Union of Krewo

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Document sign in Kreva on August 14, 1385

Poland and Lithuania in 1387

The Union of Krewo^[1], also known as Krėva Act^[2] (other names Union of Krevo, Act of Kreva) was a set of promises of Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania for marriage between him and the underage reigning Queen Jadwiga of Poland. Through this marriage a personal or dynastic union between Poland and Lithuania was created. The document was signed in the town of Kreva on August 14, 1385, and provided for the following:

the marriage proposal. Marriage was arranged between Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila and Jadwiga of Poland
the conversion of pagan Jogaila, Lithuanian nobles and all pagan Lithuanians to Roman Catholicism
paying two hundred thousand florins to William, Duke of Austria. Money were paid as a compensation for the dissolution of engagement agreement between Jadwiga of Poland and William.
the return of the lost Polish lands by means of Jogaila
the release of all Christian war prisoners held by the Lithuanians
applicare ^[3] lands of Lithuania and Ruthenia to the Crown of Poland

Parties in the act's negotiations were Jogaila and four of his close kinsmen on one part, and underage Jadwiga's mother the Dowager Queen Elisabeth, Regent of Hungary and some Polish representatives on the other. The act appears as Jogaila's promises given to bridal family for conditions of marriage, and no commitment from the bride's party seems to have been signed.

The result was the coronation of Jogaila as King of Poland, jure uxoris the next year and his baptism. Jogaila's new baptismal name Wladislaus was chosen in honor of Jadwiga's great-grandfather king Władysław I the Elbow-high, the penultimate Piast to occupy the royal throne of Poland and the unifier of the fragmented country. The regnal number "II" for the new king is a later invention, as is his Lithuanian name's polonized version "Jagiełło". Any contemporaneous double use of both names Wladyslaw and Jagiello (or their toponyms) together is dubious. Today the Polish refer to him as Władysław II Jagiełło.

For some time, the Polish nobility had been dissatisfied with their dynastic connections with Hungary, and given shared interests such as opposition to the Teutonic Knights and the growing threat of Muscovy, leaders of both states felt a union between them would allow for greater strength in the face of external threats.

While Władysław II Jagiełło and Jadwiga ruled over both Poland and Lithuania, real power in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania came to rest with his cousin, Vytautas the Great, who followed a generally independent policy there. Upon the death of Queen Jadwiga in 1399, Władysław II Jagiełło was left as sole ruler of Poland and the first of the Jagiellonian kings. His command over joint Polish-Lithuanian forces was crucial to the defeat of the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.

Only the Union of Lublin (1569) created permanent union between Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, after which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was established. Finally, the Constitution of May 3, 1791 declared that both states were one. Soon, they were separated in form, but most of the 19th century they spent under Russia, although administratively separate. In early 20th century, both established their independence and since then, they have not been together in any formal sense.

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In-line:

^ The document was discovered in 1837 and since then the Polish historiographic tradition calls it "Union of Krewo". The castle where the original document was signed was on a territory of Jogaila's Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The original Latin version of document used the name of "Krew" (which indicates that the vowel in the end of the name, if even existed at the time, may have been almost silent; and in any case, we know that the last consonant was and is pronounced v). 16 century documents in Ruthenian language, which was used in Grand Duchy of Lithuania chancellery, used the name of "Крево" - Krevo, the end vowel tending to be pronounced more as "a". Lithuanian name of the place is "Krėva". Currently it is a town in Belarus, named Kreva (Крэва).
^ There is no basis for calling this document an interstate treaty. On the invitation of the political elite of the Kingdom of Poland, Grand Duke Jogaila of Lithuania married Jadwiga and having safeguarded his patrimonial right to rule the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he was crowned King of Poland.
^ Applicare is a Latin word which could be translated as following: to join, fix, attach to or to adjust.

General:

Subtelny, Orest (1988). Ukraine: A History. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-5808-6.
1385 m. rugpjūčio 14 d. Krėvos aktas" (The Krėva Act of August 14, 1385), Vilnius: Žara, 2002, ISBN 9986-34-080-2