Jagiello

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Jagiellon Dynasty (Poland-Lithuania), the dynasty that ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Poland, and at times Hungary and Bohemia, from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Its progenitor was Gediminas, grand duke of Lithuania (ruled 1316–1341), the founder of the Lithuanian-Ruthenian state and father of Grand Duke Algirdas (ruled 1345–1377). The founder of the dynasty in Poland was Algirdas's son and successor Jogaila. As a result of a Polish-Lithuanian agreement signed at Krewo on 14 August 1385, which envisaged the Christianization of Lithuania and its union with Poland, Jogaila married the Polish queen Jadwiga of Anjou and was baptized and crowned king of Poland, becoming Władysław II Jagiełło (1386–1434).

The Jagiellon dynasty ruled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from 1377 to 1401 and from 1440 to 1572, in Poland from 1386 to 1572, in Hungary from 1440 to 1444 and from 1490 to 1526, and in Bohemia from 1471 to 1526. Władysław II had two sons by his fourth marriage with Sophia, a Lithuanian princess: Władysław III Warneńczyk, king of Poland (1434–1444) and Hungary (as UlászlóI; 1440–1444), who was killed in battle against the Turks at Varna; and Casimir IV (called Jagiellończyk), grand duke of Lithuania (1440–1492) and king of Poland (1447–1492).

By his marriage to Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of Albrecht II of Habsburg, king of Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, Casimir IV had six sons: Vladislav II, king of Bohemia (1471–1516) and Hungary (as Ulászló II; 1490–1516); Casimir, canonized in 1602; John I Albert, king of Poland (1492–1501); Alexander I, king of Poland (1501–1506); Sigismund I, later called the Old, king of Poland (1506–1548); and Frederick, archbishop of Cracow (1488) and cardinal (1493). Casimir IV also had daughters: Jadwiga was married to the Bavarian duke; Georg (1475), Sophia to the Brandenburg margrave, Frederick (1479); Anna to the Pomeranian duke Boguslaus X (1491); Barbara to the duke of Saxony, Georg (1496); and Elizabeth to the duke of Liegnitz, Frederick II (1515).

At the zenith of their power under Casimir IV in the 1490s, the Jagiellons ruled Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia, and Hungary. But at the Treaty of Vienna in 1515 an agreement was concluded with the Habsburgs regarding the marriage of King Vladislav II's children with Holy Roman emperor Maximilian I's grandchildren. Louis II, king of Hungary and Bohemia from 1516, married Maria, daughter of the king of Castile, Philip I the Handsome (1522). Anna married Ferdinand, who later became emperor as Ferdinand I, in 1521. When Louis fell in the battle against the Turks at Mohács (1526), Bohemia and Hungary came under the rule of Habsburgs.

The Kings John Olbracht and Alexander died without issue. By his marriage with Barbara, daughter of the Transylvanian Voivode Stephen Zápolya, Sigismund I the Old had a daughter, Jadwiga, who married the Brandenburg elector, Joachim II (1535). By his second marriage to Bona Sforza, an Italian, Sigismund had six children: his son Sigismund II Augustus became king of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1548; Isabella was married to the king of Hungary, János Szapolyai, in 1539 and after his death (1540) ruled Transylvania for eleven years on behalf of her underage son, John Sigismund; Sophia became the wife of Henry, duke of Brunswick (1556); Anna became queen of Poland (1575) and wife of Stephen Báthory (1576); and Catherine married John, who later became king of Sweden as John III Vasa (1562).

The death without issue of Sigismund II Augustus in 1572 and of his sister Anna in 1596 meant the end of the dynasty. Its descendants by distaff survived much longer. The mother of Sigismund III Vasa, king of Poland (1587–1632) and Sweden (1592–1599), was a Jagiellon. Thanks to the marriages of Casimir IV's daughters all European monarchs at the beginning of the twenty-first century—the queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Elizabeth II; the king of Belgium, Baudouin I; the queen of Denmark, Margarethe II; the queen of Holland, Beatrix; the king of Norway, Harald V; the king of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf; the prince of Lichtenstein, Hans Adam II; the grand duke of Luxembourg, Jean; and the prince of Monaco, Rainier III—could claim Casimir IV as their ancestor.

