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

Casimir III the Great Casimir III the Great (; 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, retaining the title throughout the Galicia–Volhynia Wars. He was the last Polish king fr ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and held in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

(Cracow) around September 22–27, 1364. The pretext for calling the meeting was very likely a proposed anti- Ottoman

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

, 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 a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

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, who were guests of the Polish king, were

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor Charles 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 Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

, King

Louis I of Hungary Louis I, also Louis the Great (; ; ) or Louis the Hungarian (; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370. He was the first child of Charles I of Hungary and his wife, Elizabeth of ...

, King

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag, Valdemar Christoffersen or Waldemar (24 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 wars under previous rul ...

, 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, Bolko II of Świdnica,

Władysław Opolczyk Vladislaus II of Opole (, , , ; ca. 1332 – 18 May 1401), nicknamed Naderspan, was Duke of Opole from 1356, Count palatine of Hungary (1367–1372), Duke of Wieluń (1370–1392), Governor of Ruthenia (1372–1378), Count palatine of Poland ...

Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria Rudolf IV (1 November 1339 – 27 July 1365), also called Rudolf the Founder (), 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 of Tyrol from 136 ...

, Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania, Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania, Otto V, Duke of Bavaria and Louis VI the Roman. The Congress, which took place in lavish surroundings, was intended as a manifestation of the Polish king's power and wealth and echoed throughout Europe. It included a famous banquet at the house of the Kraków merchant Mikołaj Wierzynek, which was organised 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 (, ; – 15 April 1393) was the fourth and last wife of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia. Life Elizabeth was the daughter of Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania and Elisabeth of Poland. Her mater ...

. 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 that was the more political congregation of the monarchs. In 1364, among the issues discussed were the Angevin succession to the Polish throne and the ratification of the peace treaty involving Louis I and Charles IV among others that was arbitrated by Casimir III and Bolko II. An important source is a poem of

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

, who described the banquet in Wierzynek's house

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Profes ...

, "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