not bound by the treaty and resolved to return to Hungary. In February 1556, Isabella and her mother Bona, who was returning to her native Italy, departed Warsaw towards Silesia. She spent the summer in Lviv waiting for an opportune moment to return. Accompanied by Ottoman troops, she entered Kolozsvár in October. On 25 November 1556, the Transylvanian Diet entrusted her with a five-year regency period on behalf of her 16-year-old son. Isabella set up her Transylvanian chancellery with the help of Mihály Csáky. She minted her own gold ducats that depicted Madonna and Child on one side and composite coat of arms on the other. The coat of arms included: wolf and unicorn of the Zápolya family, Patriarchal cross and four horizontal stripes of Hungary, eagle of Poland, snake of the Sforza/Visconti families, and three panther heads of Dalmatia. In 1558, her supporter foiled a coup by the Kendi family against her. In addition to political strife, there were religious differences as well since Protestantism spread into Hungary. In 1557, Isabella signed an edict granting freedom of religion to four denominations – Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, and Unitarians. It was a pioneering move towards religious tolerance and an important step towards the Edict of Torda of 1568. Isabella is noted as the first European ruler to issue laws on religious tolerance. Isabella died of a long illness in September 1559, just three years after her return to Transylvania. Ancestry References In-line Bibliography 1519 births 1559 deaths Hungarian queens consort Eastern Hungarian Kingdom Isabella Isabella Nobility from Kraków Burials at St. Michael's Cathedral, Alba Iulia Polish princesses 16th-century women rulers Daughters of kings