Elizabeth Bonifacia of Poland

Elizabeth Bonifacia of Poland (Hungarian: Jagelló Erzsébet Bonifácia, Polish: Elżbieta Bonifacja Jagiellonka, Lithuanian: Elžbieta Bonifacija Jogailaitė; 22 June 1399 – 13 July 1399) was heiress presumptive to the thrones of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania as the only child of Queen Hedwig of Poland and King Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiello). Both the mother and the daughter died within a month of Elizabeth's birth.

The Pregnant King

Hedwig was the youngest of three or four daughters of King Louis I of Hungary and his queen consort, Elizabeth of Bosnia. After the death of Catherine, the oldest daughter, the next child in line, Mary was created heiress to the throne of Hungary and Hedwig was created heiress to the throne of Poland. As it was very uncommon to have a queen regnant, Hedwig became King of Poland under the name Jadwiga I. She married Jogaila, Hereditary Grand Duke of Lithuania on 4 March 1386, at the age of twelve or thirteen.^{Note 1} After thirteen years, the "King" Jadwiga became pregnant. On the occasion of the expected birth of the royal couple, Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania sent expensive gifts to the royal court on behalf of himself and his wife, Anna, among which there was a silver cradle.^[1]

Birth and baptism

The first horoscopes written for Jadwiga and Jogaila's child determined its sex as a male in mid-September 1398.^[2] However, a girl was delivered on 22 June 1399, at 22:35 pm local time,^[3] at the Wawel Castle. The press of the time stated that the girl was born prematurely, an epitaph of the queen stating Tempus erat nondum maturae prolis ab Alvo, / Cum Venita Matris regia suae nata.^[4] The horoscope, however, states that the child was actually born a bit late.^[5] Her birth also secured the succession to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, to which Elizabeth was heiress presumptive to all her life.

The young Princess received the names of Elizabeth in honour of Jadwiga's mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia, and Bonifacia in honour of Pope Boniface IX, who agreed to be the godfather of the child in a letter dated to 5 May 1399 under the condition that the child would be called Boniface or Bonifacia. She was baptised as a Roman Catholic by Piotr Wysz Radoliński, Bishop of Kraków.^[6]

Death and burial

Elizabeth died at exactly three weeks old, on 13 July 1399. Her mother, Queen Jadwiga, died four days later, which could indicate an inflammation or infection. Jadwiga's will clearly stated that Elizabeth would be buried with her. The joint funeral took place on 19 July 1399 at the Wawel Cathedral.^[7]

On 12 July 1949, 550 years after the deaths of Elizabeth and Jadwiga, their tomb was opened. Nothing remained of the child's soft cartilage after that much time.^[8] After the respective deaths of his daughter and wife, Jogaila became King of Poland in full rights and remarried three times with a total of four other children.

Ancestors

Jogaila's family tree