King Casimir III of Poland initiates campaigns to take Galicia-Volhynia upon the death of Bolesław Jerzy II of Mazovia in the mid-fourteenth century; these occur from 1340 to 1366.

The heartland of Rus', including Kiev, meanwhile becomes the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, ruled by Gediminas and his successors, after the semi-legendary Battle on the Irpein River.

Following the 1386 Union of Krewo, a dynastic union between Poland and Lithuania, much of what will become northern Ukraine is ruled by the increasingly Slavicised local Lithuanian nobles as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

The so-called Galicia–Volhynia Wars end by 1392.

Polish colonizers of depopulated lands in northern and central Ukraine soon found or re-found many towns.

Central Europe (1252–1395 CE): Dynastic Crowns, Mining Economies, and Alpine Confederations

Between the Vistula and the Rhine, from the Carpathian passes to the Alpine lakes, Central Europe in the Lower Late Medieval Age entered a period of consolidation, reform, and urban ascent. The age’s empires and kingdoms—the Luxembourgs of Bohemia, the Angevins and early Jagiellons in Hungary and Poland, and the emergent Habsburgs on the Danube—combined dynastic ambition with pragmatic governance. Mining booms, expanding universities, and the spread of urban leagues drew this vast inland heart of the continent into closer alignment with the Mediterranean and Baltic worlds.

In the east and north, the Kingdom of Bohemia, under the Přemyslid and later Luxembourg dynasties, became an imperial powerhouse. Ottokar II (r. 1253–1278) extended Bohemian rule across Austria and Styria before falling at Marchfeld to Rudolf of Habsburg. A generation later, the Luxembourgs transformed Prague into the political and cultural capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV (r. 1346–1378), King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, issued the Golden Bull of 1356, defined the imperial electors, founded Charles University (1348), and raised Prague’s Gothic skyline with the Charles Bridge and St. Vitus Cathedral. Prosperity flowed from Kutná Hora’s silver mines, whose revenues funded coinage, civic works, and imperial patronage.

To the east, Poland, long fragmented among regional dukes, was reunited under Władysław I Łokietek in 1320 and reached maturity under Casimir III “the Great” (r. 1333–1370). His reforms of law and administration, his founding of Kraków University (1364), and his incorporation of Red Ruthenia restored the kingdom’s authority. Following Casimir’s death, the Polish crown passed in personal union to Louis I of Hungary, and after his reign the Union of Krewo (1385) joined Poland and Lithuania under Jogaila (as Władysław II Jagiełło) and Queen Jadwiga, forging the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’s earliest foundations.

Hungary, meanwhile, rose again under the Angevin line. Charles I (1308–1342) and Louis I “the Great” (1342–1382) reasserted royal power after the decline of the Árpáds, exploiting rich mineral wealth in Kremnica, Rudabánya, and Upper Hungary (modern Slovakia). Gold florins struck at the Kremnica mint circulated across Europe. Mining towns under German law flourished in the Carpathian uplands, and new roads over the Transylvanian passes carried salt, livestock, and silver north toward Kraków. After 1387, Sigismund of Luxembourg ascended Hungary’s throne, binding it dynastically to Bohemia and the Empire.

Along the Danube, the Habsburgs consolidated their Austrian heartland after 1278, making Vienna both a market city and an intellectual center—its university founded in 1365. Across Germany’s eastern marches, the Golden Bull enshrined the electors of Mainz, Trier, Cologne, Bohemia, Brandenburg, Saxony, and the Palatinate, stabilizing imperial governance. Brandenburg, passing from Ascanian to Wittelsbach and then to Luxembourg control, began its slow ascent under the margraves of the late fourteenth century. Urban prosperity followed river networks: the Elbe, Oder, and Vistula bound inland markets to the Hanseatic League ports on the Baltic.

Farther south, East Central Europe blended into the Alpine and Danubian core. The Swiss Confederation, born of rural leagues at Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden (1291), defended its autonomy against Habsburg encroachment at Morgarten (1315). Over the next century, alliances of towns and valleys—Lucerne, Zürich, Bern, and Glarus—coalesced into the early Eidgenossenschaft. To the east, leagues in Graubünden such as the Grey League (late 14th c.) coordinated defense and toll control across the Alpine passes.

