Debauchery. Violence. Contempt. Belonging to the powerful Jagiellonian dynasty had many advantages, but also caused embarrassment. We will prove it to you in 7 points.
As always, all rankings are based on our published articles. This time, we have selected texts that show that also members of the royal Jagiellonian dynasty had reasons to be ashamed. You can read more about the modern history of Poland and the world HERE.
If you were flesh and blood Jagiellons, you would have to be ashamed of:
7. Tendency to debauchery
Jan Olbracht's nightly love conquests led to the fact that the ruler died of a venereal disease.
The Jagiellonians had surprisingly few illegitimate children, but not because they were absolutely faithful to their spouses. A lot of accounts about their lovers have survived, and the fact that these relationships were childless suggests that perhaps many of them hid venereal diseases from the world. Perhaps Barbara contracted syphilis from ... Zygmunt August? (read more about it).
6. Cruel parenting methods towards their own children
Casimir IV the Jagiellonian was a good ruler? Undoubtedly, what the monuments were erected for him. Was he a good father? Opinions are divided here.
Casimir IV the Jagiellonian went down in history as the model of an ideal king. However, the educational methods he allowed for his children make the hair stand on the head. Fear, pain and numerous prohibitions were indispensable in the education of young princes (read more on this topic).
5. To be a "creepy mama's boy"
Zygmunt August as a child on a woodcut from 1521. This portrait has little to do with the real appearance of the prince. Zygmunt August was only one year old at the time.
"Our young king was brought up by women and Italians who are more fearful than women," wrote one of the high-ranking courtiers about Sigismund Augustus. The future king of Poland was the apple of his mother's Bona Sforza's eye, which undoubtedly had an impact on his personality (read more on this topic).
4. Letting your closest relatives be treated with disrespect ...
Anna Jagiellonka did not get married until the age of 52. Her life has become a real school of patience.
Anna Jagiellonka did not enjoy the respect of her subjects during her life or after her death. Some people called her old maid or devotee. Her beauty was often denied as an ugly woman. And her relatives did little to change that (read more on that).
3. … And the fact that even by members of their own family, women were treated as objects
Bona's conflict with Zygmunt II August meant that she and her daughters left for Mazovia. There, the young Zofia was slowly withering in old age.
The life of princesses from the Jagiellonian dynasty was not all roses. Zofia Jagiellonka, the daughter of Zygmunt Stary and Bona Sforza, was probably the most unlucky. Despite her intelligence and grace, unfortunately she did not receive favor from her relatives. Even her husband - finally chosen after many trials and tribulations - betrayed her right after the wedding ... (read more about it).
2. You couldn't take any consequences against your mother's murderer
Queen Bona was poisoned, and the perpetrator's hair was not lost for the murder.
After Bona Sforza fell victim to the poison, the murderer did not have to be long to look for. Everyone knew his name:Jan Wawrzyniec Pappacoda. But why was the queen's death never properly avenged and why did the killer go unpunished? (read more about it).
1. The tragic consequences of the decisions that determined the fate of Poland
Was the Prussian Tribute a good decision? It was undoubtedly an event that echoed throughout history.
The Teutonic Order, the bane of medieval Poland, was at the beginning of the 16th century only a shadow of its former power. Many Poles of that time could not understand why the Polish monarch accepted the feudal tribute from Albrecht Hohenzollern, instead of incorporating his Prussian state into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. This could be a bug that prepared the ground for future partitions (read more on that).
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