Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania - Life

Life

Casimir was the son of Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania and Elizabeth of Poland. His maternal grandfather Casimir III the Great, last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty, brought him up at his court as his favorite - the king had no legal male successors. After grandfather's death in 1370, young Casimir initially became his partial successor, as the last will gave him lands of Dobrzyń, Bydgoszcz, Kruszwica, Złotów and Wałcz. Yet, his ambitions were soon thwarted by Louis I of Hungary, who became the next king of Poland on the ground of earlier pacts, and nullified the Piast's last will. Duke Casimir only held the land of Dobrzyń as a temporary fief.

In 1360, Casimir married his first wife Kenna of Lithuania. She was a daughter of Algirdas and Uliana Alexandrovna of Tver, raised in the Eastern Orthodox faith. With her marriage, she joined the Roman Catholic Church and was baptised again under the name "Johanna". She died on 27 April 1368, leaving no children.

After a year, Casimir IV married his second wife Margaret of Masovia. She was a daughter of Siemowit III of Masovia and his first wife Euphemia of Opava. They had no children, too. After the death of Casimir, she married Henry VIII, Duke of Lubin and Brzeg.

Read more about this topic:  Casimir IV, Duke Of Pomerania

Famous quotes containing the word life:

    Why not walk in the aura of magic that gives to the small things of life their uniqueness and importance? Why not befriend a toad today?
    Germaine Greer (b. 1939)

    Every writer hopes or boldly assumes that his life is in some sense exemplary, that the particular will turn out to be universal.
    Martin Amis (b. 1949)

    Our intellect is not the most subtle, the most powerful, the most appropriate, instrument for revealing the truth. It is life that, little by little, example by example, permits us to see that what is most important to our heart, or to our mind, is learned not by reasoning but through other agencies. Then it is that the intellect, observing their superiority, abdicates its control to them upon reasoned grounds and agrees to become their collaborator and lackey.
    Marcel Proust (1871–1922)