The southern corridors—Gotthard, Splügen, St. Bernard, and Brenner—carried Lombard cloth and spices north and sent Alpine wool, hides, and cheese south. Merchant guilds operated fortified warehouses and toll stations, and fairs in Zurich, Chur, and along the Rhine–Bodensee system linked the Alpine world to Frankfurt and the Hanseatic ports. Despite recurrent feuds, city militias and confederate alliances kept trade open, transforming the once-peripheral uplands into Europe’s vital north–south hinge.

In West Central Europe, the Rhine–Main heartland thrived on commerce and ecclesiastical wealth. The Golden Bull of 1356 confirmed Mainz, Trier, and Cologne as prince-electors, cementing the political geography of the Empire. Frankfurt, midway between the Alps and the North Sea, hosted the imperial fairs where Italian bankers met Flemish clothiers and Hanseatic merchants. The Rhine wine trade prospered even under cooler Little Ice Age conditions; vintners adapted vineyards along the Moselle and Rheingau to changing climates.

Cathedral cities—Cologne, Worms, Speyer, Mainz, and Basel—dominated both devotion and diplomacy. Their Gothic towers embodied civic pride as well as spiritual renewal. The Black Death (1348–1352) devastated towns, sparking flagellant processions and persecution of Jewish communities in the Rhine cities, but urban guilds soon recovered, consolidating political voice. Basel, rebuilt after its 1356 earthquake, became a bridge between the Empire and the Swiss Confederation, both commercially and intellectually.

Technological and institutional innovations strengthened recovery throughout Central Europe. The spread of the three-field system, heavy ploughs, and watermills improved yields; water-powered pumps and adit drainage revolutionized mining. Civic law—Magdeburg and Lübeck codes—standardized administration from Kraków to Vienna. Universities in Prague, Kraków, and Vienna formed a northern constellation of learning where scholasticism, Roman law, and natural philosophy converged.

The region’s resilience rested on its networks. When plague or war closed overland routes, merchants shifted to the Vistula and Danube, or joined Hanseatic convoys at the Baltic. Dynastic marriages and elective compromises balanced fragmentation with unity: Luxembourgs linked Bohemia, Hungary, and the Empire; Habsburgs and Angevins wove Austria and Hungary together; and the Jagiellonian alliance bridged Poland and Lithuania. Through mining wealth, market towns, and learning, Central Europe forged institutions strong enough to withstand crisis and to shape the continent’s next age.

By 1395 CE, Central Europe had matured into a dense fabric of crowns and communes. Prague glittered as the imperial capital of the Luxembourgs; Kraków anchored a Polish–Lithuanian union; Buda and Vienna stood astride the Danube as twin centers of royal power; and the Swiss Confederates guarded their Alpine freedoms against princely overlords. The Rhine and Danube, the Vistula and Elbe, carried not only goods but the ideas and alliances that would soon ignite the Hussite reforms, Jagiellonian ascendancy, and Habsburg expansion—making Central Europe the decisive heart of the continent’s late medieval transformation.

East Central Europe (1252 – 1395 CE): Přemyslid–Luxembourg Bohemia, Angevin Hungary, and the Polish–Lithuanian Union

Geographic and Environmental Context

East Central Europe includes Poland, Czechia (Bohemia and Moravia), Slovakia, Hungary, northeastern Austria, and the greater part of Germany (including Berlin, Munich, Hamburg).

• Strategic river axes: Vistula–Oder–Elbe, Danube–Morava, and Upper Dnieper–Vistula corridors.

• Resource belts: silver (Kutná Hora), salt (Wieliczka–Bochnia), gold (Kremnica), dense forests and fertile loess soils.

---

Climate and Environmental Shifts

• Late Medieval Warm Period tails into the early Little Ice Age after c. 1300: slightly cooler, more variable precipitation.

• Harvest volatility increased in marginal zones, but river-valley and loess basins sustained surpluses; plague years (1348–1352) punctuated demographic growth.

---

Societies and Political Developments

• Bohemia & Moravia (Přemyslid → Luxembourg):

  • Ottokar II (r. 1253–1278) expanded into Austria–Styria before defeat at Marchfeld (1278).

  • From 1310, the Luxembourgs (John, then Charles IV, r. 1346–1378) made Prague an imperial capital: Golden Bull (1356), Charles University (1348), reforms, and urban patronage; Wenceslaus IV (1378–1419) faced magnate unrest.

