Coronation, 1434 can be seen in the shield. Władysław III was crowned at
Wawel Cathedral on 25 July 1434 by the elderly Wojciech Jastrzębiec. There is evidence that the
coronation was closely supervised by Oleśnicki, who was instrumental in determining how the investiture is conducted. Changes were made to the order of formalities under Oleśnicki's
Ordo ad cornandum ad regem Poloniae, notably the young monarch was obliged to take an
oath before the
anointment and the handing over of
Polish royal insignia. This act was to be seen as submission to the privileges of nobles; the
king-elect's fulfillment of the elites' requirements, not
hereditary rights, was a condition for obtaining the throne in the Kingdom of Poland. Furthermore, the crown jewels were given to the officials, rather than being placed at the
altar, implying Władysław III's minority and the officials' active participation in the coronation. The act in which Władysław III undertook
signum crucis with a sword in the direction of the four corners of the world was abandoned. The chronicler
Jan Długosz (Latin: Johannes Longinus) writes that the boy king, dressed in royal garments and accompanied by bishops Oleśnicki and ,
Bishop of Płock, rode from
Wawel Castle to greet the townsfolk. However, a customary
feudal homage by the
burghers at
Kraków Town Hall came into effect because of a disagreement between the bishops and
Masovia princes concerning the
order of precedence in the royal
procession and on sitting arrangements.
Regency, 1434–1438 Shortly after the coronation, senior nobles held both covert and open conventions to discuss the possibility of instituting a
regency as the king was still a minor and could not govern. Duke Siemowit, who was staying in the capital of Kraków at the time, remained a valid contender for the role of regent or caretaker because of his personal qualities and rank; however, the idea was soon dismissed. Many of the noble lords believed that Siemowit could
seize the crown for himself, rather than remain an inferior subject to the boy. Queen Sophia's attempts to be named regent, in accordance with her late husband's instructions, also failed and the general indecisiveness caused the apex of
oligarch influence in medieval Poland. As compromise, a regency council was formed comprising regional governors called the
provisores. Długosz noted three members, each selected for merit and "wisdom", which was possibly aimed at curtailing Zbigniew Oleśnicki's influence. Nonetheless, Oleśnicki retained considerable control over Władysław's upbringing. It is believed that Władysław did not have a decisive voice in politics and the situation did not change even after the
Sejm, the Polish Parliament, had gathered in
Piotrków in 1438 and declared the 14-year-old king to have attained his majority.
Civil war in Lithuania, 1434–1438 in
Oxford, 15th century. Władysław faced certain challenges early in his reign; in particular, the inherited situation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was precarious and the ensuing
Lithuanian Civil War (1432–1438) threatened Polish interests there. The conflict began when Władysław's paternal uncle,
Švitrigaila, refused to acknowledge
fealty to his brother Jogaila and proclaimed political independence, jeopardising the
Polish–Lithuanian union. He subsequently battled against Polish–Lithuanian forces in
Volhynia and established an anti-Polish coalition. In June 1431, he reached an agreement with the
Teutonic State, which declared a surprise war and marched its army into Polish territory. Following a
truce with the
Teutonic Knights, the war resumed when Władysław became king. The situation swiftly transformed into a diplomatic struggle for Władysław and the Poles, who sought to turn Lithuanian nobles against Švitrigaila and have him ousted. A Polish retinue of approximately 4,000 men under
Jakub Kobylański assisted the Lithuanians headed by
Sigismund Kęstutaitis and
Michael Žygimantaitis; their joint army defeated
Švitrigaila and his allies,
Sigismund Korybut and the
Livonian Order, on 1 September 1435 at the
Battle of Wiłkomierz. Švitrigaila fled eastward, but eventually lost the support of the
Ruthenians residing in the Grand Duchy and went into exile to
Moldavia in 1438, thus ending civil war. However, unrest re-emerged when Sigismund Kęstutaitis was assassinated on 20 March 1440 and Władysław III's younger brother,
Casimir IV Jagiellon, was proclaimed Grand Duke by
Jonas Goštautas and the
Lithuanian Council of Lords on 29 June 1440. This was met with hostility at the Polish court, especially since Casimir was underage and the Poles hoped for a
vicegerent that would submit to Poland. Regardless of the outcome, Władysław continued to use the title of Supreme Duke of Lithuania until death under the conditions of the 1413
Union of Horodło. The battle also proved momentous in combating the Livonian Order as its
Grand Master, Franco Kerskorff, and
komtur commanders were killed or taken prisoner. The
Livonian Confederation agreement from 4 December 1435 officially terminated its crusading character, and a
formal peace treaty was signed on 31 December 1435 in
Brześć Kujawski whereby the Teutonic and Livonian Orders pledged not to intrude or disturb the internal affairs of both Poland and Lithuania. That act concluded the
Polish–Teutonic War (1431–1435). Moreover, any association between the knights and the
Pope or the
Holy Roman Emperor would violate the treaty. His youth prevented Władysław from engaging directly in the peace talks, and the negotiations were predominantly undertaken by diplomats or the
clergy.
