Hungarian Heritage Review, 1989 (18. évfolyam, 1-9. szám)
1989-02-01 / 2. szám
Hungarian Heritage Calendar as the King of Poland. However, the "Krakow Lords" thought differently. For "reasons of state", they came up with the idea of her marrying the pagan king of pagan Lithuania, Jagiello, the "hairy barbarian" and "Scourge of Poland". Such a marriage, they believed, would unite the two nations, restore lost Polish territory, effect the freeing of thousand of Poles held in captivity, protect the nation against the predatory ambitions of the Order of the Teutonic Knights, and, after Jagiello embraced Christianity as a Catholic, his pagan people would do the same. It was an offer Jagiello could not refuse. But, as negotiations with him were in process, William of Austria arrived to claim his bride to-be. He stormed the royal castle to liberate her and she was quite willing to be rescued. But, the attempt was defeated, William was forced to leave, and Jadwiga had no recourse but to surrender to her fate and to seal her renunciation of William forever by kneeling and praying in the cathedral for an entire day. Meanwhile, on August 4th, 1385, Jagiello was informed that the "people of Poland" had agreed to accept him as king. On February 12, 1386, the 38-year-old, King of Lithuania arrived in Krakow, was welcomed a "deliverer", and underwent baptism. Six days later, after refunding 200,000 florins due William of Austria as the dowery promised him by the late King Louis the Great of Hungary, the new Christian ruler of the last pagan country in Europe married Jadwiga and, the following month, both were coronized. With this ceremony, the Piast dynasty of Poland came to an end and that of the House of Jagiello had begun. It also ushered in the "Heroic Age of Poland" which endured until the advent of the 16th century. While King Jagiello busied himself in converting the pagan Lithuanians to Christianity, Queen Jadwiga faced serious problems of her own. To begin with, living with the "hairy barbarian" was no bed of Roses; she was terribly worried about her mother and sister in Buda whose lives were in danger; concerned over the dire threat to the throne of Hungary posed by various pretenders; unhappy over her childless state; and disturbed by the need for her to retake Ruthenia from her own sister, which she personally did at the head of her own Polish army. The plotting "Krakow Lords" also upset her tranquility no end. So, in December of 1387, she issued a decree designed to enhance domestic peace and unity. It demanded that the "Krakow Lords" swear loyalty and obedience to the throne; and that, in the event of her death, they would recognize Jagiello as king. But, while publicly professing their loyalty and obedience, this cabal of conspirators continued not only to conspire against the throne, but also against each other. To add to the confusion this caused, Prince Witowt, the cousin of Jagiello, began plotting with the Order of the Teutonic Knights not only to take over Lithuania, but also to invade and conquer Russia. Jagiello, faced with the necessity of forging a powerful Slavic state to stand up against Germanic aspirations eastward and to defuse internal strife, optedfor the use of force. But, fortunately for Poland at that time, the wisdom of his queen prevailed. She avoided war on two fronts by employing diplomacy as a weapon. She talked Prince Witowt out of being too ambitious and induced the Grand Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights not only to give up his intentions, but also to restore to Poland the land his Order seized. For these achievements, she was honored throughout Europe at a "peace maker" and hailed at home as a heroine. When Pope Boniface IX declared a "Holy Year" in 1390, Queen Jadwiga intensified her ongoing studies of the priesthood and saints of the Catholic Church; called upon her people to fast; and dressed as a nun. She also founded a Benedictine Abbey near Klepirz where, in the Church of the Holy Cross, she ordered the Mass to be recited in Polish; and also completed the establishment of the University of Krakow, which was originally started by Casimir the Great in 1364 but never completed. As the end of the 14th century approached, Queen Jadwiga gave birth to a baby girl on June 22nd, 1399. Baptized and christened Elizabeth Bonifacia, the baby died soon thereafter. Saddened by this tragedy and by the assassination of her mother and the accidental death of her sister in Hungary, she began preparing for her own death. In her Last Will and Testament, she asked Jagiello to marry Anni, the sister of the Count of Cilly and grand-daughter of King Casimir the Great, if she should die and, among other bequests, it included the following: "One half of the proceeds of the sale of all I have - jewels, clothes, ornaments, possessions of every king -1 leave to the University of Krakow; the other half to be divided among the poor. Little must be spent in funeral ceremonies. I wish no elaborate service or eulogy; no monument of any king. Let my body be placed beside that of my baby on the gospel side of the altar, with a plain inscription of the facing marble to mark the place." This showed what kind of woman and queen she was. On the day of her death on July 17, 1399, the f ollowing words were inscribed in the Wawel Hill’s Latin Calendar: "Today, at noon, died Jadwiga, Queen of Poland - unwearied creator of divine culture, protectress of the Church, administrator of justice, servant of all virtues, humble and beneficent mother of orphans, who in her time had had no equal of royal blood in the eyes of men in the whole world." True! But, what the author of thisentry evidently overlooked, was that the "Blessed Hedwig of Hungary" and "Queen Jadwiga of Poland" had inherited her greatness from her father - King Louis the Great of Hungary! 12 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW FEBRUARY 1989
