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Alexander Jagiellon
Image:Aleksander Jagiellonczyk.jpg
Reign	July 30, 1492-August 19, 1506 (Grand Duke of Lithuania) December 12, 1501-August 19, 1506 (King of Poland)
Coronation	July 30 1492 in Vilnius Cathedral as Grand Duke of Lithuania December 12, 1501 in Wawel Cathedral as King of Poland
Born	August 5, 1461
	Kraków, Poland
Died	August 19, 1506
	Vilnius, Lithuania
Buried	Vilnius Cathedral, Vilnius, Lithuania (1506)
Consort	Helena
Issue	none
Royal House	Jagiellon
Father	Kazimierz IV Jagiellon
Mother	Elisabeth of Austria

Alexander Jagiellon (Polish: Aleksander Jagiellończyk; Lithuanian: Aleksandras; 5 August 1461 – 19 August 1506), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, was the fourth son of Kazimierz IV Jagiellon. He was elected Grand Duke of Lithuania on the death of his father (1492), and King of Poland on the death of his brother Jan I Olbracht (1501).

His shortage of funds immediately made him subservient to the Polish Senate and nobility (szlachta), who deprived him of control of the mint (then one of the most lucrative sources of revenue for the Polish kings), curtailed his prerogatives, and generally endeavored to reduce him to a subordinate position. For want of funds, Alexander was unable to resist the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights or prevent Grand Duke of Muscovy Ivan III from ravaging Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Tatars. The most the King could do was to garrison Smolensk and other strongholds and employ his wife Helena, the Tsar's daughter, to mediate a truce between his father-in-law and himself after the disastrous Battle of Vedrosha (1500). In the terms of the truce, Lithuania had to surrennder about a third of its territory to the nascent expansionist Russian state.

During his reign, Poland suffered much humiliation at the hands of her subject principality, Moldavia. Only the death of Stephen, the great hospodar of Moldavia, enabled Poland still to hold her own on the Danube River; while the liberality of Pope Julius II, who issued no fewer than 29 bulls in favor of Poland and granted Alexander Peter's Pence and other financial help, enabled him to restrain somewhat the arrogance of the Teutonic Order.

Alexander Jagellon never felt at home in Poland, and bestowed his favor principally upon his fellow Lithuanians, the most notable of whom was the wealthy Lithuanian magnate Michał Gliński, who justified his master's confidence by his great victory over the Tatars at Kleck (August 5, 1506), news of which was brought to Aleksander on his deathbed in Vilnius. It is important to note that Alexander Jagellon was the last known ruler of the Jagiellon dynasty to have maintained the family's ancestral Lithuanian language. From his death, Polish became the sole language of the family, thus fully Polonizing the Jagiellon family.

[edit] See also

• History of Poland (1385-1569)

[edit] External links

• Pages and Forums on the Lithuanian History
• Aleksander Jagiellon on Find-A-Grave

Preceded by: Kazimierz IV Jagiellon	Grand Duke of Lithuania 1492–1506	Succeeded by: Zygmunt I the Old
Preceded by: Jan I Olbracht	King of Poland 1501–1506

<tr><th colspan="2">Monarchs of Poland</th></tr> <tr><th>Piast</th><td>Siemowit •Lestko •Siemomysł •Mieszko I •Boleslaw I the Brave •Mieszko II Lambert •Bezprym •Mieszko II Lambert •Casimir I the Restorer •Boleslav II the Bold •Władysław I Herman •Zbigniew of Poland •Bolesław III Wrymouth •Władysław II the Exile •Bolesław IV the Curly •Mieszko III the Old •Casimir II the Just •Leszek I the White •Władysław III Spindleshanks •Władysław Odonic •Mieszko IV Tanglefoot •Konrad I of Masovia •Henry I the Bearded •Henry II the Pious •Konrad I of Masovia •Bolesław V the Chaste •Leszek II the Black •Henryk IV Probus •Premislas II</td></tr> <tr><th>Přemyslid</th><td>Venceslaus II •Wenceslaus III</td></tr> <tr><th>Piast</th><td>Władysław I the Elbow-high •Casimir III the Great</td></tr> <tr><th>Angevin</th><td>Ludwik the Hungarian •Jadwiga Angevin</td></tr> <tr><th>Jagiellon</th><td>Władysław II Jagiełło •Władysław III of Varna •Casimir IV Jagiellon •John I Albert •Alexander Jagiellon •Sigismund I the Old •Sigismund II Augustus</td></tr> <tr><th>Elected</th><td>Henry III of France •Anna Jagiellon •Stefan Batory •Sigismund III Vasa •Władysław IV Vasa •John II Casimir •Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki •John III Sobieski •August II the Strong •Stanisław Leszczyński •Augustus II the Strong •Stanisław Leszczyński •August III the Saxon •Stanisław August Poniatowski</td></tr> be:Аляксандар Ягелончык

de:Alexander (Polen) eo:Aleksandro (Pollando-Litovio) fr:Alexandre Ier Jagellon lt:Aleksandras hu:Sándor lengyel király ja:アレクサンデル (ポーランド王) pl:Aleksander Jagiellończyk ru:Александр Ягеллон sv:Alexander av Polen uk:Александр Яґеллончик zh:亚历山大 (波兰)