The royal wedding in Kraków in 1386 had an enormous impact on the subsequent history of Poles and Lithuanians, as well as Belarusians and Ukrainians, and Czechs and Hungarians. The marriage vows were made to each other by Ladislaus Jagiello from the Gediminas dynasty and Jadwiga from the Hungarian line of the Andegawens, a side branch of the Capetian dynasty ruling in France.

The monument to the royal couple is located in a prominent position, under the walls of the Buda Castle, in the European Park next to the Vienna Gate. Its author is the well-known Lithuanian sculptor Professor Dalia Matulaitė.

The Budapest monument was made of Scandinavian granite. It is impressive for its size and original form inspired by Egyptian and early Gothic art. The figures of Jagiello and Jadwiga sit on stone blocks, modelled on the pharaohs and queens of ancient Egypt. The stones are similar in shape and proportions to those used in the construction of the pyramids. Between the spouses lie the royal insignia. Below, on the front of the block, three coats of arms are engraved: in the centre the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, on the (heraldic) right side - Lithuania, and on the left - Hungary. On the back is a map showing the states ruled by the Jagiellons at the end of the 15th century (Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia and Hungary). Attention is drawn to the Latin inscriptions on the sides of the stone cubicles on which the rulers sit. In translation, they read as follows: Jadwiga / daughter of the king / of Hungary and / of Poland / and / queen of Poland / 1384-1399 / supreme princess / of Lithuania / 1386-1399 and Jogaila / grand duke of Lithuania / 1377-1386 / Wladyslaw Jagiello / king of Poland and / supreme prince / of Lithuania / 1386-1434.

The intention of erecting the monument was to commemorate the Lithuanian-Polish-Hungarian historical ties and the role of the Jagiellonian dynasty in them, emphasising Jadwiga's Hungarian origin. The construction of the monument was initiated by the government of Lithuania, which was presiding over the Council of the European Union at the time. The work was financially supported by the Lithuanian Ambassador to Hungary, Hungarian Maltese Aid and private sponsors. The monument was unveiled on 30 October 2013. The ceremony took place on the occasion of the meeting of the Visegrad Group foreign ministers and the convention of the heads of diplomacy, the Central European Initiative.

Let us therefore recall Jogaila's dizzying road to the Polish throne.

Jogaila's dizzying road to the Polish throne

On 18 February 1386, the Grand Duke of Lithuania and Jadwiga Andegawenska married in Wawel Cathedral. This was part of the procedure to make the Union of Krewa (signed six months earlier, on 14 August 1385) a reality. In this act, Yogaila (remembered in history as Jogaila) announced his pre-nuptial obligations to the Kingdom of Poland. In short: in return for his marriage to Jadwiga (crowned king in 1384), he was to accept baptism and Christianise Lithuania.

Prior to the marriage, Polish lords came to Jogaila with the news that Jadwiga had agreed to become his wife (convention in Volkovysk, 11 January 1386) - in this game, she constituted herself, and was an important, if not the most important, player. Jagiełło was then baptised in Kraków (15 February) with the name Władysław. It was a second Catholic baptism for him, as he had been baptised in an Orthodox church after his birth, on the initiative of his mother (Princess Julianna of Tver). Jogaila cleverly offered the role of godfather to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, but the latter refused. Eventually, Gediminas was crowned king of Poland (4 March).

In other words: Jogaila, having arrived in Kraków (12 February), became a Catholic after three days, the husband of the king of Poland after six, and the king (next to the king) after three weeks. The wedding of Jagiełło and Jadwiga was at the same time an ordinary dynastic treaty, an offensive and defensive alliance like thousands in the history of mankind, and at the same time - following the conclusion of the union in Krewa (1385) - the beginning of a process resulting in the creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a state with a unique political system in modern Europe.

Polish law and nomenclature - two kings in one country

Polish law and custom did not know the concept of a queen as an unmarried sole ruler; it was a title reserved for the king's wife. Therefore, from her coronation until her death (1384-1399) Jadwiga was king of Poland. Jagiello had to marry her first in order to become king iure uxoris (wife's right) in a later, separate ceremony. This is a measure of the determination with which the interested parties - Jagiełło, Jadwiga and the lords of Małopolska and Lithuanian magnates - wanted to realise the union. The coexistence of two kings in one monarchy was risked. Jadwiga continued to perform her royal duties and in this role, among other things, she accepted the fief homage of the Moldavian host Peter I in Lviv (26 September 1387). More! After her marriage, the Lithuanian and Ruthenian ones were added to her titularity. At the time of their marriage, no one could have predicted how relations between the spouses would develop. For the thirteen years of their marriage (1386-1399), however, they were compatible. Although Jagiełło, for want of another term, became "fully king" only with the death of his wife Jadwiga.

The significance of the Krewa union

The Union of Krewa was an unprecedented experiment. It resulted in a personal union, the Lithuanians were baptised from Poland, forging ties with the Latin West, and the Ruthenians (around 90% of the population of the Lithuanian monarchy) de facto became the third main people of the new state organism. It must be remembered, however, that the Latin terms of the time, gens or natio, are not the same as the modern term 'nation'.

The success of the venture was not only the defeat of the Teutonic Knights (although this took place in stages and the end result was unsatisfactory to many, from today's perspective), but also the Jagiellonian rule in Bohemia and Hungary and the emergence of a system of noble democracy.