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Vladislaus II Jagiellonian and his son Ludwig

Personalities, Prague

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Vladislav II Jagiellonian had two children: son Ludwig II and daughter Ona. They grew up in the royal palace in Vienna. Ludwig was anointed King of Hungary and Czechia in 1508 and 1509, respectively, while his father was still living. When his father died in 1516, he inherited both kingdoms, which were under the patronage of Emperor Maximilian I of the Holy Roman Empire and Lithuanian monarch Sigismund the Elder but were ruled by the nobles. In 1521, he was declared a legitimate emperor and attempted to govern himself.

In 1515, the legendary Congress of Vienna was convened, which ended in a double marriage between the Habsburgs and the Jagiellonian. Ferdinand I Habsburg married Ona Jagiellonian in 1521, and the great-grandson of Jogaila, Ludwig II, married Maria Habsburg, Emperor Maximilian's granddaughter, in 1522. Historians frequently see this as a form of Habsburg trickery. However, it was a marriage of equals. No one realized at the time that the Jagiellonian dynasty would expire, and the Habsburg line would be so expanded.

In 1526, Ludwig II Jagiello, with an army half the size of the enemy in Mohács (on the Danube), stood in the way of the invasion of Hungary by the Turks. He lost the Battle of Mohács and retreated. It is said that Ludwig, only 20 years old, was thrown off his horse and drowned in the river. At the site of the battle, based on archaeological research, a monument marks where the bodies of the soldiers were found. Some rulers were knight-kings who took part in battles and even sacrificed their lives. After the death of Ludwig, the Habsburgs took over the thrones of Hungary and Czechia.

The Jagiellonian dynasty of Central Europe was mostly known for its patronage. The representative hall of Prague Castle, built during his reign, is still named after Vladislav Jagiellonian. This hall has held many significant events in Czech history, including critical voting events, political speeches, and presidents taking their oaths of office. When Ferdinand I married Ona Jagiellonian, Prague Castle became the Habsburg dynasty's political headquarters.

The Vilnius Academy of Arts' Kaunas faculty (Aleksotas St. / Muitinės St.) features bas-reliefs of these kings on its windowsills. Without the deaths of the two young monarchs of the Jogailačiai dynasty, the Lithuanian dynasty would have shaped Central European history for 400 years, rather than the Austrian dynasty. Following the death of Vladislav II's son, Ludwig II, the Habsburgs ascended to the thrones of Hungary and Czechia. This dynasty, which rivaled and eventually became related to the Jagiellonian dynasty, remained the center of power in Central Europe until the end of World War I on October 28, 1918, when the Republic of Czechoslovakia was created.

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