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Union of Krewo

In a strict sense, theUnion of KrewoorAct of Krėva(also spelledUnion of Krevo,Act of Kreva;Polish:unia w Krewie;Lithuanian:Krėvos sutartis) comprised a set ofprenuptialpromises made atKreva Castleon 14 August 1385 byJogaila,Grand Duke of Lithuania,in regard to his prospective marriage to the underage reigning QueenJadwiga of Poland.

Document, signed inKrevaon 14 August 1385

Though very limited in scope, the "Union of Krewo", in historiography, often refers not only to the particular document but to events of 1385–1386 as a whole.[1]After the 1385 negotiations, Jogaila converted toChristianity,married Jadwiga, and was crownedKing of Polandin 1386.

The union proved a decisive moment in thehistories of PolandandLithuania;it marked the beginning of four centuries of shared history of the two polities. By 1569 thePolish–Lithuanian unionhad developed into a new state, thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,which lasted until theThird Partition of Polandin 1795.

Background

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Situation in Poland

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Poland and Lithuania in 1387

Louis I of Hungarydied on 10 September 1382. Since he had only two surviving daughters,Mary(born ca. 1371) andJadwiga(born ca. 1373), Poland faced a succession crisis. Candidates for the throne included Mary's fiancéSigismund of Luxembourg,Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia,andVladislaus II of Opole.Mary and her fiancé were rejected by the Polish nobles, who did not wish to continue apersonal unionwith theKingdom of Hungary.[2]Polish nobles competed with each other and a brief civil war broke out inGreater Poland.Eventually, after long negotiations with Jadwiga's motherElizabeth of Bosnia,who was regent of Hungary, Jadwiga arrived inKrakówand was crowned asKing of Poland(not asQueen of Poland,to emphasize her rights to the throne) on 15 October 1384. The new monarch still needed a suitable husband. She was betrothed toWilliam of Austria,who in summer 1385 traveled to Poland in an attempt to consummate the proposed marriage and present afait accompli.He succeeded in reachingWawel,but was forcibly removed by Polish nobles. It is unclear whether he succeeded in consummating the marriage, but biased Austrian sources continued to accuse Jadwiga ofbigamy.[3]Nobles fromLesser Poland,includingSpytek of Melsztyn,Jan of Tarnów,and Jan Tęczyński, proposed that Jadwiga marryJogaila,Grand Duke of Lithuania.

Situation in Lithuania

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Grand DukeAlgirdasdied in 1377 and left the throne to his sonJogaila.He inherited a large state, inhabited bypagan LithuaniansandOrthodoxRuthenians.For the last century, Lithuanians defended themselves from theTeutonic Knights,a crusadingmilitary orderdedicated to conversion of the Grand Duchy into Catholicism. Jogaila understood that the conversion was inevitable and searched for the best opportunities. TheTreaty of Dubysaof 1382 with the Knights included provisions of Jogaila's conversion within four years.[4]However, the treaty was never ratified. Accepting Christianity from a long-standing enemy was dangerous, unpopular, and could push Lithuania into dependence of the Knights. In 1384, Jogaila explored another option, presented by theGrand Duchy of Moscowand brokered by his Orthodox motherUliana of Tver:converting to Orthodoxy and marrying Sophia, daughter ofDmitry Donskoy.[5]However, in the eyes of Catholics, Orthodoxy was not any better than paganism. Therefore, such conversion would not protect from the Teutonic attacks. A third option, presented by Polish nobles, avoided major pitfalls of the Teutonic or Muscovite proposals.[6]

Union

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Negotiations

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Monument of Jadwiga and Jogaila inKraków

The relations between Poland and Lithuania were not particularly friendly. The two states were allies before, when Jogaila's auntAldona of Lithuaniawas Queen of Poland between 1325 and 1339.[2]Poland and Lithuania battled each other in the decades-longGalicia–Volhynia Wars,but also saw opportunities to regain lands lost to Hungary and regarded theTeutonic Knightsas the common enemy.[7]It is unknown who and when proposed Jogaila as the groom for Jadwiga. Some hints show that planning and negotiations might have started as early as 1383. For example, Jogaila attackedSiemowit IV, Duke of Masovia,when he advanced his claims for the Polish throne.[8]By the time Lithuanian envoys participated in Jadwiga's coronation in fall 1384, Jogaila's candidacy was widely known.

