Page "Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor" Paragraph 9

Having secured the support of the nobility, Sigismund was crowned King of Hungary at Székesfehérvár on 31 March 1387.

Having raised money by pledging Brandenburg to his cousin Jobst, margrave of Moravia ( 1388 ), he was engaged for the next nine years in a ceaseless struggle for the possession of this unstable throne.

The central power was finally weakened to such an extent that only Sigismund's alliance with the powerful Czillei-Garai League could ensure his position on the throne.

It was not for entirely selfless reasons that one of the leagues of barons helped him to power: Sigismund had to pay for the support of the lords by transferring a sizable part of the royal properties.

( For some years, the baron's council governed the country in the name of the Holy Crown ).

The restoration of the authority of the central administration took decades of work.

The bulk of the nation headed by the House of Garai was with him ; but in the southern provinces between the Sava and the Drava, the Horvathys with the support of King Tvrtko I of Bosnia, Mary's maternal uncle, proclaimed as their king Ladislaus, king of Naples, son of the murdered Charles II of Hungary.

Not until 1395 did Nicholas II Garay succeed in suppressing them.

To ease the pressure from Hungarian nobles, Sigismud tried to employ foreign advisors which was not popular and he had to promise to not give land and nominations to other than Hungarian nobles.

However, this was not applied to Stibor of Stiboricz who was Sigismund's closest friend and advisor.

On a number of occasions, Sigismund was imprisoned by nobles, but with help of the armies of Garai and Stibor of Stiboricz, he would regain power.