Duke, and attached it to the possession of Wilna. Javnut was marked out to be Grand Duke. His other six sons-Monvid, Narymunt, Koriat, Olgerd, Kejstut, and Lubart - divided the rest of the kingdom between them. Olgerd and Kejstut (Olgjerd and Kynstudt) stood out conspicuously among them. The former obtained Lithuania proper, with Krevo and the territory of Witebsk; Kejstut, on the other hand, obtained Smud, with Troki as capital, Grodno, and Berestie in Black Russia. Olgerd was a strong and handsome man, of fine intellect and political insight, and, what was rare in his days, sober and abstemious. He understood several languages, and was not addicted to play. A crafty leader, he did not even inform his troops on the march to what goal he was leading them. Olgerd was the representative of the Christian party among the Russians. His wives and children were Christians. According to Russian authorities he was a Christian himself, although the foreign chroniclers assert that his corpse was burnt on a funeral pyre; perhaps the pagan priests wished this to be so. Kejstut, an honest nature, a typical knight in every sense, and an impetuous spirit, was deified by the people as the representative of the national paganism. He unselfishly helped his brother to obtain the grand ducal power, and was his most loyal subject, friend, and guardian. Himself a pagan by honest conviction, he was the last Lithuanian prince who was buried according to heathen customs. Both added to the greatness and fame of Lithuania. While Olgerd as Grand Duke united Russian principalities with Lithuania, conquered Kiev itself, and so advanced the frontiers as far south as the Tartar tribes of the Black Sea and eastward beyond the Dnieper, Kejstut took over the protection of the western frontier and the war with the combined knightly orders.

The chroniclers record many noble features in the life of this great hero. Kejstut rescued by his intercession the commandant of a castle of the Order who was sentenced by the Lithuanians to be burnt; he also forcibly expressed his displeasure when corpses were wantonly mutilated on the battlefield. If he planned an attack into the knights' country he used to announce his intention to their commanders, and he naturally expected similar chivalrous treatment from the Order. When Covno was suddenly attacked by the knights in 1362, he lodged a protest against such conduct before the far-famed Grand Master Winrich von Kniprode (1351-1382). On one occasion, being made prisoner and brought to Marienburg, he was recognised and secretly liberated by Alf, the servant assigned to him, a Lithuanian by birth. Kejstut was almost beloved by the Order on account of his chivalrous spirit. Once when after the unsuccessful siege of a castle he was compelled to cross a river and was nearly drowned, the marshal Henning Schindekopf drew him out of the water and refused to make him prisoner.

For forty years Kejstut unweariedly defended Lithuania, by the people of which he was extolled as their first national hero. The Order was not able to make any conquests there in his time. In spite of his support of paganism, Christianity itself continued to make greater and greater progress in Kejstut's dominions, although there were naturally many martyrs. Roman Catholicism alone could strike no root there. Both the Dominican and Franciscan monasteries which had existed in Wilna under Gedymin were suspended under Olgerd. When, then, they were revived by the Boyar Gastold, who went over to Catholicism to please his wife, a band of pagans attacked Gastold's house and killed seven monks; the others were crucified and thrown into the river.

Lithuania in its victorious career was bound sooner or later to come into contact with Moscow and the Tartars; both, indeed, aimed at the same goal,-the union of Russia in their hands. If Olgerd beat the Tartars, his success could only find a joyful response in the hearts of the Russians. It was therefore easy for him to subjugate one Russian district after another. There was no fundamental distinction between Russia and Lithuania under Olgerd's régime. Only in Moscow existed any dangerous rival to the Lithuanian princes. Olgerd was able to postpone the decisive blow. He died, however, in 1377.

After Olgerd, Kejstut, as the senior of the family, ought to have mounted the grand ducal throne; but in accordance with a wish of his brother he renounced his claim in favour of Jagiello (Jagajlo, Jagal, Jagello). The latter was of a different disposition from his father, Olgerd. He dragged on a dull existence without any lofty aspirations. He was most dissatisfied that his uncle, by sharing in the councils at Wilna, influenced the conduct of affairs, and occasionally took liberties, as was natural in an old hero dealing with an inexperienced nephew who was indebted to him for the grand ducal throne. Contrary to precedent, Jagiello first allied himself with the Tartars, nominally in order to confront Moscow with their help. He then, by an equally gross breach with the traditions of his house, made secret overtures to the Teutonic Order. He was assisted in this by one of his crown councillors named Vojdyllo, whom Kejstut had offended on some occasion. Jagiello did not concern himself. about the repeated attacks of the knights; in fact, he concluded a secret treaty with the Order which was aimed at Kejstut.