• Hungary & Slovakia (Árpád → Angevin → Luxembourg):

  • After the Árpád extinction (1301), Charles I (Angevin) (1308–1342) restored royal power; Louis I “the Great” (1342–1382) expanded influence (including personal union with Poland 1370–1382).

  • Mining–monetary reforms (gold florins, Kremnica mint); after 1387 Sigismund of Luxembourg took the crown. Slovakia (Upper Hungary) was the mining and urban core.

• Poland (fragmentation → reunification → union):

  • Władysław I Łokietek crowned (1320) reunified the kingdom; Casimir III “the Great” (1333–1370) reformed law, founded Kraków University (1364), and took Red Ruthenia (1340s); after 1370, union with Hungary under Louis I.

  • Union of Krewo (1385): Jogaila marries Jadwiga, becomes Władysław II Jagiełło (1386), inaugurating the Polish–Lithuanian polity.

• Northeastern Austria (Habsburgs):

  • After 1278 the Habsburgs consolidated Austria–Styria; Vienna grew as a Danube market and (from 1365) university town.

• Germany (eastern zones: Brandenburg, Saxony, Bavaria):

  • Electoral order fixed by Golden Bull (1356) (King of Bohemia, Margrave of Brandenburg, Duke of Saxony among electors).

  • Brandenburg passed from Ascanian to Wittelsbach to Luxembourg control (1373); Munich anchored Upper Bavaria; Berlin–Cölln rose on Spree–Havel trade.

• Order states on the Baltic rim (context to Poland/Lithuania):

  • The Teutonic Order state in Prussia and Livonia pressed the Vistula–Neman frontier, shaping Polish–Lithuanian strategy (the great reckoning at Grunwald lies just beyond 1395).

---

Economy and Trade

• Mining & mints:

  • Kutná Hora silver funded Luxembourg grandeur (Prague groschen).

  • Kremnica gold struck florins for Hungary; salt from Wieliczka–Bochnia underpinned Polish revenue.

• Agriculture & towns: three-field rotations spread; German-law towns (Ostsiedlung legacy) structured markets from Silesia to Little Poland and Upper Hungary.

• Trade corridors:

  • Danube–Morava–Vienna funneled Adriatic and Alpine goods into the plain.

  • Vistula–Baltic carried Polish grain, timber, and salt to Gdańsk, linking into Hanseatic circuits.

  • Elbe–Oder routes tied Bohemia/Silesia to Saxon–Brandenburg markets.

• Hanseatic connections: eastern German and Polish ports traded cloth, beer, wax, and furs; inland towns brokered metals and salt.

---

Subsistence and Technology

• Hydraulic & agrarian tools: heavy ploughs on loess, watermills on rivers, drainage and vineyard terraces in Bohemia and along the Danube.

• Urban craft clusters: Prague metalwork and glass; Kraków cloth and salt; Upper Hungary mining technologies (adits, water-powered pumps).

• Fortifications & courts: stone kremlins, castles, and walled towns; law codes (Magdeburg/Lübeck law, Casimir’s statutes) standardized justice and commerce.

---

Movement and Interaction Corridors

• Danube trunk: Vienna ⇄ Bratislava (Pressburg) ⇄ Esztergom/Buda integrated Habsburg and Hungarian nodes.

• Vistula spine: Kraków ⇄ Toruń/Gdańsk linked the Polish heartland to the Baltic.

• Elbe–Oder passes: Bohemia ⇄ Saxony/Brandenburg; Moravian Gate tied the Danube to the Vistula–Oder basins.

• Carpathian routes: salt, wine, and livestock over Transcarpathian passes into Poland and Hungary.

---

Belief and Symbolism

• Latin Christianity: cathedral and monastic expansion (Prague, Kraków, Vienna); mendicant orders in towns; scholastic culture around the new universities.

• Orthodoxy & Unions: Ruthenian borderlands under Lithuania remained Orthodox; Latin-rite Poland extended bishoprics into Red Ruthenia.

• Popular piety: pilgrimage, confraternities, and plague-era devotions; Jewish communities vital to urban finance faced periodic persecution during the Black Death years.

• Crown ideology: imperial Prague under Charles IV; Angevin regalia and chivalric display in Hungary; Jagiellonian union rhetoric in Poland–Lithuania.

---

Adaptation and Resilience

• Institutional depth: estates and diets (Bohemian land diets, Polish sejmik beginnings, Hungarian diets) mediated taxation and war.

