Under the
reign of Jadwiga (Hedwig), 1383-1399, and her husband Jagiello, the Catholic
faith became more firmly entrenched in Poland. Catholicism was adopted by Lithuania,
thereby creating a religious union between the two countries in 1386. The contribution
of Jadwiga to this process was so outstanding that she was proposed for canonization
during the 15th century.
Poland passed through all of the major movements of European civilization: the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Catholic Reformation, the Enlightenment.
There were many wars and internal struggles during the times of Ladislaus Jagiello, 1386-1434, Ladislaus of Varna, 1434-1444, and Casimir (The Jagiellonian), 1447-1492, John Olbracht 1492-1501, and Alexander, 1501-1506. Sigismund I (The Old), 1506-1546, devoted himself to maintaining peace and his son, Sigismund II Augustus, 1548-1572, proposed the beginning of a Polish Navy and politically united Poland and Lithuania in Lublin in 1569. After Sigismund’s death, the Confederation of Warsaw guaranteed religious tolerance to all the churches and religions of the Reformation, including the antiTrinitarians.
The next king, Henry of Valois, 1573-1574, solidified Poland’s relationship with France. Following him was Stephen Batory, 1576-1586, from Transylvania. He won land from Lithuania for Poland, repelled invasions from Moscow, and worked for a strong internal policy to secure the future of Poland.
Under Sigismund III Waza, 1587-1632, there was war with Sweden. The capitol of Poland was moved from Krakow to Warsaw. Ladislaus IV Waza, 1632-1648, encouraged widespread religious tolerance.
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