Jadwiga King of Poland

Jadwiga (Hedwig) was crowned King of Poland in 1385 at the tender age of 11 and remained King until she married Jagiello, Grand Duke of Lithuania.[1]

Jadwiga was the youngest daughter of Louis I of Hungary and of Elizabeth of Bosnia. Jadwiga was descended from the House of Piast, the ancient native Polish dynasty on both her mother's and her father's side. Her paternal grandmother Elizabeth of Poland, Queen of Hungary was the daughter of King Władysław I, the Elbow-high (the short), who had reunited Poland in 1320.

Jadwiga died at age 24 in 1399 giving birth to a daughter who also died. She is buried in the Cathedral of St. Stanislaw and Wacław at Wawel Castle in Krakow.

When I took this photo, I noticed that a dog lies at her feet and is part of her sarcophagus. This sleeping dog is a symbol of fidelity. She is buried among the royal tombs where most of the Polish Kings lie in rest.  

Some of these photos are not mine but a few of them are which were taken inside the Cathedral at Wawel Castle. I was not sure that I was allowed to take photos there but I snuck in a few.

You notice, it is slightly slanted, it is one of my photos.  This was King Wladyslaw, the short.  I noticed that almost all of the kings have little endearments with their titles. This would have been Jadwiga's great grandfather.

[1] Information and some photos from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadwiga of Poland

 Vasa Chapel in Wawel Cathedral

Zygmunt 1, the Old

Warnenczyk

Apparently, there is a dragon's lair underneath the castle, which I missed and I also missed the staterooms, which one have heads on the ceiling.