The course of the boundary between Moldavia and the Polish Crown was, on the surface at least, quite clear, especially in comparison with a fuzzier Polish-Ottoman demarcation further to the east. For most of its course, it ran along the rivers of White Cheremush, Kolachin and the Dniester, extending from the hilly and forested landscape…
After the coronation of Jagiełło, Jadwiga was still formally King, and not just the wife of the monarch. As she matured, she increasingly often took the initiative in matters of the state and, in the final years of her life, was an independent politician, able to effectively negotiate with neighbours and set them tough conditions….
The life of Zawisza is shrouded in mystery. However, the few surviving sources allow us to conclude that he earned his legend honestly. Modest beginnings Zawisza’s father, Mikołaj from Garbów, came from middle knighthood. He held the position of Master of the Horse in the Land of Sieradz. This type of official had the…
This document, known as the Union of Krewo (also, the Act of Kreva), was issued on August 14, 1385 by Władysław II Jagiełło (Jogaila), Grand Duke of Lithuania, as the outcome of the negotiations he had conducted with the Polish lords acting on behalf of the child queen Jadwiga (Hedwig), and Jadwiga’s mother Elżbieta Bośniaczka (Elisabeth…
This act of union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was concluded on October 2, 1413 in the eastern city of Horodło, as a result of the compromise achieved between the incorporative strivings of the Polish side and the separatist policies of Lithuania. The act defined the…
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,…
