XV century in Poland Jagiellon dynasty Dynasty of

XV century in Poland

Jagiellon dynasty Dynasty of Jagiellons ruled in Poland for 200 years. Poland was then one of the biggest countries in Europe. Kings at that time were Władysław II Jagiełło, Władysław Warneńczyk and Jan I Olbracht.

Family tree of the Jagiellons

Władysław II Jagiełło He was born in 1351. He was a son of Olgiert and princess Julianna. He married Jadwiga and they had many children. Władysław II Jagiełło commanded Polish army during the battle of Grunwald when Poland won. Legends say that Teutonic Knights gave the king two swords because they didn’t believe that we could win. Władysław II Jagiełło died in 1434.

Władysław III Warneńczyk He was born in 1424. Władysław became the king when he was only 10 years old. Of course he didn’t rule Poland but he had advisors who did it on behalf of him. He died in 1444 when he was 20 years old in Bulgaria in a fight.

Jan I Olbracht He was born in Cracow in 1459. He was brought up by Jan Długosz- Polish historian. He died in 1501.

Polish–Lithuanian union In 1413 in Horodło the agreement was signed by Lithuania and Poland. It was called Horodelska Union. The countries decided to join this Union because there was the fear that Teutonic Knights would attack Poland & Lithuanians wanted to accept Christianity in order to avoid a war with Teutonic Knights. They thought that Knights wouldn’t invade if Lithuanians were not pagans any more. That union made our country and Lithuania be closer to each other.

Thirteen- Year -War Thirteen- Year- War was declared by King Kazimierz Jagiellończyk in 1454. Polish noblity was defeated in Chojnice but soon Poles conquered Malbork. Poles dominated on land water. In 1466 the war ended with the second Toruń peace. The war lasted 13 years

Battle of Grunwald in the picture

Jan Matejko was a genial Polish artist. He was born in 1838 in Cracow. We know, that the battle of Grunwald was in 1410. It's fantastic, that a man, who lived in the XIX century wanted to paint history of Poland. His painting was realistic and like a film. He always painted some events, which were real events. Jan Matejko was 37 years old, when he started to paint "Battle of Grunwald". He wanted his picture to be beautiful.

In this picture we see a scene, where Teutonic Knights are struggling with Polish knights. There we see people like Lithuanian prince Witold, who is in a red coat and is keeping a shield and a sword, he is on the white horse. We also see Ulrich von Jungingen. That man was the master from Teutonic Knights. He is in a white coat. On this coat there is a black cross. In this picture we see a moment, when Polish flag is being held by some knight, and second flag, which was made from white and black fabrics, is falling on the ground. Above knights we see some man. This man is St. Stanisław - bishop and patron of Poland. He's blessing the army of Jagiełło.

One thing in this picture is strange. We see the battle, swords and many different things, which are dangerous, but Jan Matejko didn't paint in this picture wounds. Few people notice that detail.

Wit Stwosz He was born in 1447 in Horb. Wit Stwosz was a German sculptor, painter and graphic artist; a prominent representative of gothic. When he was a mature artist he came to Cracow, where he was asked by the city officials to build the main altar in Mariacki church. Altar was finished in 1489. Stwosz was also a trademan. When he left Poland he was already well-known as a prominent sculptor and he became a very rich person. He died in November in 1533.

Jan Długosz He was born in 1415 in Brzeźnica in the region of Wieluń. His father Jan Długosz from Niedzielsko, fought in the Grunwald battle. He had many children and two wives. He had three sons with the same names as he had. The one of the oldest sons became famous as a „father of Polish history”. Jan Długosz was the author of numerous history books- chronicles. One of his most popular works was „Historiae Poloniae”. He died on 19 May, 1480.