Casimir IV of Poland
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| Kazimierz IV Jagiellończyk | |
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| Reign | From 1446 until June 7, 1492 |
| Coronation | On June 25, 1447 in the Wawel Cathedral, Kraków, Poland |
| Royal House | Jagiellon |
| Parents | Władyslaw II Jagiełło Zofia Holszańska |
| Consorts | Elżbieta Rakuszanka (1438-1505) |
| Children | with Elżbieta Rakuszanka Władysław II Jagiellończyk Jadwiga Jagiellonka Kazimierz Swięty Jan I Olbracht Aleksander Jagiellończyk Zofia Elżbieta Zygmunt I Stary Fryderyk Jagiellończyk Elżbieta II Anna Barbara Elżbieta III |
| Date of Birth | November 30, 1427 |
| Place of Birth | Kraków, Poland |
| Date of Death | June 7, 1492 |
| Place of Death | Grodno, Poland (now Belarus) |
| Place of Burial | Kraków, Poland buried on July 12, 1492 |
Casimir IV the Jagiellonian (Polish: Kazimierz Jagiellończyk, Lithuanian Kazimieras Jogailaitis) (1427 - 1492), of the House of Jagiello was grand duke of Lithuania from 1440 and king of Poland from 1447 until his death.
The son of king Wladislaus II Jagiełło and younger brother to Wladislaus III, Casimir succeeded the latter after a three-year interregnum. He married in 1454 Elisabeth (1438-1505), the daughter of Albert II of Habsburg, the previous Holy Roman Emperor, and his wife Elisabeth of Luxembourg, heiress of Bohemia. Her distant kinsman Frederick III of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor, and reigned Germany even after Casimir's own death. Her family's and Emperor's relations were strained and there was much strife, for example because of inheritance disputes. Elisabeth's brother Ladislas V was at that time King of Bohemia and Hungary, and just recently freed from the imprisonment where the Emperor had kept him almost all his childhood. The marriage strengthened the ties between the house of Jagiello and the sovereigns of Hungary-Bohemia, and put Casimir into opposition to the Emperor in that internal Habsburg rivalry.
That same year, Casimir was approached by the Prussians for aid against the ruling Teutonic Order, which he promised, by the act of incorporation of Prussia to Polish Kingdom; however, when the cities of Prussia rebelled against Teutons, the order resisted with greater strength than expected, and the Thirteen Years' War (1454-1466) ensued. Casimir, in alliance with the Prussian Confederation, defeated the Teutonic Order taking over its capital in Malbork, which in the ensuing Second Treaty of Thorn recognised Polish sovereignty over Royal Prussia and the Polish crown's overlordship over Ducal Prussia.
A daughter, Jadwiga, was married to George the Rich Wittelsbach of Bavaria. Delegates had gone to Kraków to negotiate the marriage. Their so-called Landshut Wedding took place in Bavaria with much pomp and celebration in 1475.
His son named Casimir was to have been married to the daughter of emperor Frederick III but he instead chose a religious life, eventually becoming canonized as St. Casimir. His son Wladislaus combined the thrones of Hungary and Bohemia. His younger sons John Albert, Alexander and Sigismund I of Poland succeeded him in turns in Poland.
Template:Kings and Dukes of Poland
External links
- Pages and Forums on the Lithuanian History (http://www.istorija.net/)
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