(1) Poland: Political History and Notable Figures

960 - 1370 - House of Piast / Piast Dynasty (All Facts)

• First and Founding Dynasty / House of the Kingdom / Duchy of Poland

• Founded by Prince / Duke Mieszko

960 - 992 - Mieszko (All Facts)

• First Ruler of Poland and of the Piast Dynasty / House of Piast of Poland

• He established Poland into a unified and powerful state

• He defeated the Slav tribes between the Oder and Vistula Rivers

• He converted to Christianity, having accepted baptism, and thus made Poland a Christian Kingdom by the start of his reign

  • He turned to Rome, in which Poland became a diocese directly attached to the Holy See

  • He did this due to

    • fears of Otto the Great’s expansionism in Germany

    • attraction to the superior level of civilization already established by and associated with Christianity such as its

      • Books

      • Ceremonies

      • Links with the Roman past

  • His wife already had taken the lead and was already baptized prior to his own acceptance of baptism

  • This thus established a religious but also political alliance between Poland and the Holy Roman Empire

992 - 1025 - Boleslaw (All Facts)

• Second Ruler of Poland, First King of Poland (and the 2nd King of the House of Piast / Piast Dynasty)

  • He was nicknamed “The Brave”

  • He continued the Polish alliance with the Holy Roman Empire started by his predecessor

  • He was crowned having received the pope’s blessing

• He defeated Henry II of the Holy Roman Empire / Germany in a series of wars that ended with the Peace of Bautzen, conflicts during which

  • He exploited anarchy in Bohemia to attack Moravia, Silesia, and Krakow as well as Lusatia and Milsko

  • His gains were consolidated in the Peace of Batzen

• When Henry II of the Holy Roman Empire died, he established Poland as a sovereign state independent of the Holy Roman Empire, severing the alliance begun by his predecessor, and thus became Poland’s first real king

1107 - 1138 - Boleslaw III (All Facts)

• 13th Ruler of Poland and the Final Ruler of the Piast Dynasty / House of Piast of Poland

• He strengthened Poland and expanded its rule to the west and north

• His will split Poland into four principalities

1296 - 1305 - Wenceslaus II (All Facts)

• 37th Ruler of Poland

1305 - 1306 - Wenceslaus III (All Facts)

• 38th Ruler of Poland

• He was murdered

1320 - 1333 - Vladyslav (All Facts)

• 39th King of Poland

  • He was nicknamed “The Short”

  • He was already the ruler of Kujavia on the lower Vistula River

• He slowly but steadily worked to reunify Poland

• He declared war on the Teutonic Knights

1333 - 1370 - Casimir III (All Facts)

• 40th King of Poland

  • He was nicknamed “The Great”

  • Upon ascending the throne, his kingdom was threatened on all sides

• He

  • repulsed a Mongol invasion

  • created well-defined national frontiers

  • abandoned the war with the Teutonic Knights started by his predecessor

  • annexed Galicia

• He

  • encouraged the immigration of Jews

    • to serve as tax-collectors and bankers

    • who had fled from their being massacred by

      • the Flagellants

      • other groups during the Black Death

  • gave peasants the right to migrate from one place to another

• He

  • established a firm and efficient administration

  • codified the laws of the land

• Under his reign,

  • Poland experienced strong economic growth

  • The University of Krakow was founded

• He died in a hunting accident

1370 - 1382 - Louis (All Facts)

• 41st King of Poland

1384 - 1399 - Jadwiga (All Facts)

• 42nd Queen of Poland

  • She had hoped to marry a Prince of Austria, at first resisting the idea of union with the pagan Jagello, the Grand Duke of Lithuania

  • She was eventually persuaded by Polish lords and priests to sacrifice herself for Poland’s sake

• During her reign, she laid the foundations for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth via marriage to Jagello, the Grand Duke of Lithuania

  • They did this in order to unite their two kingdoms against the Teutonic Order, their common enemy

  • The marriage also ended the two kingdoms’ longstanding rivalry

  • The marriage also led to the Lithuanian adoption of Christianity

  • Despite the namesake’s youth, her royal dignity, which was legally equal that of her husband Jagello, worked out well in practice

• Under her reign,

  • Lithuanian nobbles proceeded to adopt the manners and traditions of the Polish aristocracy

1386 - 1434 - Wladyslaw II / Jagiello (All Facts)

• 42nd King of Poland

1434 - 1444 - Wladyslaw III (All Facts)

• 43rd King of Poland

• He vanished after the Battle of Varna

• He was succeeded by his namesake brother

1447 - 1492 - Casimir IV (All Facts)

• 44th King of Poland