duke of Mazovia, Siemowit IV Piast. This duke was already 33 when he gained acceptance from Wielkopolska to become King. But Sigismund would not meet him yet.
At the end of the year, Lajos had died. It was 1382, Sigismund being 14 and Maria being 11. The Luxembourgs, the szlachta, the Anjou relatives, and vassals of Hungary all visited Buda for his funeral. There was a grand attendance so the mass was done outside. At the end, Cardinal Demetrius inscribed Ludovicus Andegavensis Magnus on his gravestone.
At the reception, not too many Poles stayed, for fear of breathing Magyar air. Sigismund was consoling Maria on a bench in the mess hall. After enough crying, Maria finally said to Sigismund, “you know, father was on his deathbed when he told me he wanted me to marry you. Be your wife.”
“What’d you say?”
“Yes, of course! I think I’ve always loved you Sigi. You would be a nice husband and you’d take care of me.”
Sigismund tried not to smile, “come on, today was a day to mourn.”
“It’s okay. Now we can mourn fully together, you know…”
Sigismund noticed Hedwig cross the hall dragged by her mom. He noticed a blond man following them from afar. “You had also lost Katalin. I wonder how Hedwig is doing.”
“She should be okay. She was away in Vienna the same time you were gone. My mom may not let us go anywhere though, from now on. Oh and that was her betrothed, Wilhelm Habsburg.”
“Heard of him. You know in Germany, he would serve as a rival to me. I think I could defeat him right now.”
“Me too! But you’re going to be brothers if everyone gets married.”
“Brothers fight.”
“MARIA!” Elizabeta shouted. The tall and blonde Wilhelm immediately turned around looking lost. Maria stood up straight immediately as well.
“You can go. We’ll get married soon, of course.”
Maria winked at him and then ran away. But your mother has to let us go…unless Maria is the one to stay in Hungary! That would be greater for me than the darn Sejm. And maybe Hedwig will simply be a duchess in Austria. Good for me. Poland could be discarded. And even better for me, I’ll use Brandenberg and Hungary’s armies to take Poland for myself, once they vote Siemowit as King. This is the path.
Sigismund caught Wilhelm staring at him. People walked in between them as they held eye contact for a moment. Then Wilhelm made his index finger and thumb into a circle with a mean face. Sigismund replied the same. The Habsburg left. Vlad remembered the old man told him it was a gesture of ‘fuck you’ in Germany. The old man shouldn’t teach me rude gestures.
Naderspan then sat next to Sigismund on the bench, “boy, how heavy is your heart for Poland?”
“Not heavy at all, actually. Just being here this week has told me to never go back up there.”
“Because you like to share your authority. Only a lazy do-nothing king could be satisfied ruling in Poland. Listen, as Duke of Ruthenia, I am also in the Sejm and I am even a branch member of the Piast that largely controls Poland. In the past, I failed to use that to rule over the Sejm so I must now be satisfied ruling with them.”
“Do you mean you will stop supporting me? And side with one of the partisans?”
“Yes. As I informed you a few weeks ago, the Sejm has found parties between themselves. There was the Siemowit of Mazovia, supported by the Wielkopolski. It helps that he is Piast as well. That means Poland can remain peaceful and also regain total union with Mazovia which is only partial right now. They will keep him as a scapegoat although since he is in the Sejm, he knows this well. He’s also much older and more experienced with administration than you. But then there is also a movement from the Malopolski, to unite the kingdom with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the east. This plan would convert those heathens into Christians which the Pope would very much appreciate. And then, it would also help Poland curb the bothersome Teutonic Knights in Prussia and Livonia. They have bullied Poles and Lithuanians for a while now so a united front against them would stall all that rabble. So you see my choice.”
“Yeah, go be Polish I guess, Naderspan. That would fit right in my plans. In fact, make sure the Lithuanians never touch Poland, that would ruin my plans.”
