Marcin Kromer, was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he was a personal secretary to two Kings of Poland, Sigismund II Augustus and Sigismund I of Poland, of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, during which time span?
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Marcin Kromer Marcin Kromer (Latin: "Martinus Cromerus"; 11 November 1512 – 23 March 1589) was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was a personal secretary to two Kings of Poland, Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus.
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Sigismund I the Old Sigismund I of Poland (Polish: "Zygmunt I Stary" , Lithuanian: "Žygimantas I Senasis" ; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548), of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548. Earlier, Sigismund had been invested as Duke of Silesia. A successful monarch and a great patron of arts, he established Polish suzerainty over Ducal Prussia (East Prussia) and incorporated the duchy of Mazovia into the Polish state, securing the nation's wealth, culture and power.
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Frederick Augustus I of Saxony Frederick Augustus I (full name: "Frederick Augustus Joseph Maria Anthony John Nepomuk Aloysius Xavier"; German: "Friedrich August Josef Maria Anton Johann Nepomuk Alois Xavier" ; Polish: "Fryderyk August Józef Maria Antoni Jan Nepomucen Alojzy Ksawery Wettyn" ; 23 December 1750 – 5 May 1827) was King of Saxony (1805–1827) from the House of Wettin. He was also Elector Frederick Augustus III ("Friedrich August III.") of Saxony (1763–1806) and Duke Frederick Augustus I (Polish: "Fryderyk August I" ) of Warsaw (1807–1813).
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Casimir I of Warsaw Casimir I of Warsaw (pl: "Kazimierz I warszawski"; 1329/31 – 26 November/5 December 1355), was a Polish prince member of the House of Piast, Duke of Czersk during 1341-1349 jointly with his brother, since 1345 ruler over Rawa Mazowiecka jointly with his brother, since 1349 sole ruler over Warsaw, since 1351 sole ruler over Sochaczew, Polish vassal since 1351.
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Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila, or Władysław II Jagiełło (ca.1351/1361–1434), was a Grand Duke of Lithuania and from 1386 Queen Jadwiga's husband and "jure uxoris" King of Poland. In Lithuania, he held the title "Didysis Kunigaikštis", translated as Grand Duke or Grand Prince ("kunigaikštis" is a cognate of "König" and "king", and "didysis" magnifies it).
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Janusz Radziwiłł (1579–1620) Janusz Radziwiłł (Lithuanian: "Jonušas Radvila" ),(Belarusian: Януш Радзівіл ) (2 July 1579 – 3 December 1620) was a noble and magnate of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was the deputy cup-bearer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania since 1599, the castellan of Vilnius since 1619, and the starost of Borysów. Radziwiłł also held the title of "Reichsfürst" (Imperial Prince) of the Holy Roman Empire.
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Polish–Swedish War (1617–18) The Polish–Swedish War (1617–18) was a phase of the longer Polish–Swedish War of 1600 to 1629. It continued the war of 1600–11 and was an attempt by Sweden to take Polish pressure off Russia. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was then also fighting Tartars and (on the southern front) the Ottoman Empire. Russia and Sweden were at that stage allied, prior to the Ingrian War, part of the Polish–Muscovite Wars. The 1617–18 war's cause was a dispute over Livonia and Estonia, and a dispute between Sigismund III Vasa and Gustavus Adolphus over the Swedish throne.
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Duchy of Livonia The Duchy of Livonia (Polish: "Księstwo Inflanckie" ; Lithuanian: "Livonijos kunigaikštystė" ; Latin: "Ducatus Ultradunensis" ; Estonian: "Üleväina-Liivimaa hertsogkond" ; Latvian: "Pārdaugavas hercogiste" ; also referred to as Polish Livonia or Inflanty) was a territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania—and later the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth—that existed from 1561 to 1621. It corresponds to the present-day areas of northern Latvia and southern Estonia.
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Jan Jacek Ogiński Prince Jan Jacek Ogiński (Lithuanian: "Jonas Jackus Oginskis" ) (1619 - 24 February 1684, Krakow) was a nobleman, commander and statesman of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was also known as Jan Samuelewicz Ogiński. He served as hetman of Lithuania from 1683 to 1684, an office also later held by the youngest of Jan's four sons, Grzegorz Antoni Ogiński.
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Jakub Kobylański Jakub Kobylański (or Jakub of Kobylany) (born ? - died 20 May 1454) was a Polish knight, and a court marshal to the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas (Witold) between 1425 and 1430. He also served as the castellan of Biecz from 1444, and of Gniezno from 1453 until his death. He was also the Royal "Krajczy" ("Court Carver") to King of Poland Casimir IV Jagiellon, beginning in 1450.
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Sophia of Halshany Sophia of Halshany or Sonka Olshanskaya (Belarusian: Соф'я Гальшанская, "Sofja Halšanskaja" ; Lithuanian: "Sofija Alšėniškė" ; Polish: "Zofia Holszańska" ;  1405 – September 21, 1461 in Kraków) was a Grand Duchy of Lithuania princess of Halshany. As the fourth and last wife of Jogaila, King of Poland and Supreme Duke of Lithuania, she was Queen consort of Poland (1422–1434). As the mother of Władysław III, King of Poland and Hungary, and Casimir IV, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, she was the founder of the Jagiellon dynasty.
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Stanisław Poniatowski (1676–1762) Stanisław Poniatowski (15 September 1676 29 August 1762) was a Polish military commander, diplomat, and noble. Throughout his career, Poniatowski served in various military offices, and was a general in both the Swedish and Polish-Lithuanian militaries. He also held numerous civil positions, including those of "podstoli" of Lithuania and Grand Treasurer of the Lithuanian army in 1722, voivode of the Masovian Voivodeship in 1731, regimentarz of the Crown Army in 1728, and castellan of Kraków in 1752. Throughout his lifetime, he served in many "starost" positions.
