The Seniorate
1138-1320 		Polish-Lithuanian Union






Poland in the 14th Century



A.) Casimir the Great

Wladislav Lokietek (1320-1336), in a long struggle with Bohemia, had reunited Poland. He was succeeded by his son Casimir. In order to resolve the long-standing conflict with Bohemia, he signed the TREATIES OF TRENTSCHIN and of VISEGRAD (1335), renouncing his claim to SILESIA (which, from then on until 1740, would be one of the Bohemian lands). In return, the Przemyslid kings of Bohemia renounced their claim on the Polish crown. In 1343 he signed the TREATY OF KALISCH, accepting the Teutonic Order's sovereignty over POMMERELLEN (occupied by the order since 1309) in return for territorial concessions elsewhere.
Casimir's rule was a time of peace and prosperity for Poland. Under his rule, the cities grew; immigration, especially of Jewish refugees from Germany 1348/9, contributed to the country's development. Utilizing better farming techniques, more land was taken under cultivation. Poland turned into western Europe's main supplier of grain (the BREADBASKET OF EUROPE), a position it would hold until into the 20th century. The port city of DANZIG greatly benefitted from Poland's economic development, as it controlled the mouth of the Vistula, Poland's main artery.
While most of Europe suffered severely from the GREAT PLAGUE of 1348/49 - the average population loss is estimated at one third - Poland was one of the few regions where it's effect was much less severe. A lower population density and a better nutrition of the population - the resources were not strained as much as in western Europe - will have contributed to this phenomenon.
The cultural center of Poland was the city of CRACOW, the country's capital. King Casimir resided in the WAWEL,






EXTERNAL
FILES 		The Origins of Poland, from Library of Congress, Country Studies
Catholic Encyclopedia, articles Poland, Chapter XXIII from A Short History of Austria-Hungary by H. Wickham Steed, 1914, at Historical Text Archive, msstate
DOCUMENTS Map : The Baltic Lands c. 1350-1360, from Freeman's Historical Geography 1903, posted by Perry Castaneda Library, UTexas
REFERENCE Enno Meyer, Grundzüge der Geschichte Polens (Main Features of Polish History), Darmstadt : Wissenschaftliche Buchgemeinschaft 1977


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 11th 2004

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics