Everyone knows that a female sovereign is recognized as a “queen”; nevertheless, there are five particular cases in history that see young girls assume the masculine title of “king”. Today we will tell you the case of Hedwig of Anjou (also known as Jadwiga), daughter of Louis I the Great and king of Poland, from October 16, 1384.
The title of “king” is not the only abnormality of Jadwiga’s royal career: she was the youngest of the daughters of Louis I of Hungary. In fact, the fate of the kingdoms of Hungary and Poland should have fallen into the hands of her eldest daughter, Catherine, but died first of the disappearance of the father. Thus the second designated was Maria, who had decided to marry Sigismund, future emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and king of Hungary. At the time, Poland had decided to emancipate themselves from the Hungarian crownso the vulgar refused to accept spouses.
Hedwig was the only daughter of Louis I who managed to obtain the crown at the age of 10. Polish law, from the end of the 14th century, provided for the existence of a king, a presence respected until then with the sovereign of Hungary. Instead of changing the law, the government decided to naming the young monarch “king”also to underline that she was not just a queen consort.
The only question to resolve, after the coronation, is which man could support Jadwiga for the rest of her life. Hedwig during the 80s of the XIV century already had an affair with William of Austria, son of Leopold III and Viridis Visconti, but the couple was never able to sign the union, due to the puppeteering nobility. Instead, it was chosen Ladislaus II Jagiellon, king of Lithuania. Hedwig, for the good of her nation, was forced to declare her engagement to William null and void.
Despite the acquisition of the title of “king” of Poland by Ladislaus, Hedwig gave the male office until the end of his reignin July 17, 1399. Just like Queen Olga, Jadwiga was canonized as a saint.