Domestic and foreign policy, 1438–1440 , and the regions of
Silesia and
Pomerania. The successive years were marked by the extirpation of Polish Hussites under the
Edict of Wieluń, signed earlier in 1424. The initial hostilities eventually culminated in a minor rebellion during Władysław's reign. On 3 May 1439,
Spytko III of Melsztyn formed a small but armed
ad hoc confederation in the town of
Nowy Korczyn against Oleśnicki's desire to exterminate the Hussites and to challenge his authority over the young king. Consequently, Spytko was accused of
high treason and maleficence. The cardinal sent crown troops to pacify the movement and execute the
death warrant. Spytko was ultimately killed at the
Battle of Grotniki. His corpse, pierced with arrows, lay bare in the field for three days; however, Władysław III personally ordered Spytko III's body to be returned to his widow and restored the family's noble status and privileges. The court also devised the return of lost territories, most notably the southern
Duchies of Silesia, which continued to be ruled by the
Silesian Piasts. In the north, the
gentry of Greater Poland and
Kuyavia demanded the recovery of
Pomerania. Speaking on behalf of Władysław, the cardinal was opposed to the idea of reclaiming Pomerania and believed that peace between Poland and the Teutonic Order was critical, as the Teutonic Knights were no longer a tool of the
Holy Roman Emperor and were wary of taking up arms. He also dedicated himself to subtler diplomatic measures when addressing the issue of
Silesia, a large historical region within the Bohemian Crown, but was unwilling to support the Hussites militarily against Sigismund of Luxembourg and his son-in-law,
Albert II of Germany. The priority was diverted towards stabilising domestic affairs as well as maintaining Poland's status as a great power and a pillar of the Catholic Church in
East-Central Europe. The union with Lithuania remained impregnable, and a
dynastic union with the
Kingdom of Hungary was to be formed, as Sigismund had no male heirs. The Polish Sejm and statesmen hoped that by marrying Władysław to one of Sigismund's granddaughters, Poland could secure his accession in Hungary and foist Jagiellonian rule there. That would restore a
union of Hungary and Poland, which had not been seen since the reign of
Louis I of Anjou (1370–1382). The union would also allow Poland to renegotiate disputed territories between the Poles and the Hungarians, including
Halych (later constituting
Galicia) and Moldavia. In response, Poland would propose a military alliance and vow the expulsion of the
Ottoman Turks from Hungarian lands.
