Jadwiga of Poland 1 2 3
- Born: 1373-1374
- Marriage: Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland on 18 Feb 1386
- Died: 17 Jul 1399, Kraków, Poland aged 25
- Buried: Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland
Cause of her death was childbirth complications.
Other names for Jadwiga were Hedvig and Hedwig.
General Notes:
Queen of Poland whose marriage to Jogaila, grand duke of Lithuania (Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland), founded the centuries-long union of Lithuania and Poland.
Jadwiga was the daughter of Louis I, king of both Hungary and Poland, and Elizabeth of Poland. After Louis died on Sept. 11, 1382, his elder daughter, Maria, was elected queen of Hungary; but the Poles opted to end the personal union between the two countries by choosing Jadwiga as their queen, though she was then but a child of nine years. On Oct. 15, 1384, she was crowned rex, "king," of Poland. The Polish magnates further promoted her marriage to Jogaila in order to produce a union of territories larger than the former one with Hungary and to open the way to the Christian conversion of the largely pagan Lithuanians. Jogaila was baptized in Kraków on Feb. 15, 1386, married to Jadwiga on February 18, and crowned on March 4.
Jadwiga was a patron of religion and scholarship, seeking to promote the religious development of the nations that she had united, founding a special college for Lithuanians in Prague, and financing the restoration of the university at Kraków, effected after her death and named the Jagiellonian University. Chiefly Jadwiga's work, the university was modeled after the University of Paris and became the centre of Polish civilization and influence.
On June 22, 1399 Hedwig gave birth to a daughter, baptized Elizabeth Bonifacia. Both the girl and her mother died within a month due to birth complications. Hedwig died on July 17, 1399. She was buried together with her baby in the Wawel Cathedral. Her death undermined Jogaila's position as a Polish king, but he managed to stay on the throne until his death 35 years later.
Noted events in her life were:
Acceded: Queen of Poland, 1384.
Jadwiga married Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland, son of Algirdas of Lithuania and Juliana of Tver, on 18 Feb 1386. (Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland was born circa 1351, christened on 15 Feb 1386 in Kraków, Poland and died on 1 Jun 1434 in Grodek, near Lwów, Galicia, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]..)
|
