John II Casimir of Poland
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| Jan II Kazimierz Waza | |
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| Reign | From November, 1648 until September 16, 1668 |
| Elected | In November 1648 in Wola, today suburb of Warsaw, Poland |
| Coronation | On January 19, 1649 in the Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland |
| Royal House | Vasa |
| Parents | Zygmunt III Waza Constance of Austria |
| Consorts | Ludwika Maria |
| Children | with Ludwika Maria Maria Anna Teresa Jan Zygmunt |
| Date of Birth | March 22, 1609 |
| Place of Birth | Kraków, Poland |
| Date of Death | December 16, 1672 |
| Place of Death | Nevers, France |
| Place of Burial | Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland buried on January 31, 1676 |
John II Casimir Vasa (Polish: Jan II Kazimierz Waza, March 22, 1609 - December 6, 1672), King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Duke of Opole in Silesia. His parents were Sigismund III of Poland (1566-1632), and Constance of Austria Habsburg (1588-1631). John Casimir was thus the nephew of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Royal titles
- Official titles in Latin: Ioannes Casimirus, Dei Gratia rex Poloniae, magnus dux Lithuaniae, Russie, Prussiae, Masoviae, Samogitiae, Livoniae, Smolenscie, Severiae, Czernichoviaeque; nec non Suecorum, Gothorum, Vandalorumque haereditarius rex, etc.
- English translation: John Casimir, by God's grace King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Ruthenia, Prussia, Masovia, Samogitia, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia and, Czernichow; and also hereditary King of the Swedes, Goths and Vandals.
Biography
His father Sigismund, grandson of Gustav I of Sweden, had succeded his father to the Swedish throne in 1592 only to be deposed from the by his uncle Charles IX of Sweden in 1599. This lead to a long standing feud where the Polish kings of the house of Vasa claimed the Swedish throne. Effects of this were the Swedish War (1600-1629). Poland and Sweden were also on opposite sides in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), although Poland, for the most part, has avoided taking part in any major military actions in that war.
In 1648 John Casimir II succeeded his half brother and cousin on the Polish throne. The reign of the last of Vasas in the Commonwealth would be dominated by the culmination in the war with Sweden (The Deluge), groundwork for which was laid down by the two previous Vasa kings of the Commonwealth. During the Deluge almost entire Polish territory was captured by the Swedes, who, although unable to retain most of their conquests and forced to reateat, had devastated the entire country.
Sluby_Jana_Kazimierza.jpg
In 1660 John Casimir II was forced to renounce his claims to the Swedish throne and acknowledge Swedish sovereignty over Livonia and city of Riga. John abdicated on September 16, 1668 and returned to France where he joined the Jesuit order and became an ordinary monk. He died in 1672.
His wife Mary Louise of Mantua (Polish: Ludwika Maria) died in 1667. She had been a major support to her husband, who had a tendency of depression.
King John Casimir abdicated his throne in 1668 and moved to France, where he lived his remaining years, as an abbot of a monastery.
John Casimir (1609-1672) was a Cardinal of Roman Church when succeeded. He was elected King of Poland 1648 and abdicated 1668. AS his father and brother, also he claimed the title King of Sweden, but after warring and Swedish invasion to Poland he was forced to relinquish that title in 1660. After 1668 abdication, he lived as Abbot of St.Martin in Nevers, France, where he died.
He married his brother's widow Mary Louise of Mantua who died 1667. He did not have surviving children. All his brothers and sisters having died, without surviving issue, before him, he was the last of the line of Bona Sforza. With him, all the legitimate issue of Alfonso II of Naples died out. His heir in Ferrante I of Naples and in Brienne succession was his distant cousin, Henry de La Tremoille Prince of Talmond and Taranto, the heir-general of Federigo di Aragona (second son of Ferrante I and Isabella of Taranto), who also was the heir-general of Federigo's first wife Anne of Savoy.
| Preceded by: Wladyslaw IV | King of Poland 1648–1668 | Succeeded by: Michael Template:Kings and Dukes of Polandde:Johann II. Kasimir (Polen) pl:Jan II Kazimierz sv:Johan II Kasimir av Polen |