The Jagiellon dynasty ruled Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania for nearly two hundred years. The Jagiellons concluded a union between Poland and Lithuania, which was endorsed by the Polish Diet (Sejm) at Lublin in 1569, that changed the political structure of east central Europe. They sought to unite all old Polish territories and incorporated Gdañsk Pomerania (known as Royal Prussia, 1466) and Mazovia (gradually from 1462 and fully in 1526–1529) into Poland. At the summit of the Jagiellons' power at the end of the fifteenth century and the first quarter of the sixteenth, the dynastic policy pursued by Casimir IV—whose ambition was that his sons should ascend the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary—resulted in the Jagiellons ruling over nearly the whole of east central Europe, from the Dvina and the Baltic in the north to the upper Elbe, the Adriatic, and the Black Sea in the south. Their successes laid the foundations for the "Jagiellonian idea," developed by Polish historiography in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—a concept of a multiethnic state and a federal union of states and nations in east central Europe.

Under the Jagiellons, Poland's political system was transformed from an estate-based monarchy to a democracy of the nobility, unique in Europe. The principles of religious toleration were confirmed by the Compact of Warsaw (1573), which proclaimed freedom of religion, guaranteed peace between followers of different religions and equality of rights to dissidents, and forbade religious persecution by secular authorities. Official toleration also included the Jews, who in the sixteenth century flowed into Poland in great numbers (mainly from Germany) and set up large communities in many towns. The principles of civil rights, parliamentary government, and religious toleration were observed by the Jagiellons in all countries under their rule. But the Jagiellons did not succeed in strengthening royal power in Poland or carrying out the fiscal, military, and political reforms that in western Europe laid the foundations for modern state structures and opened the way to absolutism.

Bibliography

Duczmal, Małgorzata. Jagiellonowie: Leksykon biograficzny. Cracow, 1996.

Kolankowski, Ludwik. Polska Jagiellonów: Dzieje polityczne. 3rd ed. Olsztyn, 1991.

Łowmianski, Henryk. Polityka Jagiellonów. Poznań, 1999.

Mączak, Antoni, ed. Dynastie Europy. Wrocław, 1997.

Wdowiszewski, Zygmunt. Genealogia Jagiellonów. Warsaw, 1968.

—MARCIN KAMLER

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (July 2006)

Jagiellon coat of arms

At the end of the 15th century, the Jagiellons reigned over vast territories stretching from the Baltic to the Black to the Adriatic Sea.

The Jagiellons (Lithuanian: Jogailaičiai, Polish: Jagiellonowie) were a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries (present day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Estonia, parts of Russia (including nowadays Kaliningrad oblast), Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia) between the 14th and 16th century. Members of the dynasty were Grand Dukes of Lithuania 1377–1392 and 1440–1572, kings of Poland 1386–1572, kings of Hungary 1440–1444 and 1490–1526, and kings of Bohemia 1471–1526.

The dynastic union between the two countries (converted into a full administrative union only in 1569) is the reason for the common appellation "Poland–Lithuania" in discussions about the area from the Late Middle Ages onwards. One Jagiellonian briefly ruled both Poland and Hungary (1440–44), and two others ruled both Bohemia (since 1471) and Hungary (1490–1526) and then continued in distaff line as the Eastern branch of the House of Habsburg.

Contents 1 Name 2 Pre-dynasty background 3 Jagiellon rulers 4 Jagiellon family 5 Bohemia and Hungary 6 Maturity pattern 7 See also 8 External links

Name

The name (other variations used in English include: Jagiellonians, Jagiellos, Jogailos, Jagiellas) comes from Jogaila (Polish: Jagiełło), the first Polish king of that dynasty. In Polish, the dynasty is known as Jagiellonowie (singular: Jagiellon, adjective, used of dynasty members, also patronimical form: Jagiellończyk); in Lithuanian it is called Jogailaičiai (sing.: Jogailaitis), in Belarusian Яґайлавічы (Jagajłavičy, sing.: Яґайлавіч, Jagajłavič), in Hungarian Jagellók (sing.: Jagelló), and in Czech Jagellonci (sing.: Jagellonec; adjective: Jagellonský), as well as Jagello or Jagellon (fem. Jagellonica) in Latin. In all variations of that name, the letter J should be pronounced as in "Hallelujah" (or as Y in "yes"), and G – as in "get".

Pre-dynasty background

Gediminids (Lithuanian: Gediminaičiai), the immediate predecessors of the first Jagiello, were monarchs of the medieval Lithuania with the title didysis kunigaikštis which would be translated as Mighty King according to the contemporary perception. The later construct for its translation is Grand Duke (for its etymology, see Grand Prince). Their realm, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania,was chiefly inhabited by Lithuanians and Ruthenians, and was at least half-Slavic.