Naderspan raised an eyebrow but he was finished with what he wanted to stay. He up and left saying, “good luck with the rest of your life.”
Then Wenzel and his cousin Jobst came up to Sigismund. Jobst was 30 years old. He was a thin man with dark hair and wore a red robe. He was Margrave of Moravia. And now, Wenzel was indeed King of Bohemia and the King of Germany at 20 years old. “Brother, what was that Silesian talking about? Were you unsuccessful in Poland?”
“Well not at all. Even Naderspan wants to betray me. Do you know what his name means?” Wenzel shook his head. “Whatever. Wenzel, Jobst, what if I simply became king in Hungary? Then I can just push a claim in Poland, as long as Hedwig does not become queen there.”
The two eyed each other and then Jobst said, “it doesn’t matter.” Sigismund’s heart skipped a beat. “Like, it was a waste of time if things don’t go your way but what matters now is making sure you’re still a Luxembourg.”
“Of course?”
“Then make sure Maria will become a Luxembourg. Only focus on that and you will have her many options at her disposal.”
Wenzel added, “in the end, we would like as much manpower as possible to eliminate the sway of the Wittlesbachs. Hedwig’s possible bethroral to a Habsburg will help with that too. So don’t worry about any plans for claims. Marriage to Maria is all that matters.”
“Yeah, duh! We’ve always loved each other but I’m not marrying here for a Caroli feud against some Bavarians or even just to be king. I will because we are for each other!”
The two stared down for a moment until Sigismund seemed to calm down. Jobst said, “and then remember, we will help you secure things with our manpower so you must repay that in the later war with the Wittlesbachs. Luxembourg will remain united, there will be no bickering amongst the 5 of us.”
The two left in tandem. Sigismund folded his arm and hunched over feeling angrier than before. Unable to not speak his thoughts, Sigismund started muttering, “Luxembourgs together? Luxem luxem luxem. Because we’re little. The little castle. Almost sounds like the light spell…lucem lucem lucem. Glucem glucem glücklich. Lucky…I hope I’m lucky…”
Away from the memories of Sigismund, Elizabeta was pressured by Naderspan and the Hungarian Palatine, Miklos Garai (Senior). Naderspan argued, “the Poles want a ruler right now, so give up Maria as planned.”
“Be kind with the lady, she just lost her husband the other day,” Miklos said. He was a tall strong looking man with long black hair descending down his back. He wore a white dress with a red stripe along the bottom and gold tassels about.
“Shut up, you know I am your predecessor. And why did you come if not to argue that Hungary should have their queen?”
“Shut up,” Elizabeta said, sitting with her arms draped over her kids. They had intruded into her bedroom for this nonsense. “How dare you intrude into my bedroom for this nonsense?? It is fair for a kingdom to wait a week for a new ruler.”
Miklos said, “sure-”
“I might be hanged if I don’t bring back any of those girls.”
Then Naderspan was knocked in the head by a stick. He screamed and moved further inside. Coming from behind him was Cardinal Demetrius. He was a short old Hungarian man wearing the red cloak customary of cardinals. He was the religious head of Hungary and the Keeper of the Royal Seal. “Don’t tempt me on anything Naderspan.”
Maria raised her hand, “what does Naderspan mean?” and then Elizabeta covered her mouth.
Naderspan shouted, “Princesses don’t get their questions answered!”
Demetrius said, “listen, miss Elizabeta is the ruler for she is Queen Dowager in both nations automatically. They are both underage, dumbass. So wait the fair week for her decision. And you know the princesses are stuck in diverse marriages. A union of Brandenburg and Poland. A union of Hungary and Austria. Not an easy thing for the civilians to even accept but she has to accept that on top of the loss of her daughters.”
“Fine, a week,” Naderspan said.
Miklos said, “Queen, if you need anything, let me know. I am always at your service.”
“You better not be in her cervix,” Naderspan said and the Cardinal chuckled.
Elizabeta kicked her sandal at the boys who decided to finally leave.
tdwriter 