#polish monarch

[royalty-nobility]

Portrait of Sigismund III Vasa in Coronation Robes

Artist: Pieter Soutman (Dutch, c. 1593/1601–1657)

Date: c. 1624

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Staatsgalerie Neuburg, Bavarian State Painting Collections, Germany

Sigmund III Vasa

Sigismund III Vasa (1566 - 1632) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1587 to 1632 and, as Sigismund, King of Sweden from 1592 to 1599. He was the first Polish sovereign from the House of Vasa. Religiously zealous, he imposed Catholicism across the vast realm, and his crusades against neighboring states marked Poland's largest territorial expansion. As an enlightened despot, he presided over an era of prosperity and achievement, further distinguished by the transfer of the country's capital from Kraków to Warsaw.

[royalty-nobility]

Portrait of Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski in Coronation Robes

Artist (company): Marcello Bacciarelli (Italian, 1731-1818) - author of original work (replica with the participation of the author)

Date: ca. 1790

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National museum in Krakow, Krakow, Poland

Stanisław August Poniatowski

Stanisław II August (1732 – 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (Lithuanian: Stanislovas Augustas Poniatovskis), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1764 to 1795, and the last monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

[royalty-nobility]

Portrait of Queen Jadwiga Anjou

Artist: Marcello Bacciarelli (Italian, 1731–1818)

Date: 1768-1771

Medium: Oil on tin plate

Collection: Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland

Queen Jadwiga of Poland

Jadwiga (1373 or 1374 – 17 July 1399), also known as Hedwig (from German) and in Hungarian: Hedvig, was the first woman to be crowned as monarch of the Kingdom of Poland. She reigned from 16 October 1384 until her death. Born in Buda, she was the youngest daughter of Louis I of Hungary and Poland, and his wife, Elizabeth of Bosnia.

[royalty-nobility]

King August II of Poland (1670–1733) on Horseback

Artist: Louis de Silvestre (French, 1675-1760)

Date: ca. 1718

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: SKD: Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany

August II the Strong

Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin.

[elisabethwoodville]

HISTORY MEME | 1/9 kings/queens: Casimir III the Great.

Casimir III the Great (Polish: Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) who reigned from 1333 to 1370, was the last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty, the son of King Władysław I ("the Elbow-high") and Duchess Hedwig of Kalisz.

Casimir is the only Polish king who both received and kept the title of "Great" in Polish history (Bolesław I Chrobry is also called "Great", but his title Chrobry (Valiant) is now more common). When he came to the throne, his hold on it was in danger, as even his neighbours did not recognise his title and instead called him "king of Kraków". The economy was ruined, and the kingdom was depopulated and exhausted by war.Upon his death, Casimir left a kingdom that had doubled in size (mostly through the addition of lands in modern day Ukraine, then called the Duchy of Halicz), was prosperous, wealthy, and held great prospects for the future. Although depicted as a peaceful king in children's books, he in fact waged many victorious wars and was readying for others just before he died. He built extensively during his reign (Wawel Castle, Orle Gniazda), and reformed the Polish army and the Polish civil and criminal law. At the Sejm in Wiślica, on 11 March 1347, he introduced salutary legal reforms to the judicial system of his kingdom. He sanctioned a codes of laws for Great and Lesser Poland, which gained for him the title of "the Polish Justinian", and founded the University of Kraków, the oldest Polish University. He organized a meeting of kings in Kraków (1364) in which he exhibited the wealth of the Polish kingdom.

[elisabethwoodville]

HISTORY MEME | 1/7 pairings: King Sigismund Augustus and Barbara Radziwiłł.

We all know how King Arthur's best chum ran off with Queen Guinevere. Yet of all the ill-starred royal romances, the tale of Barbara Radziwill and her King remains amongst the most moving. It's also one of the least known. We say least, but by that we mean on the international stage. For the tale of Barbara Radziwill is legendary in both Lithuania and Poland. It's inspired poems, myths, paintings and a fair few films as well.The Prince had fallen head over heels for a Lithuanian lady named Barbara Radziwill. She was a young widow from one of the grandest families in Lithuania. According to letters of the time, she was amongst the most beautiful ladies in Europe. But the Cracow court was dead against the match. And not only were the senators and the King furious, so too was the Queen, the terrifying Bona Sforza. Rumours had it that Bona, an Italian by birth, had used her Macchiavellian skills to poison the epileptic Habsburg for failing to produce a child.

Yet such was Sigismund's passion that he did the unthinkable and married Barbara in secret in 1547.

All hell broke loose around the couple, a situation that was exacerbated by the death of the old King in 1548. Parliament demanded a divorce, and all kinds of mud was thrown at the twenty-eight year old princess. Barbara was cast as the wicked Wallace Simpson to Sigismund's Edward VIII. The charges came thick and fast - that the marriage was illegal, that Barbara was a woman of easy virtue, and above all that she was incapable of childbirth. Yet Sigismund stood firm.

Whether or not Barbara was guilty of the insults hurled at her it is difficult to surmise. But the gentry, proud of their democratic privileges, were certainly furious that the King should have gone over their heads, ignoring parliament and marrying the daughter of a magnate. And in Queen Bona's eyes, a Lithuanian lady was no dynastic match compared to a Habsburg or Bourbon princess.

Yet after three years of wrangles, the young King pushed through the coronation of his bride. It was a triumph over all the odds. But just five months later, Barbara was stricken by a terrible illness.....

Sigismund was distraught. Once again, the rumours circulated that Queen Bona had been up to her poisonous tricks. (Until this day, historians cite the charge of foul play). The young King did everything he could to save his bride. But to no avail. Barbara breathed her last at Wawel Castle on 8th May 1551.

[elisabethwoodville]

HISTORY MEME | 1/10 moments: Jadwiga is Crowned King of Poland.

The coronation ceremony that took place in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow on 16 October 1384 was truly a splendid event: Polish nobles spared no expenses and the grandeur of the coronation impressed everyone present. But the historical significance was even greater. For one thing, the young girl who was being crowned (only 11 years old at the time) was to go down in history as one of Poland’s greatest and most beloved Monarchs. And for another, the aforementioned lady was crowned not as Queen of Poland (as would be expected considering her gender) but as King.

There is no humorous tale of a mix-up: the decision was made for quite practical reasons. Polish law was very specific that the ruler had to be King – but it did not state the King had to be a male. And so instead of re-writing the law and to emphasise the fact Jadwiga was a ruler in her own right, it was decided she should be crowned as Hedvig Rex Poloniæ (Hedwig, King of Poland) and not Hedvig Regina Poloniæ (Hedwig, Queen of Poland).