Jadwiga, the child-queen, didn't have much time to become well known and powerful; she died prematurely due to complications following the birth of her only daugther, who didn't survive either. Yet, she was worshiped and loved by Polish people for her sincere devotion and deep involvement in the affairs of her adopted, homeland as well as her unprecedented donation of her own crown jewelry for the renovation and modernization of the Kracow University, one of the very first universities in Europe. The Kracow University, former Alma Mater Cracoviensis, became the Jagiellonian University which contributed greatly to educating many of the commonly recognized great scientists throughout the centuries.
Jadwiga was born to Hungarian king Luis in 1373. Her father, being a nephew of the late great Polish king, Casimir the Great, was also the king of Poland. He didn't have any sons so he decreed that his daughters (he had three of them) inherit the thrones in both countries. (According to Polish law boys and girls have the same rights in inheriting). Polish nobles chose Jadwiga to be the Polish queen.
She was barely eleven years old when crowned as a queen. Brought to a foreign country, deprived of her friends and the culture she grew up in, she accepted the role of a monarch with the grace and responsibility of a much more mature person. Probably due to significant pressure put on her, she agreed to marry in 1386, the Lithuanian Great Prince Jagiello, almost 40 years old, forgoing her dream of becoming the wife of her childhood playmate, young prince Wilhelm Habsburg.
This was the price that a little queen paid for uniting two nations, Poland and Lithuania. This marriage was also instrumental in bringing Christianity to Lithuania. This was a major political step, because it protected Lithuania and the neighboring Baltic countries from the attacks of the Teutonic Knights, who were growing in power, and had papal support for their "civilizing attempts".
It was widely known that king Wladyslaw Jagiello loved, cherished and listened to his young wife. She ruled jointly with him, and accompanied him on his diplomatic missions. She exercised her reconciling abilities in resolving existing conflicts and preventing new ones among newly created unionized countries. After her premature death in 1399 she was greatly mourned and today she is recognized as the generous sponsor of the Jagiellonian University, as well as Lithuanian College in Prague and many other religious and scholastic institutions in Poland and Lithuania.