Jogaila, the eponymous first Jagiello ruler, started as the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He then converted to Christianity and married the 11-year-old Jadwiga, the second of Poland's Angevin rulers, and thereby becoming himself King of Poland, founded the dynasty. At the time, he called himself King Władysław, without an ordinal number, but later historians have referred to him as Władysław II (of Poland), V (of Lithuania) or sometimes Władysław II Jagiello of Poland and Lithuania.

The rule of Piasts, the earlier Polish ruling house (c.962–1370) had ended with the death of Casimir III.

Jagiellon rulers

Jagiellons were hereditary rulers of Lithuania and Poland.

The Jagiellon rulers of Lithuania and Poland (with dates of ruling in brackets) were:

• Ladislaus (Jogaila) (in Lithuania 1377–1401; in Poland 1386–1434). (also known as Władysław II Jagiełło)
• Ladislaus III (1434–44)
• Casimir IV (1447–92)
• John Albert (1492–1501)
• Alexander (1501–05)
• Sigismund I (1506–48)
• Sigismund II Augustus (1548–72) (also known as Sigismund II)

v • d • e

Family tree of the House of Jagiellon  

Ladislaus II (Jogaila) ca.1351–1434 G. Duke of Lithuania, 1377–1401 King of Poland, 1386–1434

Elisabeth Bonifacia 1399

Hedwig 1408–1431

Ladislaus III 1424–1444 King of Poland, 1434–1444 King of Hungary, 1440–1444

Casimir 1426–1427

Casimir IV 1427–1492 G. Duke of Lithuania, 1440–1492 King of Poland, 1447–1492

Ladislaus II 1456–1516 King of Bohemia, 1471–1516 King of Hungary, 1490–1516

Hedwig 1457–1502 Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut, 1475–1502

Saint Casimir 1458–1484

John I Albert 1459–1501 King of Poland, 1492–1501

Alexander 1461–1506 G. Duke of Lithuania, 1492–1506 King of Poland, 1501–1506

Sophia 1464–1512 Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach, 1479–1512

Elisabeth 1465–1566

Sigismund I 1467–1548 King of Poland and G. Duke of Lithuania, 1506–1548

Fryderyk 1468–1503 Bishop of Kraków, 1488–1503 Archbishop of Gniezno, 1493–1503

Elisabeth 1472–after 1480

Anna 1476–1503 Duchess of Pomerania, 1491–1503

Barbara 1478–1534 Margravine of Meissen, 1494–1534

Elisabeth ca.1483–1517 Duchess of Liegnitz, 1515–1517

Anna 1503–1547 Queen of Hungary and Bohemia, 1526–1547 Queen of the Romans, 1531–1547

Louis II 1506–1526 King of Hungary and Bohemia, 1516–1526

Hedwig 1513–1573 Electress of Brandenburg, 1535–1573

Anna 1515–1520

Isabella 1519–1559 Queen of Hungary, 1539–1540

Sigismund II Augustus 1520–1571 King of Poland and G. Duke of Lithuania, 1548–1572

Sophia 1522–1575 Duchess of Brunswick- Wolfenbüttel, 1556–1568

Anna 1523–1596 Queen of Poland and G. Duchess of Lithuania, 1575–1586

Catherine 1526–1583 Duchess of Finland, 1562–1583 Queen of Sweden, 1569–1583

Note: kings are marked in gold, queens – in pale gold.

v • d • e

Monarchs of Central Europe, 1377–1572
The House of Jagiellon and their competitors  

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Grand Duchy of Lithuania

Jogaila, 1377–1381

Jogaila, 1382–1392

Vytautas
1392–1430

Švitrigaila, 1430–1432

Sigismund Kęstutaitis, 1432–1440

Casimir IV
1440–1492

Alexander, 1492–1506

Sigismund I
1506–1548

Sigismund II Augustus
1548–1572

Kingdom of Poland

Louis I, 1370–1382

Hedwig, 1382–1399

 

Vladislaus II (Jogaila)
1386–1433

Vladislaus III, 1434–1444

Casimir IV
1447–1492

John I Albert, 1492–1501

Alexander, 1501–1506

Sigismund I
1506–1548

Sigismund II Augustus
1548–1572

Kingdom of Hungary

Louis I, 1342–1382

Mary, 1382–1387

Sigismund
1387–1437

Albert II, 1437–1439

Matthias Corvinus
1458–1457

Matthias Corvinus
1458–1457

Ladislaus V, 1445–1457

Vladislaus I, 1440–1444

Vladislaus II
1490–1516

Louis II, 1516–1526

Ferdinand I
1526–1564

Maximilian II, 1564–1576

Kingdom of Bohemia

Wenceslaus IV
1378–1419

Sigismund
1419–1437

Albert II, 1437–1439

Ladislaus
1440–1457

George of Poděbrady
1458–1471

Vladislaus II
1471–1516

Louis II, 1516–1526

Ferdinand I
1526–1564

Maximilian II, 1564–1576

  House of Jagiellon
  Other Gediminids
  House of Angevin
  House of Luxembourg
  House of Habsburg
 Other

