In Poland's capital on October 16th, 1384, something remarkable happened: Jadwiga received her coronation — not as Queen, but as King. It was Queen Elizabeth who crowned her and arranged her journey to Poland, following the collapse of a marriage proposal to the Duke of Masovia. Jadwiga then ruled as Queen until 1386, the year she wed Wladyslaw, who assumed the title of King of Poland.
The path by which Jadwiga of Hungary and Poland claimed the title of King was steeped in controversy. Before long, she would also become Queen to King Wladyslaw Jagiello.
Though she was the youngest daughter of King Louis the Great of Hungary and Poland, Jadwiga held a special place as her father's preferred choice to succeed him on the throne.
Fun Facts:
- Wladyslaw Jagiello, a pagan hailing from Lithuania, was required to embrace Christianity before he could marry Jadwiga.
- Although Jadwiga had been promised to William of Austria, the Polish nobles turned against William once she was appointed Queen.
- King Louis the Great favored Jadwiga as his successor, even though she was his youngest daughter.
- Before Jadwiga's appointment, the Queen had named her elder sister Mary as Queen. However, tensions and misunderstandings between Mary's husband Sigismund and the Polish nobles forced the Queen to turn to Jadwiga instead.
- In 1997, the Catholic church canonized Jadwiga.