The war against Sigismund (Swedish: Kriget mot Sigismund) was a war between Duke Charles, later known as King Charles IX of Sweden, and Sigismund, who was at the time the king of both Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (that is, the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania). Lasting from 1598 to 1599, it is also called the War of Deposition against Sigismund, since the focus of the conflict was the attempt to depose the latter from the throne of Sweden. The war eventually resulted in the deposition of Sigismund (with Duke Charles taking over the government and later also acceding to the throne), the dissolution of the Polish–Swedish union, and the beginning of an eleven-year war.
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War against Sigismund in the context of Sigismund III
Sigismund III Vasa (Polish: Zygmunt III Waza, Lithuanian: Žygimantas Vaza; 20 June 1566 – 30 April 1632N.S.) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Religiously zealous, he imposed Catholicism across the vast realm, and his crusades against neighbouring states marked Poland's largest territorial expansion. As an enlightened despot, he presided over an era of prosperity and achievement, further distinguished by the transfer of the country's capital from Kraków to Warsaw.
Sigismund was the son of King John III of Sweden and his first wife, Catherine Jagiellon, daughter of King Sigismund I of Poland. Elected monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1587, he sought to unify Poland and Sweden under one Catholic kingdom, and when he succeeded his deceased father in 1592 the Polish–Swedish union was created. Opposition in Protestant Sweden caused a war against Sigismund headed by Sigismund's uncle Charles IX, who deposed him in 1599.
War against Sigismund in the context of Polish–Swedish union
The Polish–Swedish union was a short-lived personal union between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Sweden between 1592 and 1599. It began when Sigismund III Vasa, elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, was crowned King of Sweden following the death of his father John III. The union ended following a civil war in Sweden in which he lost the crown to his uncle, who eventually became Charles IX. Sigismund afterwards returned to Warsaw and pursued a war against his former realm.