After Sigismund II Augustus, the dynasty underwent further changes. Sigismund II's heirs were his sisters, Anna Jagellonica and Catherine Jagellonica. The latter had married Duke John of Finland, who thereby from 1569 became king John III Vasa of Sweden, and they had a son, Sigismund III Vasa; as a result, the Polish branch of the Jagiellons merged with the House of Vasa, which ruled Poland from 1587 until 1668. During the interval, among others, Stephen Bathory, the husband of the childless Anna, reigned.

Jagiellon family

Sigismund I the Old	Bona Sforza	Sigismund II Augustus	Barbara Radziwiłł
Catherine of Austria	Catherine Jagiellon	Anna of Bohemia and Hungary

Bohemia and Hungary

The Jagiellons at one point also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of Bohemia (1471 onwards) and Hungary (from 1490 onwards), with Wladislaus Jagiello whom several history books call Vladisla(u)s II.

Jagiellon Kings of Bohemia and Hungary:

• Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary (Vladislaus Jagiello)
• Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (Louis Jagiello). By Louis' sudden death in Battle of Mohács in 1526, that royal line was extinguished in male line.
• Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, Queen consort, sister of Louis. Her husband Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor was elected king of Bohemia based on her rights. He was also elected King of Hungary in dispute at first with John Zápolya and then with John II Sigismund Zápolya.

Maturity pattern

Anthropologists have noted the tendency of members of the Jagiello dynasty to marry late in life, and not procreate until older. Most of its males over the dynasty's two centuries (approximately between 1360 and 1560) managed to have their heirs only when well into their middle years.

This contrasts with the later Bourbons and Habsburg-Lorraines, prolific Roman Catholic dynasties, whose members usually started to produce offspring while still in their teens. Also, interestingly enough, those Jagiellons who continued the line, lived to ripe old ages, while those who died in their twenties or thirties, generally did not leave children. Because the average life span was relatively short in that time period, this habit of starting to produce children late axed many potential branches from the dynasty, since persons who were generally potential parents, did not start procreating until their thirties.

This was no coincidence. In this dynasty, "maturity" and willingness to settle down occurred only later in life, not in one's twenties. It has been speculated that cultural reasons may have also been co-factors. However, it has been proposed that inherited features were the chief reason. Some female-line descendants within a couple of generations showed similar tendencies, such as Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria, and Albert VII, Archduke of Austria. However, the tendency later diminished, and after the 17th century, all members resumed the trait of having their children at a young age.

This tendency to bear children late weakened the potential of the dynasty compared to others of same era. After just four generations, the dynasty went extinct in its male line. But those same four generations lasted two centuries, averaging approximately fifty years between siring each new generation:

• Algirdas (1291–1377), Ladislaus (1351–1434), Casimir IV (1427–92), Sigismund I (1467–1548) and Sigismund II (1520–72).
• Algirdas (1291–1377), Ladislaus (1351–1434), Casimir IV (1427–92), Ladislaus II (1456–1516) and Louis (1506–26)

(Generational chart: Zeroeth interval 60/60 years, first interval: 76/76 years, second interval 29/40 years, third interval 50/53 years)

Monarch	Birth – death	Age at birth of first child to survive to adulthood	Age at birth of first child
Ladislaus	1351–1434	57	48
Casimir IV	1427–1492	29	29
Sigismund I	1467–1548	46	46
Ladislaus II	1456–1516	47	47

Sometimes, women of this dynasty married only when relatively old. Catherine Jagiellon, wife of John III of Sweden, was 11 years older than her husband, having remained unmarried into her thirties. She bore her children at ages 38, 40 and 42.

Jagiello himself was born to a father already in his fifties or sixties.

See also

• List of Lithuanian rulers
• List of Polish rulers
• List of Hungarian rulers
• List of Czech rulers
• Jagiellonian University in Kraków

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jagellon Dynasty

External links

• Pages and Forums on Lithuanian history
• Jagiellonian Observatory

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