• Demographic shocks: Black Death mortality (from 1348) hit towns hardest; frontier colonization and mining towns helped recovery.

• Route redundancy: Danube, Vistula, and Baltic carried trade when war blocked overland links; Hanseatic convoys stabilized supply.

• Dynastic flexibility: Luxembourg, Habsburg, Angevin, and Jagiellonian strategies (marriage, enfeoffment, union) minimized fragmentation costs.

---

Long-Term Significance

By 1395, East Central Europe had become a constellation of powerful crowns and rising unions:

• Prague led an imperial–university renaissance;

• Hungary monetized mining and projected power into the Balkans;

• Poland–Lithuania formed a durable union that would reshape the northeast;

• Habsburg Austria entrenched along the Danube.
  Shared corridors of metals, salt, grain, and ideas forged an integrated region poised for 15th-century conflicts and cultural efflorescence—from Hussite revolutions to Jagiellonian and Habsburg ascendancy.

Much Polish land lies under foreign occupation as the fourteenth century opens (two-thirds of it is ruled by Bohemia in 1300).

The continued existence of a united, independent Poland seems unlikely.

In the fourteenth century, after a long period of instability and growing menace from without, the Polish state experiences a half century of recovery under the last monarchs of the house of Piast.

By 1320 Wladyslaw Lokietek (r. 1314-33), called the Short, has manipulated internal and foreign alignments and reunited enough territory to win acceptance abroad as king of an independent Poland.

His son Kazimierz III (r. 1333-70) will become the only Polish king to gain the sobriquet "great."

In foreign policy, Kazimierz the Great strengthens his country's position by combining judicious concessions to Bohemia and the Teutonic Knights with eastward expansion.

While using diplomacy to win Poland a respite from external threat, the king focuses on domestic consolidation.

He earn his singular reputation through his acumen as a builder and administrator as well as through foreign relations.

Two of the most important events of Kazimierz's rule are the founding of Poland's first university in Kraków in 1364, making that city an important European cultural center, and his mediation between the kings of Bohemia and Hungary at the Congress of Kraków (also in 1364), signaling Poland's return to the status of a European power.

Lacking a male heir, Kazimierz is the last ruler in the Piast line.

The extinction of the dynasty in 1370 leads to several years of renewed political uncertainty.

Nevertheless, the accomplishments of the fourteenth century begin the ascent of the Polish state toward its historical zenith.

The gradual absorption of Poland into the culture of medieval Europe is without question the most significant development of the formative era of the country's history.

After their relatively late arrival as pagan outsiders on the fringes of the Christian world, the Western Slavs are fully and speedily assimilated into the civilization of the European Middle Ages.

Latin Christianity comes to determine the identity of that civilization and permeate its intellect and creativity.

Over time the Central Europeans increasingly pattern their thought and institutions on Western models in areas of thought ranging from philosophy, artistic style, literature, and architecture to government, law, and social structure.

The Poles borrow especially heavily from German sources, and successive Polish rulers encourage a substantial immigration of Germans and Jews to invigorate urban life and commerce.

From its beginning, Poland draws its primary inspiration from Western Europe and develops a closer affinity with the French and Italians, for example, than with nearer Slavic neighbors of Eastern Orthodox and imperial Greek heritage.

This westward orientation, which in some ways has made Poland the easternmost outpost of Latinate and Catholic tradition, helps to explain the Poles' tenacious sense of belonging to the "West" and their deeply rooted antagonism toward Russia as the representative of an essentially alien way of life.

East Central Europe (1324–1335 CE): Stability of Angevin Hungary, Luxembourg-Bohemian Influence, Polish Reunification Efforts, Habsburg-Bavarian Rivalries, and Urban Prosperity

The period between 1324 and 1335 CE saw significant political stabilization and consolidation throughout East Central Europe. The firm rule of the Angevin dynasty in Hungary under Charles Robert, the continued strengthening of Bohemia under John of Luxembourg, persistent internal rivalries among Polish duchies balanced by tentative reunification efforts, intensifying political rivalries between the Habsburgs and Bavarian Wittelsbachs within the Holy Roman Empire, and sustained urban and economic expansion across the region’s thriving cities—including the influential Hanseatic centers—characterized this transformative era.

