Władysław Jagiełło in the painting by Michał Godlewski.

Władysław II Jagiełło

The Grand Duke of Lithuania and the king of Poland, the founder of the Jagiellonian dynasty. He was the son of Prince Olgierd from the Giedyminowicz dynasty. The exact date of his birth is unknown. It was traditionally assumed that he was born around 1352. The prevailing view today is that he was, however, a decade younger - he was born around 1362 and took over the grand-ducal stool as an approximately fifteen-year-old boy.

In 1386, he married the teenage queen of Poland, Jadwiga Andegaweńska. Under the arrangements made with Polish gentlemen, he agreed to be baptized, to start the official Christianization of Lithuania and to unite the Lithuanian state with the Polish one, receiving the crown in return. The exact nature of the union concluded at that time to this day raises fierce disputes between historians from both countries.

Jagiełło took the Christian name of Władysław and was elevated to the throne on March 4, 1386. After Jadwiga's death in 1399, he married three more times - successively to Anna Cylejska, Elżbieta Granowska and Zofia Holszańska - all the time looking forward to the birth of his son. His first male descendant, Władysław, was born when Jagiełło was over sixty years old, which raised doubts as to the fidelity of Queen Sophia and the true pedigree of the child.

His greatest achievements include the victorious war with the Teutonic Knights, along with the decisive Battle of Grunwald, which shattered the myth of invincible knights. He died after catching a cold listening to the song of nightingales.