Empire · 1025–1569 · Europe

Kingdom of Poland

Also known as Poland, Poland-Lithuania

Poland emerged under the Piast dynasty, whose duke Mieszko I accepted Christianity in 966; his son Bolesław the Brave was crowned the first king in 1025. After 1138 the realm split into duchies for nearly two centuries and suffered Mongol raids, until Władysław the Short reunited it and his son Casimir the Great rebuilt it, founding the University of Kraków and welcoming Jewish settlers.

In 1386 Queen Jadwiga married Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, creating a personal union under the Jagiellonian dynasty. The union crushed the Teutonic Knights at Grunwald in 1410 and became one of the largest states in Europe. Power gradually shifted to the nobility through the Sejm, and in 1569 the Union of Lublin turned the partnership into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

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Years

1025–1569

Capital

Gniezno, then Kraków

Greatest extent

1490, about 1.10 million km²

Region

Europe

Jagiellonian Poland together with Lithuania in personal union; Poland-Lithuania c. 1.1M km² c. 1480 (Turchin, Adams & Hall 2006)