Władysław Ii Jagiełło (Poland) (Lithuanian: Jogaila; c. 1351

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WŁADYSŁAW II JAGIEŁŁO (POLAND) (Lithuanian: Jogaila; c. 1351–1434)

WŁADYSŁAW II JAGIEŁŁO (POLAND) (Lithuanian: Jogaila; c. 1351–1434), grand duke of Lithuania (1377–1401) and king of Poland (1386–1434); son of Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania (d. 1375) and Yuliana, princess of Tver; and founder of the Jagiellon dynasty in Poland. In 1382 Jogaila imprisoned his uncle Kêstutis, with whom he had ruled jointly, and assumed full power in Lithuania; he later had Kêstutis murdered. That same year, threatened by the Order of Teutonic Knights, he concluded an armistice with them on the Dubysa River, in which he gave up the western part of Samogitia and promised to adopt the Christian faith. The agreement was broken in 1383 and Jogaila, seeing that a union with Poland would give him support against the Teutonic Knights, negotiated a union between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland at Krewo (14 August 1385). In return for the hand of Queen Jadwiga of Poland, he promised to Christianize the Grand Duchy, associate (applicare in Latin) its territories with Poland, and recover the territories lost by Poland (Gdańsk, Pomerania, Kujavia, Silesia, Halicz Ruthenia).

In 1388 Jogaila, now King Władysław Jagiełło, restored Mazovia's feudal dependence on Poland. From 1388 to 1392 he waged war against the Teutonic Knights and their ally, his cousin Vytautas (Witold). The war was brought to an end in 1392 by an agreement making Vytautas viceroy of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Teutonic Order's attempts to conquer Lithuania and sever its union with Poland achieved partial success when Vytautas gave up Samogitia in 1398 (confirmed by treaty at Raciąż in 1404). In 1409 the Teutonic Knights resumed the war but were routed by Polish-Lithuanian forces under Jagiełło's command at the battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg; 15 July 1410). Even though the Poles did not take advantage of their victory militarily or politically (the Treaty of Toruń, concluded in 1411, was unfavorable to Poland), the battle marked the beginning of the decline of the Teutonic state's power. The fighting against the Teutonic Knights in the years that followed proved successful for the Polish-Lithuanian side.

The childless death of Queen Jadwiga (1399) weakened Jagiełło's position as king of Poland and made it necessary to renew the union with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and settle the question of succession to the throne. The Treaty of Vilnius (1401) confirmed the union of the two states and recognized Vytautas as grand duke of Lithuania; the union was further strengthened by a new treaty concluded at Horodo on 2 October 1413. Jagiełło's second marriage, with Anna, princess of Cilli (1402) and granddaughter of King Casimir III the Great, was meant to strengthen his legal position in Poland.

In 1421 the Hussites urged Jagiełło to accept the Bohemian throne, but he declined the offer and in 1424 issued an edict condemning Hussitism and threatening severe punishment for its believers and adherents. Having no male heir (Anna died in 1416, and his third wife, Elizabeth Granowska, died in 1420), Jagiełło contracted a fourth marriage (1422) with Sophia Holszañska, who bore him two sons, who became Władysław III Warneńczyk (ruled 1434–1444) and Casimir IV Jagiellończyk (ruled 1447–1492). In order to gain the nobility's support and secure the throne for his dynasty, the king confirmed the nobles' privileges in an act signed at Jedno (1430). In addition to his successes in foreign policy, Jagiełło also deserves credit for the restoration of the university in Cracow (1400). He was buried in the cathedral on Wawel Hill.