Książę słupski Kazimierz IV (Kaźko) jako luksemburski kandydat do tronu polskiego
Duke Casimir IV (Kaźko) as Luxembourg’s Candidate for the Polish Throne

Summary/Abstract: Casimir IV – Kaźko (ca. 1351–1377), Duke of Słupsk and Dobrzyń, Lord of Bydgoszcz, has piqued the historians’ interest mostly due to the fact that he was the only maternal grandson of the Polish King Casimir III the Great (1310–1370). Recognised by his grandfather, for a brief moment he was a legitimate candidate for the Polish throne. The Pomeranian duke played a role in Casimir III the Great’s anti-Teutonic policy (his marriage with the daughter of the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Algidras) and in his succession negotiations with his nephew – King of Hungary, Louis the Great. Kaźko’s significance in international dynastic politics has greatly increased with the marriage between the German Emperor and King of Bohemia Charles IV and Kaźko’s elder sister, Elisabeth (1363). As the emperor’s brother-in-law, he became an important, although passive, element in the succession plans designed by Charles IV and the Polish supporters of the Luxembourg dynasty – a faction of legitimists, opposed to the prospect of the Polish Crown falling in the hands of the Hungarian Angevins. The Hungarian king’s retaliation, which ended in breaking the stipulations of Casimir III the Great’s testament, resulted in Louis claiming the Polish Crown. In the emperor’s eyes, Kaźko has lost his political value and became an exemplary vassal of the King of Poland and Hungary, Louis the Great. While fighting in the king’s service, Kaźko was severely wounded and died shortly after (January 2, 1377).

• Details
• Contents