In the future, she will become not only a queen, but also a king. However, when she was born, her parents were only disappointed. Jadwiga Andegaweńska was a daughter whom nobody wanted.
Louis of Anjou was desperate. The most powerful, or at least the richest, of the kings of Europe in one area was unable to cope. He had no son, and for more than a quarter of a century of his reign - not even a child.
He was so afraid for the future of the vast Hungarian empire and for the future of his family that he began to think about adopting one of his relatives. Anything but any trace of his dynasty.
Seventeen years after getting married
It was not until the end of 1369 that as much joyful as surprising news spread through Hungary. The Queen, Elżbieta Bośniaczka, found herself in a blessed state. In the opinion of the subjects, it was a true miracle. Exactly seventeen years after the wedding, i.e. in July 1370, the ruler gave birth to a healthy child. It was not a son, but Ludwik did not despair at all.
If he had one child - if the pregnancy went smoothly and the delivery was smooth - then he had every reason to expect that it would be easier now. And that in a year or two, the heir to the throne will appear in the world.
Elżbieta Bośniaczka with her daughters in a relief from the reliquary of Saint Simeon
Another daughter instead of a son
But fate still put his patience to the test. After her first daughter, baptized with the name Catherine, a Bosnian woman in 1371 gave birth to another girl - Maria.
The Queen was about thirty-one at the time; king - forty-five. It was still not too late to extend the family. Or at least it seemed so, as long as Ludwik remained strong and healthy.
His condition - as a result of constantly winning trophies, war wounds and hunting accidents - was not always crystal clear. However, it was probably only at the beginning of the 1770s that the real crisis came.
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Last chance to extend your family
The monarch's body was consumed by a mysterious, debilitating disease. It was said that it was no coincidence that Ludwik avoided visits to Poland, which was one of the kingdoms that made up his power. Apparently, he claimed that the harsh local climate did not suit him.
The king preferred to be in the south, where it was easier for him to get out of bed, mount his horse, give orders. His attention, however, was increasingly preoccupied not so much with the state as with medicine. He surrounded himself with crowds of esculaps. He turned to the King of France for help in finding a specialist who could cure his ailment.
However, no doctor, even the best one, was able to help Ludwik. His condition was only getting worse, and the question of the aftermath, especially in newly conquered Poland, was coming to the fore.
Elżbieta Bośniaczka at her husband's grave. Painting by Sándor Liezen-Mayer
The king's health problems became a nightmare also for his mother: the Polish regent and the most powerful woman in this part of Europe, Elżbieta Łokietkówna. The seventy-year-old woman ruling at Wawel was trembling at the thought that she would bury all her children before her own death; and Ludwik was already the last living of her five sons. She, too, was looking forward to her grandson.
Waiting for heir to the throne
Finally, in 1373, Elizabeth of Bosnia became pregnant again. The king believed that this time he would be able to pray for the birth of a heir. And already, together with his mother, he was preparing the ground for him. The townspeople were promoted, the nobility lined up in a row, new privileges and threats were issued. Anything to convince the subjects - both in Hungary and in Poland - to immediately accept that Ludwik's son is also their new king.
Portrait of Ludwik Węgierski by Marcello Bacciarelli.
Consent, not without effort, but still, it was possible to get it wherever it was necessary. However, at the beginning of 1374, it turned out how little they were. Contrary to hopes, it was not a son that was born into the world, but a daughter.
The third girl was named Jadwiga. Her birth was such a disappointment that it was not even deemed appropriate to include them in yearbooks and documents.
Only at the beginning of the 20th century, historians managed to establish approximately when the girl was born. Even today, however, it is impossible to say more than that it was probably mid-February. Jadwiga failed her parents and their subjects. And since she was the third daughter in a row, in 1374 no one even dreamed that she would achieve anything noteworthy in the future.
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It is impossible to present the extraordinary life and achievements of Jadwiga Andegaweńska in one short article. That is why the great queen and her no less fascinating predecessors have been devoted to the whole book: "Ladies of the Polish Empire. The Women Who Built a Power " . You can buy it at a promotional price at empik.com .