Jagiellon Dynasty
The Jagiellon dynasty (sometimes Jagiellonian, Jagiello or Jogailos) were titled grand dukes of Lithuania from 1377 and as kings of Poland from 1386 until the death (1572) of the last male heir, Sigismund Augustus. However, Lithuania had its own actual rulers, being recognised as Grand Dukes, or more correctly Grand Princes, and Kings, by the Lithuanians. The usual view of history is from the Polish viewpoint, not the Lithuanian.
The dynastic union between the two countries (converted into a full administrative union only in 1569) is the reason for the common appellation "Poland-Lithuania" in discussions about the area from the late Middle Ages onwards. Two Jagiellonians also ruled Hungary and Bohemia, which briefly (1440-44) shared their king with Poland.
Jagiełło (originally Jogaila sometimes Jagiellon), Grand Duke of Lithuania and the founder of the dynasty, became king of Poland as Ladislaus II after converting to Christianity and marrying Jadwiga, second of Poland's Angevin rulers. The former Polish ruling house of Piast (c.962-1370) had ended with the death of Casimir III.
Jagiellons were hereditary rulers of Lithuania, and Poland.
The Jagiellon rulers of Poland-Lithuania (with dates of ruling in brackets) were:
Sigismund's heir was his sister, Catherine Jagiellonica, who married John III Vasa of Sweden; as a result, the main branch of the Jagiellons merged with the House of Vasa, which ruled Poland from 1587 until 1668.
The Jagiellons at one point also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, with Ladislaus Jagiello followed by his son Louis Jagiello. However, after Louis' sudden death, that royal line was extinguished.
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