Jadwiga Jagiellon
Persons, originating from Poland

Jadwiga Jagiellon

Born: September 21, 1457 in Cracow, Poland
Died: February 18, 1502 in Burghausen, Bavaria
Name in Polish: Jadwiga Jagiellonka
Name in German: Hedwig Jagiellonica or Hedwig von Burghausen

She was the daughter of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Casimir and his wife Elisabeth of Habsburg, daughter of the Roman-German King Albert II. Her brother Władysław was from 1471 King of Bohemia. In 1474 negotiations between the courts took place in Landshut and Cracow about a marriage between Jadwiga and Duke George, the eldest son of the reigning Duke Louis IX the Rich of Bavaria-Landshut. Because the future spouses were closely related, the couple needed a papal dispensation for the marriage, which was granted by Pope Sixtus IV. November 14, 1475 wedding took place in Landshut. In the presence of the Emperor and two electors (Kurfürste) the celebrations lasted six days and remained in memory as one of the most glamorous weddings of the Middle Ages. Even today, the town of Landshut celebrates every four years the so-called Landshut Wedding.

Jadwiga lived after the wedding on the Burghausen Castle, where she allegedly gave birth to five children, of whom remained only two girls, Elizabeth and Margaret alive. Jadwiga died in Burghausen 1502 a year before her husband. After the death of Duke George came in 1504 because of the absence of a male heir to the Landshut War of Succession.
More information

George the Rich and Jadwiga Jagiellon            
in a window of the Landshut town hall               
Polonica stamps:
German Fed. Rep. 1975, 15 V