Kejstut, greatly annoyed, surprised Wilna, took his nephew prisoner, and discovered the original text of the treaty with the Order. He then mounted the grand ducal throne himself, gave Witebsk and Krevo to Jagiello, and then set him completely at liberty, with no other condition than that he should hang the traitor Vojdyllo. Then a second relation, Demeter Korybut, rose against Kejstut. Jagiello brought up his forces, nominally to the aid of Kejstut, but led them against Wilna and took it. The knights of the Order, who were allied with Jagiello, soon advanced. Troki, Kejstut's residence, was taken and sacked. Kejstut quickly collected forces to save his castles. Jagiello then implored Kejstut's son Witold, a friend of his, to intervene, since he did not wish to shed blood. Kejstut and Witold went, on the guarantee of a third person, into the camp of Jagiello, and were then thrown into chains. Cast into a gloomy dungeon at Krewo, Kejstut was found strangled there on the fifth day (1382). His body was burnt according to pagan rites (cf. above, p. 495). Old Lithuania was set ablaze by his murder; the everlasting fire which burnt before the altar of Perkunas (p. 439) was extinguished.

Witold, who had made good his escape, went to Masovia and thence to the territory of the Order. Baptised according to Catholic rites, he took the name of his sponsor, Wigand, commander of Ragnit (Ragnita), 1383. The Order, to which Witold-Wigand promised to cede Saimaiten (north of the river Memel) in the event of his having no issue, welcomed the new ally. But in the latter the old, and therefore more intense, hatred for the Teutonic knights quickly overpowered his momentary thirst for vengeance. He had barely concluded the treaty with the Order when he sought and obtained a reconciliation with Jagiello. The most salient feature of Witold's character was a pronounced sympathy with Lithuania. If he could reach the desired goal by the straight road, he did not on occasion hesitate at dubious methods.

7. POLAND FROM THE END OF THE FOURTEENTH TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

A. THE UNION OF LITHUANIA WITH POLAND

WHEN King Lewis I of Hungary and Poland (p. 384) died at Tyrnau, on September 11, 1382, according to the tenor of the treaty of Kashau, concluded in 1374 (p. 488), one of his daughters was to obtain the Polish crown. He had three daughters, Catherine, Maria, and Hedwig. Catherine was intended for Poland, Maria was wedded to Sigismund (Siegmund), margrave of Brandenburg, and Hedwig betrothed to Duke William of Austria. Since Catherine had predeceased her father, the Polish crown was intended for Maria. But this proposal was hardly acceptable to Poland. Since Poland had been greatly neglected by Lewis, it only wished to acknowledge that one of his daughters who would pledge herself to reside with her husband in Poland. Sigismund, the prospective king of Hungary, could not possibly consent to such an arrangement. Casimir the Great had wished first to strengthen his country economically, in order to be able to show a bolder front against the Teutonic Order, the most dangerous of Poland's foes, since it was supported by all Western Europe; with this object he had concluded a series of treaties with his neighbours. When he concluded the succession treaty with his nephew Lewis of Hungary, the latter had to give a pledge that he would reconquer the lost provinces of Poland with his own forces. From whom? Obviously only from the Order. But Lewis had procrastinated; the Polish atmosphere did not please him. The Order thus increased, and with it the German element. As a result of this, the national feeling and the hatred of the Germans grew so strong, both in Poland and Lithuania, that any other candidate would have been more acceptable to the Poles and Lithuanians than the margrave of Brandenburg. The Polish statesmen were aware that if Sigismund obtained the crown of Poland this would involve the loss of its independence. When, even in the lifetime of his father-in-law, he had come to Poland at the head of a small army in order to receive homage, his entry into Cracow was barred; only the towns, where the German element predominated, received him cordially. Sigismund was compelled, therefore, to leave Poland without having achieved his purpose. And so the matter rested, since he could not obtain any frm footing at first even in Hungary (p. 384).

The Polish throne was thus once more regarded as vacant. Prince Ziemko of Masovia soon came forward, supported by a large party and the archbishop Bodzanta of Gnesen, who actually proclaimed him king, when the envoys of the queen mother Elizabeth († 1387) appeared, with the declaration that Hedwig (born 1369), who was destined for the Polish throne, would soon come to Cracow for coronation. But after vainly waiting a long time for Hedwig, the Poles began to lose patience. The matter was not so simple. In the first place, the queen widow was herself in danger. Next, Hedwig, although just thirteen years old, was betrothed to William, whom the Poles could never accept, nor would he consent to give up Hedwig. Only after a declaration that the claims of Hedwig on the Polish crown would be regarded as waived if she did not appear within two months in Poland, did Elizabeth resolve to send her daughter to Poland. Hedwig,

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a child of barely fifteen years, came to Cracow at the beginning of October, 1384, accompanied by the archbishop of Gran and the bishop of Csanad, and was crowned on October 15. The first important step taken by the Polish statesmen had succeeded. The question now remained, to find a suitable husband for the young queen.

(a) Vladislav II Jagiello.- National and religious considerations led the Poles to Lithuania. Poland as well as Lithuania fought against the Teutonic Order as their common and deadly enemy. Only by combined efforts could they hope to crush it. At the same time the thought of a union was not new. Vladislav Lokietok, when pressed hard by the Knights, had married his son Casimir to Aldona, a daughter of Gedymin (p. 485). The idea then still prevailed that even single-handed they were a match for the Germans. But Lithuania was now torn by party feuds. New and stronger German castles arose on its soil and gripped it with iron arms. Another circumstance also favoured the rapprochement. Lithuania had been zealously addicted to paganism, but the number of the Christians now increased continually. Kejstut, the last pagan on the throne, was now dead. Lithuania was thus, from political and religious reasons, ripe for a union with Poland, and it is easy for two nations to form a sincere alliance when a great danger threatens both.