Political and Military Developments

Continued Consolidation of Angevin Rule in Hungary

• Under Charles Robert of Anjou (Charles I of Hungary, r. 1308–1342), Hungary further stabilized politically and economically. Charles Robert consolidated central royal authority, subdued powerful oligarchs, and implemented significant administrative and fiscal reforms, including coinage stabilization, laying robust foundations for subsequent prosperity.

Luxembourg Ascendancy and Bohemian Expansion

• Bohemia, under John of Luxembourg (r. 1310–1346), solidified its regional influence, navigating dynastic alliances, marriage diplomacy, and military interventions.

• John's diplomatic and military engagements across Europe increased Bohemia’s political stature, notably through strategic ties with neighboring states and influential participation in imperial politics.

Polish Duchies and Attempts at Reunification

• Continued fragmentation characterized Polish duchies, notably Silesia, Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, and Mazovia. However, significant developments occurred under Władysław Łokietek, who, by 1320, was crowned King of Poland in Kraków, initiating ambitious attempts to reunify fragmented Polish lands, setting a critical precedent for centralized royal governance.

Habsburg and Bavarian Rivalries in the Empire

• The Habsburg Frederick the Fair (r. 1308–1330) contended with the Wittelsbach ruler Louis IV of Bavaria (r. 1314–1347, Holy Roman Emperor from 1328) for supremacy within the Holy Roman Empire.

• The intensified rivalry culminated in complex diplomatic maneuvering, territorial conflicts, and shifting alliances, profoundly influencing regional stability and imperial politics, particularly affecting Austria, Bavaria, and neighboring principalities.

Strengthening of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

• The Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, under Duke Otto the Mild (r. 1318–1344), further consolidated its regional position in Lower Saxony, enhancing its political prominence, economic prosperity, and diplomatic influence across northern East Central Europe.

Economic and Technological Developments

Continued Urban Growth and Hanseatic Economic Prosperity

• Cities in the Hanseatic League, notably Lübeck, Rostock, Toruń, Gdańsk, Kraków, and Wrocław, maintained robust economic expansion through extensive Baltic and inland trade networks.

• Substantial investments in urban infrastructure, expanded marketplaces, warehouses, and improved fortifications further bolstered regional economic vitality.

Agricultural Innovation and Productivity

• Improved agricultural techniques—such as advanced plowing technology, systematic crop rotation, and better irrigation—fostered greater productivity, sustaining urban growth and supporting increased population densities across the region.

Cultural and Artistic Developments

Bohemian Cultural Flourishing under Luxembourg Patronage

• Under John of Luxembourg’s patronage, Prague and other Bohemian urban centers experienced vibrant cultural and artistic activity, exemplified by Gothic architectural projects, courtly literary works, and illuminated manuscripts.

Polish Cultural Vitality

• Despite continued political divisions, Polish duchies, particularly in Greater Poland and Silesia, saw continued cultural vibrancy. Ecclesiastical and monastic institutions supported manuscript production, religious art, and scholarly pursuits, maintaining strong local cultural identities.

Hungarian Ecclesiastical and Royal Patronage

• King Charles Robert notably supported ecclesiastical and artistic initiatives, enhancing Hungary’s cultural landscape through the construction of religious monuments, cathedrals, and monastic complexes. Ecclesiastical centers such as Esztergom, Veszprém, and Pécs maintained significant cultural and intellectual influence.

Settlement and Urban Development

Urbanization and Economic Integration

• Major urban centers, including Vienna, Prague, Kraków, Gdańsk, Lübeck, Brunswick, and Wrocław, further expanded and consolidated their economic and administrative significance. Improved fortifications, municipal institutions, and commercial infrastructure underpinned regional prosperity.

Germanic Settlement and Regional Demographic Shifts

• The continued influx of German settlers (Ostsiedlung) into Silesia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg, Lusatia, and Polish territories significantly reshaped the region’s demographic patterns, fostering cultural integration, agricultural productivity, and economic vitality.

Social and Religious Developments

Ecclesiastical Authority and Social Stability

• Ecclesiastical institutions—including the powerful Archbishopric of Salzburg and influential bishoprics of Passau, Bamberg, and Regensburg—continued expanding their social, political, and cultural authority. Church institutions notably shaped educational structures, regional governance, and societal cohesion.

Aristocratic Power and Feudal Structures

• Aristocratic elites remained dominant, particularly in Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia, wielding considerable political and economic influence. Feudal relationships and aristocratic autonomy persisted strongly, shaping local governance, regional stability, and social hierarchies.

