Lithuania's last pagan ruler founded a dynasty by becoming Poland's king
Jogaila grew up worshipping Lithuania's old gods. In February 1386 he was baptised in Kraków's Wawel Cathedral, married the young queen Jadwiga three days later, and was crowned King of Poland within weeks. The dynasty named after him would rule both countries until 1572.
Even his birth year is uncertain, placed either around 1352 or around 1362. His father was Algirdas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his mother Uliana came from the princely house of Tver. Chosen as heir over an older half-brother, he took the throne in 1377, either at about 14 or 24; his mother's regency early on hints at the younger age. His realm joined ethnic Lithuania with vast Ruthenian lands of the former Kievan Rus', and his brothers, including Andrei of Polotsk, soon challenged him.
A secret 1380 pact with the Teutonic Knights against his uncle Kęstutis sparked a civil war in which Jogaila briefly lost his throne. His mother then urged a Moscow marriage requiring Orthodox baptism, but the knights regarded Orthodox Christians as little better than pagans. Jogaila chose the Polish offer instead, confirming it in the Union of Krewo at Kreva Castle on 14 August 1385; historians still argue over whether it created a personal union or something closer to annexation.
Elected king at Lublin on 2 February 1386, he took the baptismal name Władysław and was crowned on 4 March, the first Lithuanian to wear the Polish crown. He reigned beside Jadwiga, an active politician in her own right, and after her death in 1399 ruled alone for thirty-five more years. He brought Catholicism to Lithuania in 1387, gave Vilnius a charter modelled on Kraków's, and, speaking Lithuanian himself, personally taught Samogitians the faith when visiting clergy could not. Catholic nobles gained privileges denied to Orthodox ones.
The knights called his conversion a sham and kept attacking, but the victory at Grunwald in 1410 and the Peace of Thorn secured the borders and made Poland-Lithuania a major European force. His reign is often seen as the start of Poland's Golden Age. He died on 1 June 1434.
Source: Władysław II Jagiełło
