Jan Długosz: father of Polish historiography

Historian, chronicler, heraldry expert, geographer, diplomat and educator of Polish kings, Jan Długosz was undoubtedly one of the greatest historiographers of the Middle Ages. This author of the monumental 12 volume Annals or Chronicles of the Famous Kingdom of Poland died on 19 May 1480 in Kraków. by Piotr Bejrowski   Długosz was born in…


Sigismund I the Old: A good, thrifty king

Military victories will always hold a prominent place in the collective memory. This in part is due to their nature. When an enemy invades our country, the efforts the political community is forced to take is an existential challenge. The alternative, a defeat, would mean the deaths of many people and the country’s loss of…


Privilege of Koszyce (17 September 1374)

Casimir the Great, the last Polish ruler from the Piast dynasty, died on 5 November 1370. His death and the end of the dynasty opened the possibility of starting a dynamic process which, after 16 years, finally led to the election of Władysław Jagiełło to the Polish throne. Before that, however, Louis I of Hungary,…