Hedwig of Sagan ( pl, Jadwiga żagańska; before 1350 – 27 March 1390) was
Queen of Poland
Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16th ...
as the fourth wife of
Casimir III. Casimir's lack of male heir spelled the end of the
Piast Dynasty
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great.
Branch ...
in the
Kingdom of Poland
The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to:
Historical political entities
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031
* Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exi ...
. After Casimir's death in 1370, she remarried
Rupert I of Legnica
Rupert I of Legnica ( pl, Ruprecht I Legnicki) (27 March 1347 – by 12 January 1409) was a Duke of Legnica from 1364 until his death, and also regent over half of the Duchy of Głogów-Żagań during 1397–1401.
He was the eldest son of Wenc ...
.
Family
Hedwig was the third of five children born to
Henry V of Iron
Henry V (III) of Iron ( pl, Henryk V Żelazny; – after 8 April 1369), was a Duke of Żagań since 1342, from 1349 Duke of half-Głogów, and from 1363 Duke of half-Ścinawa.
He was the only son of Henry IV (II) the Faithful, Duke of Żagań, ...
and his wife Anna, daughter of Duke
Wenceslaus of Płock. Her brothers were
Henry VI the Older,
Henry VII Rumpold,
Henry VIII the Sparrow
Henry VIII (VI) the Sparrow ( pl, Henryk VIII Wróbel) ( – 14 March 1397) was a Duke of Żagań–Głogów during 1368–1378 (as a co-ruler with his brothers), from 1378 ruler over Zielona Góra, Szprotawa, Kożuchów, Przemków and Sulechów, ...
, and her only sister was Anna, wife of
Jan I of Racibórz.
First marriage
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great ( pl, Kazimierz III Wielki; 30 April 1310 – 5 November 1370) reigned as the King of Poland from 1333 to 1370. He also later became King of Ruthenia in 1340, and fought to retain the title in the Galicia-Volhynia Wars. He w ...
had two daughters
Elizabeth and Cunigunde by his first wife
Aldona of Lithuania
Aldona (baptized ''Ona'' or ''Anna''; her pagan name, Aldona, is known only from the writings of Maciej Stryjkowski; – 26 May 1339) was Queen consort of Poland (1333–1339), and a princess of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. She was the daught ...
. Casimir's second marriage to
Adelaide of Hesse was loveless and childless; they spent most their marriage apart from each other. His third wife
Christina Rokiczana, his mistress and a widow of a wealthy merchant, also bore no children. Casimir needed a son and he chose Hedwig as it would to strengthen his ties with
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...
.
Hedwig married Casimir III of Poland around 1365. However, Casimir was committing
bigamy
In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. ...
as was still legally married to his second wife (it is unknown whether Christina was still alive at the time). Casimir forged a papal dispensation because he was related to Hedwig by a fourth degree. In 1368
Pope Urban V
Pope Urban V ( la, Urbanus V; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was the head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the ...
allowed Casimir to stay with Hedwig since his marriage to Christina was invalid. Adelaide died in 1371.
Casimir awaited the birth of a son. If no son was born then Casimir's nephew,
Louis I of Hungary
Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...
. Instead of a son, Hedwig bore three daughters:
#
Anna
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and given name
* Anna (name)
Mononym
* Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke
* Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773)
* Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century)
* Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...
(1366 – 9 June 1422). Married firstly
William of Celje
William of Celje (german: Wilhelm von Cilli, sl, Viljem Celjski; c. 1361 – 19 August 1392), also William of Cilli, Count of Celje, was a Styrian nobleman who was married to Anna of Poland, daughter of the Polish king Casimir the Great. He was ...
. Their only daughter was
Anne of Cilli
Anna of Cilli or Anne of Celje (1386 – 21 May 1416) was Queen of Poland (1402–1416). She was the second wife of Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło), King of Poland and Supreme Duke of Lithuania (reigned 1387–1434). Their marriage was pol ...
. Married secondly Ulrich,
Duke of Teck
Duke of Teck is a title which was created twice in Germanic lands. It was first borne from 1187 to 1439 by the head of a cadet line of the Kingdom of Germany, German ducal House of Zähringen, known as the "first House of Teck". The ''caput'' of ...
. They had no children.
#Cunigunde (1367–1370).
#Hedwig (1368 – ca. 1407), reportedly married ca. 1382 but the details are obscure.
The question of the legitimacy of the three daughters was raised. Casimir had all three of his daughters legitimised. Casimir managed to have Anne and Cunigunde legitimated by Pope Urban V on 5 December 1369. Hedwig the younger was legitimated by
Pope Gregory XI
Pope Gregory XI ( la, Gregorius, born Pierre Roger de Beaufort; c. 1329 – 27 March 1378) was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1370 to his death in March 1378. He was the seventh and last Avignon pope and the most recent French pop ...
on 11 October 1371.
On 5 November 1370 Casimir died, leaving Hedwig a widow with three young daughters. Soon afterwards, the middle daughter, Cunigunde died aged three. From Casimir's will, Hedwig received from the treasury of the king's 53 fine silver and 1 / 3 silver vessels in the amount of dowry and 1,000 fineslarge cents. Since Casimir did not have a male heir, his throne passed to his nephew, Louis I of Hungary, though Casimir's sister,
Elisabeth of Poland
Elizabeth of Poland ( hu, Erzsébet, pl, Elżbieta; 1305 – 29 December 1380) was Queen of Hungary by marriage to Charles I of Hungary, and regent of Poland from 1370 to 1376 during the reign of her son Louis I.
Life Early life
She was a memb ...
, acted as regent for a period of time when Louis was in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
.
Second marriage
Hedwig did not remarry straight away. She returned to her home in
Żagań where she lived at the court of her brother,
Henry VI the Older.
On 10 February 1372, Hedwig married for a second time to
Rupert I of Legnica
Rupert I of Legnica ( pl, Ruprecht I Legnicki) (27 March 1347 – by 12 January 1409) was a Duke of Legnica from 1364 until his death, and also regent over half of the Duchy of Głogów-Żagań during 1397–1401.
He was the eldest son of Wenc ...
, son of
Wenceslaus I of Legnica
Wenceslaus I, Duke of Legnica ( pl, Wacław I legnicki) (ca. 1318 – 2 June 1364) was a Duke of Namysłów from 1338 and of Legnica- Brieg from 1342 until his death, but with further divisions with his brother Louis I.
He was the eldest son o ...
and Anna of Cieszyn. The marriage produced two more daughters:
#Barbara (ca. 1384 – Trebitz, 9 May 1436), married on 6 March 1396 to
Rudolph III, Duke of
Saxe-Wittenberg
The Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg () was a medieval duchy of the Holy Roman Empire centered at Wittenberg, which emerged after the dissolution of the stem duchy of Saxony. The Ascanian dukes prevailed in obtaining the Saxon electoral dignity unt ...
and
Elector of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz.
In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...
. Through this union, Jadwiga was a direct ancestor of the
Kings of Denmark and the
House of Gonzaga
)
, type = Noble house
, country =
, estates = Ducal Palace (Mantua)Ducal Palace (Nevers)
, titles =
* Prince of Arches
* Duke of Montferrat
* Duke of Mantua
* Duke of Guastalla
* Duke of Nevers
* Du ...
, rulers of
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...
and
Montferrato.
#Agnes (before 1385 – after 7 July 1411), a nun in
Wroclaw.
After eighteen years of marriage to Rupert, Hedwig died. She was buried in
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...
.
Ancestors
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedwig of Sagan
14th-century births
1390 deaths
Polish queens consort
Piast dynasty
Casimir III the Great
14th-century Polish people
14th-century Polish women