Jagiellonów

The Jagiellonian dynasty, or Jagiellonowie (Polish: Jagiellonowie), was a royal house of Lithuanian–Polish origin that ruled parts of Central Europe in the 14th to 16th centuries. The dynasty began with Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who converted to Christianity, married Queen Jadwiga of Poland, and in 1386 became King Władysław II Jagiełło, establishing a personal union between Poland and Lithuania after the Union of Krewo (1385). The union gradually integrated the two realms under one crown.

In Poland–Lithuania the Jagiellons produced several prominent monarchs, including Władysław II Jagiełło, his son Władysław III (who also became King of Hungary and died at Varna in 1444), Casimir IV Jagiellon, and his sons Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus. The dynasty supported the growth of the Polish Renaissance and oversaw consolidation of royal authority, legal reforms, and cultural patronage. In the 16th century, Jagiellonian rule extended to Bohemia and Hungary through Vladislaus II and Louis II; Louis II died in the Battle of Mohács in 1526, and the succession passed to the Habsburgs.

The Jagiellons played a central role in shaping the region’s political landscape until the end of the dynasty in 1572 with Sigismund II Augustus. Their reign coincided with the formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formalized by the Union of Lublin in 1569, which created a larger, semi-elective federal state. The era is also associated with cultural and educational developments, including the prominence of Kraków’s Jagiellonian University, which became a leading center of learning in Central Europe.