But since the pros

We do not know from which side the suggestion came. pect of missionary work on a large scale in Lithuania and the whole East was thus opened up to the Catholic Church of Poland, and since Kmita, the provincial of the Franciscan Order, was a trusted friend of Jagiello, we may suppose thatapart from the nobility of Little Poland, who turned the scale and zealously advocated the union of the two states the Franciscans chiefly prepared the ground in Lithuania. The view that paganism could nowhere be tolerated was then very strong in Europe; the Order owed to it the friendship of Western Europe. But if this pretext, which furnished its chief source of strength in the struggle against Lithuania, were to be cut away, Lithuania must inevitably accept Christianity. Then only could the power of the Roman Church, which was still the decisive force in Europe, be made useful. The fact that Jagiello with his whole people resolved to accept Christianity shows that, in spite of his low moral character, he was a far-sighted statesman.

In the early days of the year 1385 a Lithuanian embassy to Cracow formally asked Hedwig's hand for their prince Jagiello. No decision could be made without consulting Hedwig's mother; and messengers were therefore sent to Elizabeth. The dislike felt by the Magyars for Sigismund and William caused a decision in favour of Jagiello. It was certainly withdrawn again, and William himself appeared in Cracow, where romantic love passages took place between him and the young queen. But any opposition was wrecked on the firmness of the Polish grandees. On February 12, 1386, Jagiello made his entry into Cracow after he had accepted all the conditions proposed. He promised to throw himself into the bosom of the Catholic Church with all his still unbaptised brothers and relations, all the nobles, and all the inhabitants of his country, rich or poor, and to devote his treasures to the use of both kingdoms. Further, he promised to pay Duke William of Austria the forfeit of two hundred thousand guldens, which was entailed by the repudiation of the marriage contract, to make good at his own

cost all the encroachments and curtailments to which the Polish Empire had been subjected, to release all Polish prisoners of either sex, and to unite for ever his Lithuanian and Russian dominions with the Polish crown. Everything now depended on Hedwig. It was plainly put to her that she would not only serve her own country, but would perform a meritorious action in the sight of God, if a whole region was won for Christianity through her instrumentality. Besides this, the news from Hungary must have forced Hedwig to come to a determination, where the royal power was grievously imperilled, and her mother's life in danger. On February 15 Jagiello was baptised, together with those of his. brothers and kinsmen who were present. The office of sponsor, which had been declined by the Grand Master Conrad of Rotenstein (1382-1390), fell to Vladislav of Oppeln; whence Jagiello received in baptism the name of Vladislav (II). Then followed the marriage and the coronation (March 4, 1386). After that, Wigand the king's brother married the daughter of Vladislav of Oppeln, Prince Janusz of Ratibor married Helene, niece of the king, and Prince Ziemko of Masovia the king's sister, Alexandra. Vladislav II Jagiello of Lithuania was not at first hereditary monarch of Poland, but merely prince consort and regent of the empire.

There is no more important event in the history of the Polish people, with the exception of the conversion to Christianity, than the union of Lithuania with Poland, which was completed in the year 1386. It gave a quite different aspect to the Eastern question, and completely changed the course of history. Poland, itself too small to play any part in the midst of powerful neighbours, had first leant upon Hungary. But that policy had not proved to their advantage; the Fins, who then stood on a higher plane of culture, had treated Poland as a province. Besides that, Polish interests, especially as against the Order, had been neglected. Poland and Lithuania had now hardly anything more to fear from the Teutonic Knights. Indeed, the Order, when dealing with a Christianised Lithuania, lost its raison d'être. Soon not merely the Emperor, but the Pope, declared publicly the Order had now fulfilled its task. Later Popes forbade the expeditions among the heathen and any injury to Lithuania. A century had hardly elapsed after the baptism of Jagiello when the plan came up that the Knights should be transplanted to Podolia, and be employed in the war against the Turks and Tartars. Besides this, the position of Poland in the new treaty with Lithuania was far more favourable than had been the case in the treaty with Hungary. Poland now stood higher in every respect than Lithuania. Further, Jagiello, a thoroughly selfish character, had, in return for the crown of Poland, formally given up his country to the Poles. Poland was the recipient, Lithuania the donor, if we disregard the free constitution, the new religion, and the culture which the Poles had to give to the Lithuanians. Henceforward the will of the Polish king was all important in Lithuania, or rather, since he himself was of little consequence, the will of the Polish slachta and the Catholic priesthood. Lithuania, three times as large as Poland, sank into an appanage of the Polish crown. Hitherto there had been in Eastern Europe three political centres, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia, not to speak of the Tartars, but now the largest of them, Lithuania, suddenly ceased to exist. Henceforward only Poland and Russia confronted each other, and the time. was approaching when the question would be decided which of the two was to dominate Eastern Europe.