JADWIGA

born 1373/74 died July 17, 1399, Krakw, Pol. original Hungarian Hedvig, German Hedwig queen of Poland (138499), whose marriage to Jogaila, grand duke of Lithuania (Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland), founded the centuries-long union of Lithuania and Poland. Jadwiga was the daughter of Louis I, king of both Hungary and Poland, and Elizabeth of Poland. After Louis died on Sept. 11, 1382, his elder daughter, Maria, was elected queen of Hungary; but the Poles opted to end the personal union between the two countries by choosing Jadwiga as their queen, though she was then but a child of nine years. On Oct. 15, 1384, she was crowned rex, king, of Poland. The Polish magnates further promoted her marriage to Jogaila in order to produce a union of territories larger than the former one with Hungary and to open the way to the Christian conversion of the largely pagan Lithuanians. Jogaila was baptized in Krakw on Feb. 15, 1386, married to Jadwiga on February 18, and crowned on March 4. Jadwiga was a patron of religion and scholarship, seeking to promote the religious development of the nations that she had united, founding a special college for Lithuanians in Prague, and financing the restoration of the university at Krakw, effected after her death and named the Jagiellonian University. Chiefly Jadwiga's work, the university was modeled after the University of Paris and became the centre of Polish civilization and influence.