Long-Term Consequences and Historical Significance

The era 1324–1335 CE represented a crucial phase of stabilization and transformation within East Central Europe. Hungary under Angevin rule experienced unprecedented political consolidation, setting lasting frameworks for administrative and economic strength. Bohemian stability under Luxembourg rule enhanced its regional prominence and cultural vitality, positioning Prague as a critical European cultural and political center. Polish reunification efforts under Władysław Łokietek began reversing fragmentation, paving the way for future centralized governance. Intensified Habsburg-Bavarian rivalries profoundly shaped imperial and regional dynamics. The sustained economic prosperity of Hanseatic cities and the continued urban and cultural flourishing reinforced regional vitality. Collectively, these developments laid essential foundations for subsequent geopolitical, economic, and cultural trajectories, fundamentally shaping East Central Europe’s historical path into the later medieval period.

The Duchy of Pomerelia on the Baltic coast, stretching from the border with the Imperial Duchy of Pomerania in the west to the Prussian territory of the Order state at the Vistula river in the east, had been held by the Samborides dynasty, liensmen of the Polish Piast rulers, until the death of Duke Mestwin II in 1294.

Przemysł II, King of Poland since 1295, had incorporated Pomerelia (Pomorze Gdańskie) into the Lands of the Polish Crown—against the protest of the Imperial Margraviate of Brandenburg, referring to the Treaty of Arnswalde signed with Duke Mestwin in 1269.

The next year, the Ascanian margraves had instigated the kidnapping and killing of King Przemysł, probably backed by King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia, who aimed for the Polish crown.

King Wenceslaus II had prevailed against his Piast rival Władysław I the Elbow-high and was crowned King of Poland in 1300.

He ruled in Pomerelia with the assistance of the local Swenzones noble family.

Upon the assassination of his son Wenceslaus III in 1306, the Přemyslid dynasty became extinct and Duke Władysław was able to occupy the Pomerelian lands.

The Swenzones, fearing for their assets and sinecures, called for Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg, whose troops occupied the territory up to the city of Gdańsk.

Władysław reacted by calling the forces of the Teutonic Order, who under the command of Heinrich von Plötzke in 1308 re-conquered Gdańsk and most of Pomerelia.

However, after the Teutonic takeover they denied the handover to Władysław, as the duke refused to pay the requested expense allowance.

Instead they concluded the 1309 Treaty of Soldin with Margrave Waldemar, whose resistance from the beginning had been relatively weak and who now is willing to sell off his claims to Pomerelia.

Władysław, chafing under his defeat, had unsuccessfully sued the Teutonic Order at the Roman Curia.

However, he was crowned Polish king in 1320 and forged new alliances with the Kingdom of Hungary and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, when he married his daughter Elisabeth to King Charles I in 1320 and his son Casimir to Aldona of Lithuania, daughter of Grand Duke Gediminas.

On the other hand, the Kingdom of Bohemia, since 1310 under the rule of the mighty House of Luxembourg, has risen again and King John the Blind himself claims the Polish crown as a heritage from the Přemyslids.

The Teutonic Knights support King John, who joins them in crusades against the pagan Lithuanians, and furthermore are allied with Władysław's enemy in Masovia, Duke Wenceslaus of Płock.

Polish monarch Casimir III, known as “king of the peasants”, allows persecuted Jews to settle from 1334 in Poland, which lacks a middle class with the financial and commercial skills Jews can provide.

He confirms and improves the former privileges of Jews.

Married, apparently unhappily, to Aldona-Ona, the formerly pagan daughter of Gediminas, duke of Lithuania, Kazimierz also has many mistresses, about whom little is known; the most famous of them, the beautiful Esther, may have been invented by the chroniclers to explain the king's notable friendliness toward Jews.

John of Bohemia gives up his claims to the Polish throne in exchange for twenty thousand Prague groschen and the recognition of his suzerainty over Silesia.

Wroclaw (Breslau), founded in the tenth century on the Oder River as a trade center on the route between southern Europe and the Baltic Sea and the capital of Silesia from the twelfth century, passes from Polish to Bohemian control.

Casimir II, by the 1335 Treaty of Visegrád, induces John of Luxembourg, king of Bohemia, to relinquish his claim to the Polish crown by ceding Silesia, where the Piast kings have for centuries encouraged settlement by Germans.