Jogaila, later
Wladyslaw II Jagiello[1] (b. about 1362 d.
1 June 1434), was a
Grand Duke of Lithuania and
King of Poland. He ruled in Lithuania from 1377, at first with his uncle,
Kestutis. In 1386, he converted to
Christianity, was baptized as Wladyslaw, married the young Queen
Jadwiga of Poland, and was crowned Polish king as
Wladyslaw Jagiello.
[2] His reign in
Poland lasted a further forty-eight years and laid the foundation for the centuries-long
Polish-Lithuanian union. He gave his name to the
Jagiellon branch of the
Gediminids dynasty, which ruled both states until 1572,
[3] and became one of the most influential dynasties in
medieval Central and Eastern Europe.
[4]Jogaila was the last pagan ruler of medieval Lithuania. He held the title Didysis Kunigaikštis.[5] As King of Poland, he pursued a policy of close alliances with Lithuania against the Teutonic Order. The allied victory at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, followed by the First Peace of Torun, secured the Polish and Lithuanian borders and marked the emergence of the Polish-Lithuanian alliance as a significant force in Europe. The reign of Wladyslaw II Jagiello extended Polish frontiers and is often considered the beginning of Poland's "Golden Age".
Little is known of Jogaila's early life, and even his date of birth is not certain. Previously historians have given his date of birth as 1352, but some recent research suggests a later date—about 1362.[6] He was a descendant of the Gediminid dynasty and probably born in Vilnius. His parents were Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his second wife, Uliana, daughter of Alexander I, Grand Prince of Tver.
The Lithuania to which Jogaila succeeded in 1377 was a political entity composed of two different nationalities and two political systems ethnic Lithuania in the north-west and the vast Ruthenian territories of former Kievan Rus', comprising lands of modern Ukraine, Belarus, and parts of western Russia.[7] At first, Jogaila—like his father, who had besieged Moscow in 1370[8]—based his rule in the southern and eastern territories of Lithuania, while his uncle, Kestutis, the duke of Trakai, continued to rule the north-western region.[9] Jogaila's succession, however, soon placed this system of dual rule under strain.[4]
