Jagiellonian Genealogy

Woodcut, 27 cm x 38 cm
Justus Ludovicus Decius, De vetustatibus Polonorum, Liber I. De Jagellonum Familia in: Maciej Miechowita, Chronica Polonorum, Krakow, 1521
University Library Thorn, Sign. Pol.6.III.110

At the turn of the fourteenth century, the Dukes of Lithuania conquered vast regions of the Russian duchies. Their lands stretched from the shores of the Baltic Sea to the steppes of the Black Sea, and from Masovia to the Duchy of Moscow. The area was often attacked by Grand-Duke Algirdas, depicted top left. He is accompanied by his son, Jogaila, who succeeded to the Polish throne in 1386 following his marriage to the Queen of Poland, Hedwig von Anjou. This marriage marked the beginning of the Polish-Lithuanian Union. This two-sided woodcut depicts several generations of the Jagiellon dynasty, as well as related families such as the houses of Habsburg, Wettin, and Hohenzollern.
Anna Ziemlewska