Historical calendar: anniversary of the authoritative elevation of the King of Poland Jadwiga Andegawenska. The canonization mass took place in Krakow.
Today in our calendar we will look at the reasons why the Polish queen was declared sacred.
Jadwiga was the youngest daughter of the King of Poland and Hungary Louis of Hungary and his wife Elizabeth of Bosnia. The father counted on the anticipation of taking the throne by his daughters (he had no sons), so he took care of their careful education. Jadwiga turned out to be a very clever student, including fluent in Polish, Hungarian, German, Serbian and Latin. In addition, she was curious in culture, art and science.
In 1378, at the age of only 4 she was engaged with Duke of Austria Wilhelm Habsburg. According to Louis' plans, the Polish Queen was to be his daughter Maria. Everything changed after the King's death in 1382. Although the Polish knighthood convention in Radomsk decided to entrust the throne to Mary, Elizabeth Bosnianka, who served as regent, decided to leave her with her and send Jadwiga to Poland. The prognosis lasted almost 2 years.
The princess did not come to Krakow until 13 October 1384 and was crowned there 3 days later. Despite only 10 years at the time of the throne, she was very mature. For this reason, the regency was not established over it, but only the loose care of the powerful and Hungarian mother. From the first moments of her stay in Poland, Jadwiga loved her fresh homeland. However, the state after the reign of Louis of Hungary was not the best.
Monarch's power was greatly depleted by the Košice privilege, and a civilian war broke out in Wielkopolska between the Grzymalites and Nałęczów. Thanks to the aid of advisors and Jadwig’s individual charisma, she calmed interior unrest. She was a very spiritual person. She led a modest lifestyle where she combined asceticism with charity. However, it was not limited to the typical medieval rulers of generosity in the foundations of churches and monasteries.
It earmarked its resources primarily to improve the subjects. Out of her box, monastery hospitals were built and maintained, e.g. in Sandomierz and Kraków. She was a generous patron of discipline and gathered around her the intellectual elite of the country. She commissioned the first always translation of Bible passages into Polish (the alleged Florian Psalter). She besides financially helped Louis of Hungary's Krakow Academy and established a bursa for Polish students at the renowned Czech Charles University in Prague.
Polish dignitaries wanted to usage her individual on the way to renew the alliance with Lithuania, directed against the Teutonic Order. The thought of closer ties between his country and the strong Kingdom of Poland was besides appreciated by the Jagiellonian ruler in Vilnius. To this end, almost from the first moments after the coronation of Jadwiga, there were discussions about a fresh arrangement. On 14 August 1385, a file was issued in Blood containing all the previously made findings. By his power Jagiełło was to marry Jadwiga and become king of Poland.
His acceptance of Christianity and the start of the Christianity of Lithuania became a condition. This act was crucial adequate to isolate the Teutonic Order on the global stage. Since then, this country has been surrounded by Christian countries, which has undermined its propaganda sense of existence, the mission of converting Gentiles. Agreements led with the Lithuanian ruler were hard for eleven-year-old Jadwiga, who had to decide to marry a much older man from another cultural circle, including neophyte.
Everything indicates that she accepted it humbly and decided to sacrifice herself for the sake of the country. On February 18, 1386, their wedding was held in Wawel, and on March 4, Jagiella was crowned king of Poland. In the spring of 1387, Jadwiga embarked on an armed expedition to Russia. It was all the more demanding for her, that in order to reconstruct this territory to the Polish Crown she had to act against the country of her origin. This was due to the fact that the erstwhile ruler Louis of Hungary sought to separate these lands from Poland and appointed Hungarian officials for them.
Chaos, in which the manor of the Buda was plunged into these days, served the mission of revindicting Rusi. Jadwiga's expedition was a complete success – practically without fights the disputed territory was overrun. In addition, the queen led to the political expansion of Poland far south. The Moldovan host Peter I, in fear of Hungarian and Volovian aggression, paid tribute to her in Lviv. As for Jadwiga's political activities, 1 more event is worth pointing out.
In 1397 she organized a reunion in Inowrocław with the large master of the Teutonic Order Konrad von Jungingen. During the talks, she negotiated the cessation of border fights and the return of Poland to the Dobrzyń Region, which was not until 1405.
Jadwiga died after giving birth to her daughter in 1399, possibly of postpartum fever. She was only 25 years old. The last will of the dying individual was to transfer part of her individual property to the Cracow Academy, later called the Jagiellonian University. The queen's burial was an allegory of her full life, filled with asceticism. For it was laid into a coffin with wooden imitations of royal jewels. In 1979, she was beatified, and in 1997, the Holy Catholic Church was proclaimed.
This was the first canonization always done in Poland, in Krakow. In the course of the homily of June 8, 1997, Pope John Paul II led it and said: The deepest scratch of hers (King of Jadwiga – ed.) The spirit of service is simply a short life and at the same time a measurement of its greatness. She gave her social position, her talents, her full private life to Christ’s service, and erstwhile she was part of the kingship, she besides dedicated her life to the service of the people entrusted to her.
Previous entry from our calendar is available Here.
