Casimir III the Great
Casimir the Great ( Kazimierz III Wielki Polish, Latin Kazimirus; born April 30, 1310 in Kowal, † November 5, 1370 in Krakow, Poland) was the youngest son of King Władysław I the Elbow- from his marriage to Hedwig of Kalisz, daughter of Duke Boleslaw the Pious of Greater Poland. He was descended from the dynasty of Piast Kujawy and was from 1333 as Casimir I, King of Poland ( as Duke of Poland - dux Regni Poloniae -. III ). With him the Piast dynasty died out in royal line.
Life
From his father's political legacy Casimir took over the alliance with Hungary, strengthened by the marriage of his sister Elizabeth with Charles Robert of Anjou, King of Hungary, the conflict with the Teutonic Order of Pomerania, with the Luxembourg Johann and Karl IV for supremacy in Silesia, as well as with John, who stood as king of Bohemia on the Polish crown claim. While his father had sought military decisions, Kasimir intended rather for peaceful and diplomatic solutions.
1335 King John renounced for 20,000 shock ( 1.2 million ) Prague groschen to the Polish crown, at the same time let Casimir, to invalidate the alliance between the Luxembourg and the Teutonic Knights, in the Treaty of Trenčín " for all time " his dynastic claims on Silesia fall. After fruitless negotiations with the Teutonic Order of Pomerania and the Kulmerland he filed a lawsuit against the papal curia. Since the budget for Poland judgment of 1339 was not confirmed by the Pope, Casimir renounced the Treaty of Kalisz in 1343 to publication of the 1332 by the Order occupied Duchy Kuyavian and Dobrins on the return of Pomerania and the Kulm country, without disclosing the legal title.
From 1341 he occupied several Silesian cities on the border ( 1341-1356 Namslau, Pitschen, Cross Castle and Mrs. city). In 1345 it finally came to renewed clashes with the Luxembourg dynasty in Silesia, at the end Kasimir 1348 in the Treaty of Namslau his rights on Silesia had to do without. Since 1343 he sought his influence in Pomerania to consolidate ( alliance with the spread of the Szczecin and Wolgaster line ), which in 1365 for the occupation of some networks and Neumarkdistrikte with Zantoch, Driesen and Landsberg on the Warta River ( to 1372 ), as well as the region around German crown and Tempelburg 1368 led.
However, Casimir main interest was in the Ruthenian principality of Halych - Volhynia in Red Russia, which he, with the support of Hungary after the death of Boleslaw Piast - Trojdenowicz ( referred to as Russian prince George II and Yuri II ) from 1340, partly directly, partly as a fief to 1366 his empire almost completely incorporated: Among these were the cities of Halych, Lviv, Chelm, Belz, Volodymyr- Wolynskyj, and the regions of Podolia and the Sanok country. 1351 he subdued the secular became independent for several years Masovian duchies partly as a fief ( Duchy of Warsaw - Rawa - Czersk ), either directly ( Duchy of Płock ) suzerainty of his. This expansion policy helped Poland to a powerful position in Central Europe.
Similarly, successfully ran the internal reforms, in economic terms, the colonization of abandoned settlements, transfer of Magdeburg and Kulm law on towns and villages, a royal customs and tax policy, the development and security of trade routes, the adoption of Jewish privileges in 1334, the he repeated in the years 1336 and 1367, and the opening of salt pans concerned constitutionally the codification of land law (so-called statutes of Casimir the Great), the introduction of Generalstarosteien administrative and judicial powers, the State Council and firm leadership caused. Kasimir secured the borders of his empire with 50 fortified castles, founded in 1364, the University of Krakow, created for the Magdeburg Law own courts of appeal and banned the appellation to Magdeburg. Already in 1339 he joined with his brother in law, the Hungarian king Charles of Anjou, a successor contract, which he renewed in 1355 in favor of his nephew, Louis the Great and which was realized after his death. He is the only Polish king, who is called " the Great".
Marriages and descendants
Kazimir was the first marriage (1325-1339) to Anna of Lithuania married, daughter of Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania; second wife from 1341 to 1368 for invalidation with Adelheid, daughter of Landgrave Henry II of Hesse; third wife two years from 1368-1370 with Hedwig of Sagan, daughter of Duke Henry V of Sagan. All marriages remained without male offspring; from an illegitimate affair with the Jewess Esther come two sons and several daughters.
From first marriage (14 years) with Anna of Lithuania:
- Elisabeth (about 1326/1361 ), Polish princess, married in 1343 with the Duke of Pomerania - Wolgast Bogislaw V. - Stolp
- Cunegonde (ca. 1328/1357 ), Polish princess, married in 1352 with Duke Louis VI. of Upper Bavaria, a son of Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV
From second marriage ( 27 years) with Adelheid of Hesse were no children have.
From 3rd marriage ( 2 years) with Hedwig of Sagan:
- Anna of Poland ( Teck ) ( 1366-1425 ), Polish princess, married to Count William of Cilli ( Celje slowen. ), whose only daughter was Anna of Celje, who later became the wife of Polish king Władysław II Jagiello
- Cunegonde (1367-1370), Polish Princess
- Hedwig (1368-1407), Polish Princess