St Jadwiga of Poland (c. 1374–1399)

Daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elizabeth of Bosnia. Crowned King (sic!) of Poland in 1384. Married to the Duke of Lithuania, Ladislaus (Władysław) Jagiełło, 20 years her senior, who was made king of Poland through this marriage. Jadwiga was a sovereign in her own right, and was of equal rank to her husband in the state. At her court, she gathered numerous scientists and academics, established a theological college for Lithuanians in Prague, where the priests of Lithuanian origin were to be educated. In 1397, she founded the Faculty of Theology at the Academy of Kraków. Patron of the Academy, to which she bequeathed her jewels and treasures before her death, The Queen commissioned the translation of the Book of Psalms into the Polish language. The first translation of the book in Polish history, the work is today known as the Florian Psalter. Jadwiga was canonised in 1997 by Pope John Paul II.

The Gothic sceptre of the Queen – a gift for Kraków Academy – is the oldest known rector’s insignium in Poland, and one of the symbols of the University. To date, the original is kept at Collegium Maius.




Sarcophagus of St. Queen Jadwiga in the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, photo by Natan Krieger, 1903