In mid-1385, Jogaila sent an official delegation to Poland. It included his brotherSkirgaila,Duke Boris (possibly his cousin and son ofKarijotas), and merchantHanul of Riga.[9]Hanul helped Jogaila to recaptureVilniusduring theLithuanian Civil War (1381–1384)and represented interests of merchants, who saw great trade potential between Poland and Lithuania.[3]The representatives first appeared before the Polish nobles inKrakówand then before Queen Elizabeth, Jadwiga's mother, inBuda.A Polish delegation – two Elizabeth's envoys and three Polish nobles – was sent to Lithuania.[3]Upon return of the Lithuanian delegation, Jogaila confirmed in writing all the promises, made on his behalf in Poland. This confirmation is known today as the Union of Krewo.

Content

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The 560-word document is addressed to Queen Elizabeth and the Polish delegation.[1]Jogaila briefly described the mission of the Lithuanian delegation and, in exchange for marriage to Jadwiga, agreed to the following:

It was guaranteed by the seals of Jogaila's brothersSkirgaila,Kaributas,Lengvenisand their cousinVytautas.[1]Because the document contained promises and guarantees only by one party, Lithuanian historianJūratė Kiaupienėconcluded that the union could not have been a final international treaty and that there should have been another document finalizing the agreement.[1]

Aftermath

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Marriage and conversion of Lithuania

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Main article:Christianization of Lithuania

On 11 January 1386 a Polish delegation met Jogaila inVawkavyskand presented him with a pre-election pact, declaring that the Polish nobility agreed to elect him as their new king.[10]The election was concluded on 1 February inLublin.[11]On 12 February Jogaila and his relatives arrived inKrakówand were baptized byBodzanta,Bishop of Gniezno,three days later in theWawel Cathedral.[12]Jogaila's new baptismal name Wladislaus was chosen in honor of Jadwiga's great-grandfather kingWładysław I the Elbow-high,the penultimatePiast.Jogaila married Jadwiga on 18 February and was crownedjure uxorisas King of Poland on 4 March.[10]Due to negative propaganda by William of Austria and the Teutonic Knights, the marriage was not confirmed byPope Urban VI(1378–1389); onlyPope Boniface IX(1389–1404) declared it legitimate.[13]

Right after the marriage and coronation, Jadwiga andVytautasmarched toGaliciawhere they defeated Hungarian forces and secured some 97,000 square kilometres (37,000 sq mi) in westernPodolia.[14]Andrei of Polotsk,Jogaila's eldest brother, used his absence to renew struggle for the throne of Lithuania. Andrei attacked southeast ofPolotsk,theLivonian OrderattackedDuchy of Lithuania,and Sviatoslav ofSmolenskattackedMstsislaw.The rebellion was quickly subdued.

At the end of 1386 Jogaila returned toVilniusto carry out his other promise – to convert the Grand Duchy to Catholicism. He brought some priests, established the first seven parishes, and, according toJan Długosz,even personally translatedLord's PrayerandApostles' Creedinto theLithuanian language.[15]New converts were baptizeden masse,with little teaching, and were awarded wool shirts; the haste was later criticized at theCouncil of Constance.[16]On 17 February 1387 Jogaila decreed that he would buildVilnius Cathedraland petition the pope to establish theDiocese of Vilnius,which he awarded with land possessions inTauragnai,Labanoras,Molėtai.[17]Two other privileges, issues on 20 February and 4 March 1387, awarded nobles who would convert to Christianity with new rights and grantedMagdeburg rightsto Vilnius. This served not only as an incentive for conversion but also equalized nobility rights in Poland and Lithuania.[18]

Polish–Lithuanian union

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Jogaila left his brotherSkirgailaas his regent in Lithuania. He proved to be unpopular and Lithuanian nobility resented growing Polish influence in the state.Vytautasseized the opportunity to renew his struggle for power and theLithuanian Civil War (1389–1392)broke out. This was resolved with theOstrów Agreement– Vytautas became the Grand Duke of Lithuania while Jogaila retained rights of an overlord. Vytautas conducted independent internal and foreign affairs, but cooperated with Jogaila. A celebrated example of the Polish–Lithuanian cooperation was the decisive victory in theBattle of Grunwald(1410) against theTeutonic Knights.Vytautas's independence and Polish–Lithuanian relations were formalized by theUnion of Vilnius and Radom(1401) andUnion of Horodło(1413). Thus the Grand Duchy of Lithuania retained its sovereignty. Only theUnion of Lublin(1569) created a permanent union between Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, after which the federal statePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealthwas established.

