The Congress of Kraków (Polish: ''Zjazd krakowski'') was a meeting of monarchs initiated by King

Casimir III the Great 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 ...

of Poland and held in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

(Cracow) around September 22–27, 1364. The pretext for calling the meeting was very likely a proposed anti- Turkish crusade, but the Congress was actually concerned mostly with European diplomacy issues, of which preeminent were peaceful relations and the balance of power in

central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

and negotiating a common response to the Turkish threat through the project of a central European league of states.Polish Wikipedia articles ''Zjazd krakowski'' and ''Wierzynek'' The participants - guests of the Polish king were Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, King Louis I of Hungary, King

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance ...

, King

Peter I of Cyprus Peter I (9 October 1328 – 17 January 1369) was King of Cyprus and titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his death in 1369. He was invested as titular Count of Tripoli in 1346. As King of Cyprus ...

Siemowit III of Masovia Siemowit III of Masovia (his name also rendered Ziemowit; – 1381) was a prince of Masovia and a co-regent (with his brother Casimir I of Warsaw) of the lands of Warsaw, Czersk, Rawa, Gostynin and other parts of Masovia. Life Siemowit ...

Bolko II of Świdnica Bolko II the Small (c. 1312 – 28 July 1368), was the last independent Duke of the Piast dynasty in Silesia. He was Duke of Świdnica from 1326, Duke of Jawor and Lwówek from 1346, Duke of Lusatia from 1364, Duke over half of Brzeg and Oława ...

Władysław Opolczyk Vladislaus II of Opole ( pl, Władysław Opolczyk, german: Wladislaus von Oppeln, hu, Oppelni László, uk, Владислав Опольчик; ca. 1332 – 18 May 1401), nicknamed Naderspan, was Duke of Opole from 1356, Count palatine of Hu ...

Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (german: der Stifter), was a scion of the House of Habsburg who ruled as duke of Austria (self-proclaimed archduke), Styria and Carinthia from 1358, as well as count ...

Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania Bogislaw V ( pl, Bogusław, la, Bogislaus) (c. 1318 – 23 April 1374), sometimes known as the Great ( pl, Bogusław V Wielki), was a Duke of Pomerania. Eldest son of Duke Wartislaw IV and Elisabeth of Lindow-Ruppin, Bogislaw had two brothe ...

Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania Casimir IV ( pl, Kazimierz IV or Kaźko Słupski, ger, Kasimir IV or Kasimir V ; 1351 – 2 January 1377) was a duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp since 1374. Life Casimir was the son of Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania and Elizabeth of Polan ...

Otto V, Duke of Bavaria Otto V (''c.'' 1340 – 15 November 1379), was a Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg as Otto VII. Otto was the fourth son of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV by his second wife Margaret II of Avesnes, Countess of Hainaut and Holland. Bio ...

and

Louis VI the Roman Louis the Roman () (7 May 1328 – 17 May 1365) was the eldest son of Holy Roman Emperor, Louis IV the Bavarian, by his second wife, Margaret II, Countess of Hainaut, and a member of the House of Wittelsbach. Louis was Duke of Upper Bavaria as L ...

. The Congress, which took place in lavish surroundings, intended as a manifestation of the Polish king's power and wealth, echoed throughout Europe. It included a famous banquet at the house of the Kraków merchant Mikołaj Wierzynek, organized by the city council. The occasion for the feast, which according to

Jan Długosz Jan Długosz (; 1 December 1415 – 19 May 1480), also known in Latin as Johannes Longinus, was a Polish priest, chronicler, diplomat, soldier, and secretary to Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki of Kraków. He is considered Poland's first histo ...

lasted for 21 days, was the recent wedding of Charles IV and Casimir's granddaughter

Elizabeth of Pomerania Elizabeth of Pomerania ( pl, Elżbieta pomorska, cs, Eliška Pomořanská; – 15 April 1393) was the fourth and final wife of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia. Life Elizabeth was the daughter of Bogislaw V, Duk ...

. The several medieval sources available do not always agree on the timing and other issues. Possibly there were two separate congresses, one in 1363 that had to do with the marriage, and another in 1364, the more political congregation of the monarchs. In 1364 among the issues discussed were the

Angevin Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France **Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou * House of Ingelger, a Frank ...

succession to the Polish throne, and the ratification of the peace treaty involving Louis I and Charles IV among others, arbitrated by Casimir III and Bolko II. An important source is a poem of Guillaume de Machaut who described the banquet in Wierzynek's house Norman Davies, "God's playground", v.I, Oxford University Press 2005, p.81

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Congress of Krakow History of Kraków Krakow 1364 in Europe 14th century in Poland Casimir III the Great