Jadwiga Of Żagań
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hedwig of Sagan (; before 1350 – 27 March 1390) was Queen of Poland 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 List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...
in the
Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...
.Jerzy Jan Lerski, Piotr Wróbel, Richard J. Kozicki, ''Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996,
Google Print, p.249-250
/ref> After Casimir's death in 1370, she remarried Rupert I of Legnica.


Family

Hedwig was the third of five children born to
Henry V of Iron Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...
and his wife Anna, daughter of Duke
Wenceslaus of Płock Wenceslaus (Wańko) of Płock (; 1293/97 – 23 May 1336), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast, Duchy of Płock, Duke of Płock from 1313 and vassal of Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemia from 1329. He was the third son of Bolesław II of Mas ...
. Her brothers were Henry VI the Elder, Henry VII Rumpold, Henry VIII the Sparrow, and her only sister was Anna, wife of Jan I of Racibórz.


First marriage

Casimir III of Poland 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 ...
had two daughters, Elizabeth and Cunigunde, by his first wife, Aldona of Lithuania. 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 Krystyna Rokiczana (died after 1365) was the third wife of Casimir III the Great, of Poland. Since she was the King's third wife in morganatic marriage, she was not a queen consort. Life Krystyna is mentioned in several historical sources, inc ...
, 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 (; ; ; 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 ...
. Hedwig married Casimir III of Poland around 1365. However, Casimir was committing
bigamy In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, 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 mar ...
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 had a fourth-degree relation to Hedwig. In 1368
Pope Urban V Pope Urban V (; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was 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 only Avignon pope ...
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 (; ; ) 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 ...
, would inherit the throne. Instead of a son, Hedwig bore three daughters: # Anna (1366 – 9 June 1425). Married firstly William of Celje. Their only daughter was Anne of Cilli. 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 seat of thi ...
. They had no children. #Cunigunde (1367–1370). #Hedwig (1368 – ), reportedly married 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 legitimised by Pope Urban V on 5 December 1369. Hedwig the younger was legitimised by
Pope Gregory XI Pope Gregory XI (; 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 pope. In 1377, ...
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 king's treasury 53 fine silver and 1 / 3 silver vessels in the amount of dowry and 1,000 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, acted as regent for a period of time when Louis was in
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
.


Second marriage

Hedwig did not remarry straight away. She returned to her home in
Żagań Żagań (French language, French and , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 25,731 inhabitants (2019), capital of Żagań County in the Lubusz Voivodeship, located in the historic region of Lower Silesia. Founded in the 12th ce ...
where she lived at the court of her brother, Henry VI the Elder. On 10 February 1372, Hedwig married for a second time to Rupert I of Legnica, son of Wenceslaus I of Legnica and Anna of Cieszyn. The marriage produced two more daughters: #Barbara ( – Trebitz, 9 May 1436), married 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 until ...
and
Elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...
on 6 March 1396. Through this union, Jadwiga was a direct ancestor of the Kings of Denmark and the
House of Gonzaga The House of Gonzaga (, ) is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captaincy-general, then Margraviate of Mantua, margraviate, and finally Duchy of Mantua, duchy). They also ruled M ...
, rulers of
Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...
and Montferrato. #Agnes (before 1385 – after 7 July 1411), a nun in
Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
. After eighteen years of marriage to Rupert, Hedwig died. She was buried in
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) 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 8, ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hedwig of Sagan 14th-century births 1390 deaths Queens consort of Poland Piast dynasty Casimir III the Great 14th-century Polish people 14th-century Polish women Remarried queens consort