King of Hungary and Croatia, 1440 was hidden from Władysław by
Elizabeth of Luxembourg to prevent his coronation as King of Hungary. In October 1439,
Albert II died and left the
Austrian, Bohemian and Hungarian thrones unoccupied. His only son, born in February 1440, became known as
Ladislaus the Posthumous. Ladislaus' claim to the
Duchy of Austria was acknowledged in accordance with Albert's testament. Under the influence and pressure of
Oldřich II of Rosenberg, the Catholic nobles were also inclined to endorse Ladislaus's hereditary right to Bohemia. Conversely, the Hungarians were not willing to pass his candidacy and began dialogue with the Poles. In early January 1440, the Hungarian Estates rejected the deceased king's testament at an assembly in
Buda that would place the regency in the hands of
Frederick III Habsburg. The general animosity towards the
Habsburg dynasty and the impending Ottoman threat prevented the Hungarians from accepting an infant as king and turned to Poland. Ladislaus' widowed mother, Queen
Elizabeth of Luxembourg, was desperate to halt that and sent intermediaries to persuade the Hungarians to terminate all negotiations with Władysław. Contrary to her efforts, the Hungarian nobles proved resolute and elected Władysław king on 8 March 1440. Prior to his election, Władysław III vowed to marry Elizabeth and protect her infant son's interests in Austria and Bohemia. Simultaneously, Władysław III was made
King of Croatia as the Croatian dominion was in a
personal union with Hungary since 1102. Elizabeth did not approve of the Estates' election, and on 15 May 1440, she had her son crowned with the
Holy Crown of Hungary, which one of Elizabeth's
ladies-in-waiting (
Helene Kottanner) had stolen from safekeeping at the fortress of
Visegrád. The Hungarians soon decried the ceremony as an unlawful farce and utilised a reliquary crown for Władysław III's coronation on 17 July 1440 at the
Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in
Székesfehérvár. He had also received significant support from
Pope Eugene IV, in exchange for his help in organising an anti-Muslim
crusade. Although still young and king solely by title, Władysław III became deeply involved in the struggle against the Ottomans, having been brought up in the standard of a pious
Christian monarch.
Discord and unrest, 1440–1442 , who supported Władysław's claim to the Hungarian throne and aided him militarily. Depiction from the
Chronica Hungarorum, 1488. Shortly after Władysław's accession, the conflict with the supporters of Elizabeth deepened. The western and northern parts of the country remained on the side of the queen and opposing
magnates, chiefly the
Counts of Celje (Cilli), the
Garai family and
Dénes Szécsi, Archbishop of Esztergom. In turn, the eastern regions and
Transylvania upheld Władysław III and his partisans, among them
John Hunyadi, who became a leading political and military figure in Hungary. In order to assert her claim, Elizabeth had to maintain the wealthy mining counties in what now constitutes
Slovakia and hired Hussite
mercenaries from Bohemia commanded by
John Jiskra. Jiskra undertook a quick campaign and occupied many of the fortresses and defensive posts in northern Hungary, often with the support of local populations and devotees that held Jiskra in high regard because of his fight for religious freedoms. As a benefactor to the mercenaries, Elizabeth had to pawn the Holy Crown and transfer tutelage over her newborn son to Frederick III. However, this proved insufficient to fund the war against Władysław; she was then forced to hand over her privately owned Austrian estates and the Hungarian
County of
Sopron to the Habsburgs in late 1440 and early 1441. This conduct alienated many of the lords that initially supported Elizabeth's cause, including
Nicholas of Ilok,
Ban of Croatia, who switched sides and allied himself with Władysław III and
John Hunyadi. The western territories, as well as some 70 fortresses under
Ulrich II, Count of Celje in modern-day Austria, Croatia and
Slovenia, remained stalwart and loyal to the queen. Before the end of 1440, Hunyadi attacked
Győr but was unable to take the garrisoned city. He was, however, successful in capturing local townships and villages around Buda and Székesfehérvár to prevent the escape of nobles and designated traitors. This proved paramount when Ulrich II made an attempt to flee to
Bratislava (Pozsony); he was caught by a Polish detachment and subsequently imprisoned at Władysław III's behest. Concurrently,
Ladislaus Garai instigated a rebellion in the south. Hunyadi, together with
Nicholas of Ilok, annihilated Garai's army at
Bátaszék on 10 September 1440. In January 1441, Ulrich was released from captivity, pledged an oath of loyalty to Władysław and freed the hostages held by his troops. Elizabeth prolonged her resistance until December 1442, when a peace treaty was signed at
Győr under the auspices of Cardinal
Julian Cesarini. Elizabeth died not long after meeting Władysław III and exchanging gifts; her supporters claimed that she was poisoned on his orders to prevent their marriage. Cesarini had the treaty ratified by Frederick under the pressure of Pope Eugene, though Frederick abstained from doing so until May 1444. The internal unrest caused Hungary to become vulnerable militarily and severely weakened for the Turkish campaign.
