Poland of the Middle Ages

Zygmunt I Stary, Sigismund the Elder

1506-48  By the arranged marriages of his brother's children to the royal houses of Bohemia and Hungary, Zygmunt made peace with those countries as well as holding off the infringements into Poland of Austria, Moscovy and the Teutonic Order. This left Zygmunt free to wage war in the north and east without interference from the west. He took Bona Sforza of Milan as his second wife. She is credited with among other things, bringing the Renaissance to Poland.  Some credit Bona with poisoning her son Zygmunt Agustus's wives Elizabeth of Habsburg and Barbara Radizill of Lithuania