 In 1506, he was succeeded by Sigismund I the Old ("Zygmunt I Stary") in both Poland and Lithuania as political realities were drawing the two states closer together.Prior to his accession to the Polish throne, Sigismund had been a Duke of Silesia by the authority of his brother Vladislas II of Bohemia, but like other Jagiellon rulers before him, he did not pursue the claim of the Polish Crown to Silesia.The culture of the 15th century Poland can be described as retaining typical medieval characteristics.