Crusade against the Muslim Ottomans, 1443–1444 , as imagined by
Jan Matejko. . featuring Władysław's effigy and coat of arms The prelude to the crusade began when the Turks were defeated in the
Hungarian–Ottoman War of 1437–1442 and temporarily lost jurisdiction over the
Principality of Wallachia. In 1442, Sultan
Murad II sent
Mezid Bey into Transylvania with a large
akinji army, raiding cities, towns and villages from the border to
Sibiu (known in German as Hermannstadt and in Hungarian as Nagyszeben). Hunyadi initially lost the skirmish and one of the Hungarian leaders, Bishop
György Lépes, was killed at
Sântimbru, Alba. However, a few days later, Hunyadi regrouped and attacked Ottoman positions with heavy cavalry at the
Battle of Hermannstadt, capturing and beheading Mezid. This empowered Hungary to coerce the Wallachians and Moldavians to change loyalty and turn into the vassals of Hungary. Murad sought revenge and entrusted
Hadım Şehabeddin, governor-general of
Rumelia, with a new force to enter
Wallachia; he too was defeated by Hunyadi near the
Ialomița River. Throughout the autumn of 1442, Cesarini and the
Republic of Venice were planning a crusade against the Turks, with the papacy pledging patronage and considerable funding. The united force would set out from Hungary with an assembled fleet under
Francesco Condulmer stationed at the
Dardanelles Strait. The objective was to isolate routes and communication from
Anatolia to Europe, protect
Constantinople, and join with the land troops to capture Turkish defensive posts on the
River Danube, thus leaving the Ottoman main army caught in Anatolia. Cesarini, acting as papal legate and gathering support, disseminated slogans and propaganda that would incite the Christian army to act. Moreover, Italian humanist
Francesco Filelfo wrote a personal letter to Władysław, describing him in Latin as the
propugnaculum, or the "
bulwark of Christianity". On the other hand,
Vlad II Dracul tried to dissuade Władysław III from waging war against the Ottomans. Nevertheless, Vlad II provided 7,000 (according to some accounts 4,000) horsemen under the command of his son,
Mircea II of Wallachia, to fight against the Ottomans. On 15 April 1444, at the
diet in Buda and in the presence of Cardinal Cesarini, Władysław III swore to renew the war against Turkish infidels in the coming summer. Similar promises were made to the Venetian delegates, the
Signoria of Florence and to the
Kingdom of Bosnia.
Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy was also a generous benefactor to the Christian cause. Simultaneously, Władysław III engaged Stojka Gisdanić and dispatched him to
Edirne as an envoy and mediator in peace talks with the Ottomans. In June 1444, the fleet of
Francesco Condulmer and
Alvise Loredan was ready to sail and by mid-July arrived at
Methoni, Messenia, in modern-day
Greece. Murad already crossed into
Asia Minor by this time and the fleet was tasked with preventing re-entry by holding the strait against him. In August, a Polish assembly at
Piotrków implored him to make peace with the Ottomans, dissatisfied with the level of taxes raised for the war and believing that Murad's terms could be lucrative. The Poles were convinced that this would encourage Władysław to leave the
Balkans, return to Poland and re-establish himself there as king. Meanwhile, Cesarini sent letters of progress to
Cyriacus of Ancona, who was staying in Constantinople; he then translated them from Latin into
Greek for
John VIII Palaiologos,
Byzantine emperor. The Byzantines were ecstatic about the news brought by Cesarini, as were the
Genoese colonies and Pera (
Galata). Cyriacus also distributed letters to
Neapolitan nobility and to
Alfonso V of Aragon, urging them to join the campaign. The victory of
Jean de Lastic and his
Knights Hospitaller in the
Siege of Rhodes contributed to the general euphoria surrounding the crusade. In mid-August 1444, the
Peace of Szeged was ratified in
Oradea (Várad). However, Władysław III
abjured his oath and the war continued; on 20 September 1444, the king and Hunyadi crossed the Danube, beginning the army's march to the shores of the
Black Sea to make contact with the allied fleet. The Pope annulled and released
Gjergj Arianiti from the peace he made with the Turks; Arianiti was then able to march with his troops to
Macedonia and fight alongside the Christians if required. At this time, Murad concluded a favourable peace treaty with
Ibrahim II of Karaman, who threatened Anatolia from the south. It allowed the Turks to focus their attention and resources on advancing into Europe; in late October 1444 he crossed the
Bosphorus while the Christian fleet was stalled from adverse winds, and the Venetians did not make an effort to prevent that. Scholar
Poggio Bracciolini appraised that as the true cause of the crusade's early failure. Genoese merchants and sailors were also accused of
corruption and accepting bribes from Murad. According to witnesses, the Ottoman troops outnumbered the combined Christian forces and quickly marched to the Black Sea without a delay.
