county head function in 1421. At some point between 1420 and 1430, King Sigismund (Holy Roman Emperor) decided to make Bratislava Castle – due to its central location — the center of his new German-Czech-Hungarian empire. In 1423, the king ordered the Rozgonyis to improve the fortifications of the castle as a protection against Hussite attacks, because the castle was situated close to the Czech border and it was still protected only by the old wooden ramparts. They replaced the old rampart with a new better stone bulwark. Then between 1431 and 1434 a total rearrangement of Pressburg castle took place. Experts from Germany were invited, material was transported from Austria, towns were imposed special taxes specifically for the construction of the planned largest castle ever built. The construction master was Konrad von Erlingen. The residential "tower" was demolished, and the form of the new Gothic palace was approximately similar to that of the present-day castle (but without two towers). Today, the only completely preserved part of the castle from that time is the Sigismund Gate (wrongly called the Corvinus Gate), i.e. the eastern entrance gate in the bulwark. Smaller parts have been preserve in the main palace. Sigismund plans, however, did not materialize, because the castle was never made Sigismund's residence and Sigismund always lived in the town below the castle. After Sigismund's death in 1437, his widow Barbara of Celje was imprisoned in the castle by the new king Albert of Habsburg. In 1438, Albert's daughter, Anne was engaged to the margrave William III, Landgrave of Thuringia in the castle. John Hunyadi and his wife Erzsébet Szilágyi also stayed here and Hungarian women respected them. Later on, Ladislas the Posthumous was probably living in the castle (parts of the castle were adapted for him at least). In 1440-1443, there were fighting between the castle of Pressburg ruled by county heads from the Rozgonyi family (supporting King Władysław III of Poland) and the town of Pressburg (supporting – and owned by – Queen Elisabeth which ruled for the young Ladislaus Posthumus) – see History of Pressburg for details. Castle repairs of 1438, 1452 and 1463 included repairs of damages caused by the above conflict. A water well was constructed in the yard of the castle in the 15th century. Main castle of the Kingdom of Hungary (1531 – 1783) Political events In 1536 (de facto already in 1531), after