Finally, theConstitution of 3 May 1791declared that both states were one, albeit that this was denounced in 20 October amendments (theReciprocal Guarantee of Two Nations). Soon after, they were separated in form, spending most of the 19th century under Russian control but kept administratively separate. In the early 20th century, both states established their independence and since then, they have had no ties with each other in any formal sense.

Historiography

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Up until the discovery of the original document in 1835 in a register in the Archives of the Cracow Cathedral Chapter, the Union of Krewo was unknown. Usually, important state documents were archived at the Crown Archive. It was neither referenced in any contemporary documents nor cited by medieval historians. No chronicles or other written sources mentioned the August 1385 meeting in Kreva.[1]That led the Lithuanian American lawyer Jonas Dainauskas to question the act's authenticity in 1975. However, his claims have gained little scholarly support.[19]

Applicare

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In the 1385 document, the Latin wordapplicare,describing a future relationship between Poland and Lithuania, has caused the most controversy and academic debate. The Latin term does not have a legal definition and possibly was deliberately chosen for its vagueness. The term is subject to wide-ranging interpretations, which can be divided into three major categories of meaning:[20]

  • That Lithuania ceased to exist as a sovereign state and became a province of Poland. This interpretation was championed by the Polish historiansFeliks Koneczny(1862–1949),Anatol Lewicki(1841–1899),Henryk Łowmiański(1898–1984), andLudwik Kolankowski(1882–1956). This view was newly interpreted byOskar Halecki(1891–1973), who argued that Lithuania was incorporated into Poland from 1386 to 1401 and became Poland's fief to 1440.
  • That Lithuania became afiefof Poland. This view was introduced byJan Adamus(1896–1962) in 1932 and supported byHenryk Paszkiewicz(1897–1979) and to an extent by Oskar Halecki. Their main arguments was that such a large state could not suddenly became a province in reality and that the Grand Duchy preserved most elements of sovereignty.
  • That Lithuania and Poland were united by apersonal union.This view was introduced by the Lithuanian historiansAdolfas Šapoka(1906–1961) andZenonas Ivinskis(1908–1971). They argued that Poland and Lithuania were united only by the monarch.

References

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Notes

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  1. ^abcdeKiaupienė 2002
  2. ^abDavies 2005,p. 94
  3. ^abcIvinskis 1978,p. 284
  4. ^Kiaupa, Kiaupienė & Kuncevičius 2000,p. 127
  5. ^Ivinskis 1978,p. 280
  6. ^Ivinskis 1978,p. 281
  7. ^Ivinskis 1978,pp. 282–283
  8. ^Ivinskis 1978,p. 282
  9. ^Ivinskis 1978,p. 283
  10. ^abJučas 2000,p. 114
  11. ^Ivinskis 1978,p. 286
  12. ^Davies 2005,p. 95
  13. ^Jučas 2000,p. 116
  14. ^Jučas 2000,p. 115
  15. ^Ivinskis 1978,p. 288
  16. ^Jučas 2000,pp. 126–127
  17. ^Jučas 2000,p. 120
  18. ^Jučas 2000,p. 122
  19. ^Jučas 2000,p. 110
  20. ^Jučas 2000,pp. 111–114

Bibliography

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  • Davies, Norman(2005),God's Playground.A History of Poland. The Origins to 1795,vol. I (Revised ed.), Oxford University Press,ISBN978-0-19-925339-5
  • Ivinskis, Zenonas(1978),Lietuvos istorija iki Vytauto Didžiojo mirties(in Lithuanian), Rome: Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademija,OCLC5075215
  • Jučas, Mečislovas (2000),Lietuvos ir Lenkijos unija(in Lithuanian), Aidai,ISBN9986-590-95-7
  • Kiaupa, Zigmantas;Kiaupienė, Jūratė; Kuncevičius, Albinas (2000),The History of Lithuania Before 1795,Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History,ISBN9986-810-13-2
  • Kiaupienė, Jūratė(2002),"Summary",1385 m. rugpjūčio 14 d. Krėvos aktas,Vilnius: Žara,ISBN9986-34-080-2,archived fromthe originalon 2007-09-27
  • Subtelny, Orest(1988),Ukraine: A History,Toronto: University of Toronto Press,ISBN0-8020-5808-6
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