abdicated at the Diet in Medgyes (now Mediaș in Romania) on 21March 1599. Eight days later, the Diet proclaimed Andrew Báthory prince, hoping that Andrew could make peace with the Ottomans with the assistance of Poland. Sigismund left Transylvania for Poland in June. His marriage with Maria Christierna was declared invalid in Rome in August. Andrew Báthory lost his throne and his life fighting against Michael the Brave and his Székely allies in autumn. Michael the Brave administered Transylvania as RudolphII's governor, but his rule was unpopular among the noblemen, especially because of the pillaging raids made by his unpaid soldiers. As early as 9February 1600 Sigismund announced that he was ready to return to Transylvania. Moses Székely, a commander-in-chief during Michael the Brave's campaign against Moldavia in May, deserted Michael and came to Poland to meet Sigismund. The elected leader of the Transylvanian noblemen, István Csáky, sought assistance from RudolphII's military commander, Giorgio Basta, against Michael. Basta invaded Transylvania and expelled Michael the Brave in September. Basta's unpaid soldiers regularly pillaged the principality, while Ottoman and Tatar marauders made frequent incursions across the frontiers. Sigismund returned to Transylvania across Moldavia at the head of a Polish army on 24March 1601. The Diet proclaimed him prince in Kolozsvár on 3April. Basta and Michael the Brave invaded Transylvania in summer. They routed Sigismund's army in the Battle of Goroszló on 3August 1601. After the battle, Sigismund fled to Moldavia, but he returned on 6September. The sultan's envoy confirmed Sigismund's position as Prince of Transylvania in Brassó (now Brașov in Romania) on 2October. At the head of an army which also included Ottoman and Tatar soldiers, Sigismund expanded his rule over most regions of the principality, but he could not capture Kolozsvár in late November. He started new negotiations with Basta over his abdication in March 1602, because he did not trust his own supporters. He referred to them as "intoxicated and brutish sons of a bitch" and asked István Csáky to help him to leave their camp on 2July. He left Transylvania for the last time on 26July 1602. Last years Basta's soldiers accompanied Sigismund to Tokaj. Before long, he went to Prague to beg for RudolphII's mercy. He received the incolatus (or the right to own lands in Bohemia) in 1604. After the Diet of Transylvania proclaimed Stephen Bocskai prince in February 1605, Rudolph tried to persuade Sigismund to return