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Engaged as a four-year-old girl, after reaching the age of 12 at the time, instead of consummating a marriage with her beloved and completing the wedding, she decides to live with the prince several years older than her. When she finally becomes pregnant after 13 years of marriage, her daughter dies three weeks after her birth. She herself leaves four days later. How did this come about? Why did Jadwiga Andegaweńska – the queen who changed the course of history – have to die?
- Jadwiga Andegaweńska sat on the Polish throne at the age of 10
- Although she was engaged to Wilhelm Habsburg, she married Władysław Jagiełło, with whom – for political reasons – the magnates of Małopolska wanted to associate her
- The queen did not get a heir only after 13 years of marriage
- Three weeks after giving birth, 25-year-old Jadwiga and her little daughter died. The cause of death was “perinatal complications”
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Exemplary queen
In the pages of history, the fate of the youngest daughter of Ludwik Węgierski and Elizabeth of Bosnia has been depicted with a seriousness worthy of the greatest rulers. Almost all sources emphasize the fact that Jadwiga, despite her young age, was extremely intelligent and knowledgeable about current political affairs. She had the ability to skillfully select advisors and a unique intuition to make key decisions for the state, which earned her the respect of both the powerful and the subjects. The effects of her diplomatic negotiations with her brother-in-law, Sigismund of Luxemburg, who needed a strong ally after the death of Maria Anjou, found him in the sister of his deceased wife and her husband, Władysław Jagiello. This agreement lasted over a dozen years and was a strong advantage of both countries in negotiations with their neighbors.
Carefully educated, knowing foreign languages, familiar with the latest works of art, literature and music, she took care of the development of Polish culture. It was thanks to her that the first Polish translation of the Book of Psalms was made, which survived as the Florian Psalter. Her merit is also the establishment of a theological faculty at the Krakow Academy, which she strove for from Pope Boniface IX himself (who, by the way, was also to become the godfather of her daughter, who inherited his middle name).
At the same time, the young queen (she sat on the Polish throne when she was 10) was sensitive to human harm, close to the people, she sought help for the most needy, and often responded specifically to calls for help. Her visit to the construction site of the church “Na Piasku” which she founded (today the Basilica of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located at Karmelicka Street in Krakow – ed.), Where she noticed a gloomy worker, became a legend. When asked about the cause of his sadness, the man was told to confide in a difficult family situation: he was afraid of the imminent death of his wife, for whom he did not have money, and then of raising three children alone. The moved queen bent down then and unfastened the golden buckle from her shoe, which she instructed the mason to sell and buy medicines and food for the family with the funds obtained. She did not notice that she rested her bare foot on the stone that was being processed. The footprint she had left was hewn and built into the temple walls by the touched bricklayer.
Out of a sense of responsibility
Even greater heroism is attributed to the personal threads of Jadwiga’s life. As a little girl, she was engaged to eight-year-old Wilhelm Habsburg. Such celebrations were not unusual in Europe at that time. The engagement ceremony between the children was a kind of contract. The agreement stipulated that when the parties came of age (in the case of Jadwiga and Wilhelm it was – 12 and 14 years respectively), the relationship could be consummated and thus the marriage would be approved. If one of them withdraws, it would have to pay the other party a compensation of PLN 200. florins in gold.
Although the wedding with the young Habsburg was a typical political game (the girl’s father, wanting to strengthen the position of Hungary and connect the Angevins with two strong European dynasties, one of the daughters with Luxembourg, and the other with the Habsburgs), Jadwiga did not complain about her fate. She was to spend her life alongside her peer, a nice and well-mannered boy with whom she had a chance to spend some time with in her childhood (which was not so obvious at the time). Her feeling – according to the notes of Jan Długosz – was so strong that when she found out about the plans to marry her to Władysław Jagiełło, she had to cut down the Wawel gate with an ax out of frustration and helplessness in order to escape with her would-be husband, expelled from the castle, just before the planned secretly wedding night.
The despairing queen was consoled by the bishop of Krakow himself, who explained to her that marrying a Lithuanian prince was a priceless sacrifice for the Christianization of Europe – Lithuania was, after all, the last bastion of paganism. After fervent prayer in the cathedral, where Christ himself was to speak to her, patriotism and a sense of duty and mission prevailed in the young girl. She agreed to marry Jagiełło, older than her, and – as it soon turned out – she created a successful, harmonious relationship with him, which was only interrupted by a family tragedy.
A fulfilled prophecy
Jadwiga and Władysław waited a long time for their descendant. No records have survived to suggest that the queen was previously pregnant or that one of the spouses was diagnosed with a disease that made it impossible to conceive a child. When, after 13 years of walking together, it was officially announced that the couple was expecting a child, a real euphoria broke out in the country.
