Louis I of Hungary - Inheritance of Poland and Death

Inheritance of Poland and Death

In 1370, the Piasts of Poland died out. The last dynast, Casimir the Great, left only female issue and a grandson. Since arrangements had been made for Louis's succession as early as 1355, he became King of Poland upon his uncle's death in right of his mother, who held much of the practical power until her death in 1380 .

When Louis died in 1382, the Hungarian throne was inherited by his daughter Mary. In Poland, however, the lords of Lesser Poland did not want to continue the personal union with Hungary, nor to accept Mary's fiancé Sigismund as a regent. They therefore chose Mary's younger sister, Hedwig as their new monarch. After two years of negotiations with Louis widow, Elizabeth of Bosnia, who was regent of Hungary, and a civil war in Greater Poland (1383), Hedwig finally came to Kraków and was crowned "King" (not Queen) of Poland on 16 November 1384. The masculine gender in her title was intended to underline the fact that she was a monarch in her own right and not a queen consort.

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