Battle at Varna, disappearance and succession, 1444-1447 . The Venetian treachery placed the large Ottoman army of around 60,000 men in proximity to the unsuspecting 16,000 crusaders, almost outnumbering the Christians by three to one. The crusader fleet, largely manned by Venetian mercenaries and sailors, did not engage in direct combat and desisted from sailing into the
Black Sea. Thereafter, the
battle began on 10 November 1444 at
Varna, Bulgaria; the crusaders were initially successful in defending against Ottoman assaults and Murad sustained heavy losses. Acts of
heroism were abundant on the Christian side, almost making up for the lack of men; as was the courage displayed on the battlefield by
John Hunyadi. Murad was wary of the battle at first and contemplated escaping when the crusaders took the left flank, but the
Janissaries restrained him. Hunyadi is purported to have proposed that the Christian left assist the right flank to move the Turks out of position, and stated that "the son of Osman's army shall be defeated". The Ottoman troops under Hadım Şehabeddin of Rumelia began to break and some fled the battle, though the Turkish resistance was fierce. One of the crusaders, Andreas de Pallatio, later wrote in his memoirs that Władysław III seized the initiative on the Christian right flank and tore into Şehabeddin's ranks like "a new
Caesar", pushing the Rumelians up the valley's slope. Many of the novice yet still elite Janissaries and
azebs were driven back. Pallatio also notes that the size of Murad's army was too great to counter and it seemed as if the Christian offensive barely inflicted any major casualties. Władysław III's men quickly became exhausted, with many wounded by arrows and battered, including Hunyadi. In spite of this, the majority of the Ottoman army either fled or was dead. Consequently, Murad decided to seek refuge in his fortified encampment in the rear. Facing desperate circumstances and seeing
John Hunyadi's struggle against the Rumelian
sipahis, Władysław III decided to take a chance by directly charging the sultan's camp and his armed retinue with
heavy cavalry. Few men were able to see the charge and no one returned from the assault, which alarmed the crusaders. The young king was most likely killed when his charge lost impetus and came to a standstill amongst the unyielding
Janissaries protecting the sultan. It is possible that the king's horse fell into a trap;
Pope Pius II writes that Władysław III might have been dismounted from his horse by the Turks. The Janissaries reportedly killed the king's bodyguard, beheaded Władysław III and displayed his head on a lance, spear or pole. However, records about Władysław III's death come solely from Turkish side, with one account claiming even that he survived the battle but was executed in captivity; Polish relation of battle told by participant
Gregory of Sanok states only that the King disappeared during battle and his fate remains unknown. Records mention a severed male head candied in a bowl of honey by the Turks, but the head contained
blond hair, and Władysław III had
dark-hair. Disheartened by the presumed death of the king, the Hungarian Army fled the battlefield, and the remainder surrendered. On his return, Hunyadi tried frantically to salvage the king's body; neither Władysław's body nor his armour were ever found. Władysław III was succeeded in Poland by his younger brother, Duke
Casimir IV of Lithuania, in 1447, after a three-year
interregnum. In Hungary, he was succeeded by his former rival, the child-king
Ladislaus the Posthumous. == Appearance and personal life ==