Even the first horoscope in the history of the country was prepared for the descendant, which showed that a son would be born. Jagiełło himself was to be so happy to hear about the imminent birth of the child that he invited his greatest allies and nobles to his baptism, and even Pope Boniface. However, he was not able to organize the party.
After a difficult birth, both the new mother and the baby became seriously ill. This was no surprise to the soothsayers. According to the second horoscope prepared for the royal couple, on the day of the expected birth of Elizabeth Boniface (June 22, 1399), Mars would reside in the eighth astrological house, known as the house of death. However, no one expected that the fortune would also include the beloved queen.
The daughter of Jadwiga Andegaweńska and Władysław Jagiełło died three weeks after birth. Doctors and service supervising the sick Jadwiga did not notify the mother of the infant’s death. Her condition was very difficult, such information could cause her emotions too strong, which the weakened organism would not be able to withstand. Three days after the death of little Elizabeth, however, it turned out that the secrets were not needed, because the queen herself also lost her life.
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Complicated death
Official reports mention the laconic “perinatal complications” as the cause of Jadwiga’s death. For centuries, this record was the most frequently reported cause of death for the mother and / or child during or shortly after termination of pregnancy. Its scope included a number of unforeseen ailments and events, such as hemorrhages, injuries or postpartum fevers.
This was not surprising, because in the Middle Ages (and long after), childbirth was associated with a very high risk of death – both for mother and child. Due to the lack of prenatal diagnosis, pregnant women had no idea whether their children were developing properly, and their bodies responded well to the processes taking place in the body. The result of this ignorance were, among others, stillbirth or death of newborns shortly after birth, as well as damage to health or even death of the mother herself. When it occurred from a few to several days after termination of pregnancy, it was almost certain that an infection had occurred. From the perspective of the diagnosis of the time, the infections were particularly dangerous, as they lulled the vigilance of doctors, who were sure that the weakening of the obstetricia – in the absence of other visible symptoms – was simply a consequence of a difficult delivery and should be waived.
Infections were frequent, because the basic rules of antiseptics were not yet known, and taking care of hygiene was not the strongest point of pregnant women, midwives or medics. The reproductive organs were examined with the hands, which were not washed before approaching the woman in labor. Even if it happened that some medical tools were used, they were used, usually only wiped (not fresh with a towel) after the last use. The births were mostly at home, and the bedrooms of especially wealthy women were filled with furniture, souvenirs, textiles and other objects that collected dust and provided a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
The birth of a child in such conditions often ended tragically. Suffice to add that The mortality rate of children under the age of one was then on average 20-25% across the continent. At the same time, just after giving birth, every tenth woman died.
On the threshold of life
In the case of Jadwiga Andegaweńska, two other factors could have played a role in addition to the postpartum fever. The first is the Queen’s lifestyle. Apparently, even when pregnant, she did not give up fasting and mortification (she was very pious), she did not stop doing charity activities and actively participated in meetings and talks concerning state policy. According to the account of Jan Długosz, the pregnancy itself also took its toll on the ruler.
The second factor influencing the course and consequences of childbirth was to be Jadwiga’s anatomy. The XNUMXth century exhumation of the queen’s body shows that her pelvis was exceptionally tall and narrow. Today, the mother’s pelvic bone, disproportionate to the weight of the child, is one of the indications for caesarean section. In the case of attempts to give birth to a child by force of nature, serious perinatal complications could occur, resulting in injuries (both to the obstetrician and the newborn), and even death of both of them.
In the Middle Ages, few doctors still heard about the emperor, and even fewer midwives who delivered home deliveries. The reported cases were not particularly encouraging – most women and children died during such surgeries, which should not be surprising, because they were performed without anesthesia and basic antiseptic rules (these were developed only hundreds of years later). Thus, caesarean sections were performed in hopeless situations, for example, when the pregnant woman was already dead and the baby had to be removed from her womb.
Even if someone had decided to cut, they would probably not have been able to arrange the conditions that would allow the operation to be carried out in a safe, hygienic manner. Opening the womb of a pregnant woman could result in even worse and possibly faster discomfort or the imminent death of the woman. Home delivery – as the only real form of childbirth – was natural, although for many women it involved superhuman, exceeding physical abilities.
Everything indicates that such a limit – physical abilities, but also options offered by the medicine of that time – was encountered by the steadfast queen. Jadwiga left her husband immersed in deep sorrow. And despite the fact that Władysław Jagiełło married three more times, apparently until the end of his life with tenderness, looking at the ring received from his beloved, he recalled his first wife, who – as it was said – saved him from the pagan abyss.
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