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Casimir of Koźle Casimir of Koźle (Polish: Kazimierz kozielski ; ca. 1312 – by 2 March 1347) was a Duke of Koźle from 1336 until his death.
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Vladislaus II of Opole Vladislaus II of Opole (Polish: "Władysław Opolczyk" , German: "Wladislaus von Oppeln" , Hungarian: "Oppelni László" , Ukrainian: Владислав Опольчик ) (ca. 1332 – 18 May 1401) was a Duke of Opole from 1356 (as a Bohemian vassal), Count palatine of Hungary during 1367–1372, ruler over Lubliniec since 1368, Duke of Wieluń during 1370–1392, ruler over Bolesławiec from 1370 (only for his life), Governor of Galicia–Volhynia during 1372–1378, ruler over Pszczyna during 1375–1396, Count palatine of Poland in 1378, Duke of Dobrzyń and Kujawy during 1378–1392 (as a Polish vassal), ruler over Głogówek from 1383 and ruler over Krnov during 1385–1392.
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Union of Krewo In a strict sense, the Union of Krewo or Act of Krėva (also Union of Krevo, Act of Kreva) was a set of prenuptial promises made in the Kreva Castle on 14 August 1385 by Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, in exchange for marriage to the underage reigning Queen Jadwiga of Poland. The act was very limited in scope and in the historiography the term "Union of Krewo" often refers not only to the particular document but to the events of 1385–1386 as a whole. After the negotiations in 1385, Jogaila converted to Christianity, married Jadwiga, and was crowned King of Poland in 1386. The union was a decisive moment in the histories of Poland and Lithuania; it marked a beginning of the four centuries of shared history between the two nations. By 1569 the Polish–Lithuanian union grew into a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and lasted until the Third Partition in 1795.
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Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, ) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German "sigu" "victory" + "munt" "hand, protection". Tacitus Latinises it "Segimundus". There appears to be an older form of the High German word "Sieg" (victory): "sigis", obviously Gothic and an inferred Germanic form, and there is a younger form: "sigi", which is Old Saxon or Old High German "sigu" (both from about 9th century). A 5th century Prince of Burgundy was known both as "Sigismund" and "Sigimund" (see Ernst Förstemann, "Altdeutsche Personennamen", 1906; Henning Kaufmann, "Altdeutsche Personennamen", Ergänzungsband,1968).
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Michael Žygimantaitis Michael Žygimantaitis (Lithuanian: "Mykolas Žygimantaitis" , Polish: "Michał Bolesław Zygmuntowicz" ; before 1406 – shortly before February 10, 1452 in Moscow) was the last male descendant of Kęstutis, Grand Duke of Lithuania. He supported his father Sigismund Kęstutaitis in power struggles with Švitrigaila. In 1435 he led his father's army to victory in the Battle of Pabaiskas. After his father's assassination in 1440, Michael unsuccessfully fought against Casimir IV Jagiellon for the title of the Grand Duke of Lithuania. At first Michael was supported by Samogitia, but in 1441 Casimir issued a privilege confirming Samogitia's semi-autonomous status and thus avoiding a civil war. Until 1447 he was supported by Dukes of Masovia. In 1448 Michael asked help from the Crimean Khanate. With their help he attacked and shortly took control of Kiev, Starodub, Novhorod-Siversky. Soon he was captured and transported to the Grand Duchy of Moscow where he died under unclear circumstances (possibly poisoned). He was buried in Vilnius Cathedral.
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Treaty of Vilnius (1559) The Treaty of Vilnius or Vilna was concluded on 31 August 1559, during the Livonian War, between the Livonian Order and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at Vilnius (Vilna, Wilna, Wilno). Gotthard von Kettler put the lands of the order under protection of Polish king and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Sigismund II Augustus. The alliance was intended to neutralize the imminent threat of annexation of the order's lands by Russia, yet despite earning military support from Polish-Lithuanian chancellor Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł, Kettler was unable to prevent the occupation of most of Livonia by Russian forces. Thus, Kettler concluded a second treaty with Poland-Lithuania on 28 November 1561, transferring the remnants of the Teutonic Order State to the Polish Crown and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, himself becoming a vassal of Sigismund II Augustus.
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List of early Lithuanian dukes Early dukes of Lithuania (including Samogitia) reigned before Lithuanians were unified by Mindaugas into a state, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. While the Palemonids legend provides genealogy from the 10th century, only few dukes were mentioned by contemporary historical sources. All of them were mentioned in written sources the 13th century. Data about them is extremely scarce and is usually limited to few brief sentences. The primary sources are the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia and Hypatian Codex.
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Duchy of Trakai Duchy of Trakai was a subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the 14th and early 15th centuries. The Duke of Trakai was an important position held either by the Grand Duke of Lithuania himself or his second-in-command.
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Jewna Jewna (Belarusian: Еўна , Lithuanian: "Jaunė" , literally, "young woman" in Lithuanian; died ca. 1344) was daughter of Prince Ivan of Polatsk and wife of Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania (1316–1341). She is mentioned in written sources only once – the "Bychowiec Chronicle", a late and unreliable source. Therefore, some historians cast a serious doubt on her existence, but modern reference works still widely cite her as the ancestress of the Gediminids dynasty.
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Urszula Meyerin Urszula Meyerin also Meierin (1570–1635) was a politically influential Polish courtier and mistress to King Sigismund III of Poland. Her real name might have been "Gienger" (or Gienger von Grünbüchl), but it is still a matter of dispute among historians; she signed all her letters as "Ursula Meyerin". In German, her last name means "chamberlain, administrator, manager".