History of Poland during the Jagiellonian dynasty

Poland during Jagiellonian dynasty
1385–1572
Banner of Poland-Lithuania
Monarch(s)	Władysław II Jagiełło (first) Sigismund II Augustus (last)
Chronology Piast dynasty Early elective monarchy

Part of a series on the
History of Poland
Topics Polonophile Polonization Flag Name Coat of arms Monarchs Military history Wars Territorial evolution Jewish history Statehood
Prehistory and protohistory Stone Age Bronze and Iron Age Antiquity Polish tribes
Middle Ages Early Middle Ages Christianization Piast period 10th century–1385 Jagiellonian period 1385–1572
Early Modern Early elective monarchy 1572–1648 Deluge and decline 1648–1764 Three partitions 1764–1795
Modern Partitioned Poland 1795–1918 World War I 1914–1918 Second Republic 1918–1939 World War II 1939–1945 Communist Poland 1945–1989
Contemporary Third Republic 1989–present
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The rule of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland between 1386 and 1572 spans the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period in European history. The Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło) founded the dynasty; his marriage to Queen Jadwiga of Poland^[1] in 1386 strengthened an ongoing Polish–Lithuanian union. The partnership brought vast territories controlled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for both the Polish and Lithuanian people, who coexisted and cooperated in one of the largest political entities in Europe for the next four centuries.^[2][3]

In the Baltic Sea region, Poland engaged in ongoing conflict with the Teutonic Knights. The struggles led to a major battle, the Battle of Grunwald of 1410, but there was also the milestone Peace of Thorn of 1466 under King Casimir IV Jagiellon; the treaty defined the basis of the future Duchy of Prussia. In the south, Poland confronted the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Tatars, and in the east Poles helped Lithuania fight the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Poland's and Lithuania's territorial expansion included the far north region of Livonia.^[2][3]

In the Jagiellonian period, Poland developed as a feudal state with a predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly dominant landed nobility. The Nihil novi act adopted by the Polish Sejm in 1505 transferred most of the legislative power in the state from the monarch to the Sejm. This event marked the beginning of the system known as the "Golden Liberty", when the "free and equal" members of the Polish nobility ruled the state^[2][3] and elected the monarch.

The 16th century saw Protestant Reformation movements deeply influencing Polish Christianity, resulting in unique policies of religious tolerance for the Europe of that time. The European Renaissance as fostered by the last Jagiellonian Kings Sigismund I the Old (r. 1506–1548) and Sigismund II Augustus (r. 1548–1572) resulted in an immense cultural flowering.^[2][3]