In 1662 he was put forth by his cousin Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor as a candidate for Archbishop of Strasbourg. This included large cash incentives to the cathedral chapter and a promise that Sigismund would be a very hands off ruler.
After the 1662 death of his brother Archduke Ferdinand Charles, he became Archduke of Further Austria, and therefore withdrew from the candidacy for the bishopric.[1] He was more able than his brother and could have made him a good ruler, but with his early death in 1665 the younger Tyrolean line of the Habsburg house ended. Leopold I, who as the heir male succeeded Sigismund Francis, took direct control over the government of Further Austria and Tyrol.
Generations are numbered by male-line descent from the first archdukes. Later generations are included although Austrian titles of nobility were abolished in 1919.
