Kings of Poland Family Tree 

Buy the chart: usefulcharts.com/products/european-royal-family-tree-north-east

Actually! Sigismund I was called "the old" because his son ruled as a monarch alongside him for some time. Since both of them were named "Sigismund" everyone just stared to called one of them "the old" :) P.S. You did a great job on pronauncing our names!

As a native Pole I am deeply grateful for taking time to make this very informative video! It's always so nice and fun to see people talk about our history and culture, despite a few minor pronunciation errors ;) I think that if we were to restore the monarchy, there would be a strong push from the society for the monarch to be of polish noble roots, someone from the house of Czartoryski or house of Radziwiłł would be a suitable candidate.

Fun fact: Władysław, Vladislav, Ladislav, Ladislaus (also László in Hungarian), which we see commonly among the names of the Polish, Bohemian and Hungarian rulers, are all variations of the same name. Fun fact 2: Frederick Augustus I is a bit forgotten in the Polish collective historical memory as the sort of Polish monarch. I suspect that most people when asked "who was the ruler of the Duchy of Warsaw?" would probably answer "Prince Józef Poniatowski, right?". He was a nephew of the last Polish king, a member of the Government of the Duchy of Warsaw as the Minister of War and commander of its army. He was also the only commander among Napoleon's non-French allies and auxiliaries made a Marshal of the Empire, shortly before his death in battle of Leipzig. Also, "duke" and "prince" is one word in Polish.

I would like to highlight the fact that Sigismund the old's Queen and wife was Bona Sforza, daughter of the Duke of Milan, so there's a connection with Italy there!

Meanwhile in the alternative reality Polish-Swedish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the most baddas thing ever. Such a shame it didn't happen.

Fun fact: there’s a Mexican writer named Elena Poniatowska, she is relative of king Stanislaw the second, that’s because she is a direct descendant of one of the king brother’s, so she probably would be queen of Poland. One ironic thing about her is that even though she has a royal background, part of her work is written about the communism.

Fun fact: During the first World War the Central Powers, in an attempt to gain polish support, declared they would create a "self-governing" Kingdom of Poland. A regency council and most institutions needed for a country were even established but as we know the war ended in a way that Poland declared full independence and itself a Republic. Germany and Austro-Hungary argued a lot about whom the king should be with the Habsburgs initially wanting it to become another addition to their monarchy (turning it into the Austro-Hungarian-Polish monarchy) before promoting the Prince of Zywiec, Karl Stephan Habsburg-Lorraine. However, as Karl and his children considered themselves to be Polish he was not popular with Germany who instead promoted Albrecht Wurttemberg. Karl was the prefered candidates of Polish monarchists.

18:25 I think that most of Polish monarchists would opt for "king from Piast family", so they would choose person from house Czartoryski, Wiśniowiecki or Sobieski instead of Wettin or other foreign dynasty

I'm pretty sure that 'w's in Polish are pronounced like English 'v's...

If everything went good in history Poland, Lithuania, Russia and Sweden etc. could end up be ruled by one person.

It is worth noting that the Polish Constitution of the Third May (1791), the first European constitution and the greatest political success of Stanisław II Poniatowski (in spite of it being revoked by Russians and their supporters only two years later following a war) has turned the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth into a hereditary kingdom of Poland with the Wettins becoming the official ruling dynasty following Poniatowski's death, so that's another thing worth remembering when discussing the strength of the Saxon claim.

Przemysł II's line was not the "main" line of the Piasts. The most senior branches ruled in Silesia. Per Bolesław III's will, the senior duke of Poland was supposed to be his eldest male-line descendant, regardless of the seniority of the line, but that system collapsed over time, so in the end the claim to the Polish throne was based more on the territories held. By the way, Alexander, like his father, was also grand duke of Lithuania before becoming king of Poland. Also, I find it weird that Michael I's father, Jarema Wiśniowiecki is missing from the chart, while some other fathers of the elective kings are present. He was quite a prominent historical figure.

The king Michael I from house of Wiśniowiecki was actually a descended from Piast dynasty through his mother. He was a great-great-great-grandson of Anna of Masovia. She was the sister of the last Masovia dukes.

Long live Poland! Greetings from Hungary brothers!

Finally Poland's rich history... I knew about them but to see them in your chart, the connections and context it all puts it in really helps having a better understanding of history Can't wait for the genealogy colab thing! I'm in! Great stuff Matt.

Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was a descendant of Maurice and Zofia Hauke. Maurycy was a general of the Polish Army, Zofia came from the Lafontaine family. They had eleven children, eight of whom survived. This group included Julia Hauke, whose son - Ludwik Aleksander - married the granddaughter of Queen Victoria (Victoria Heska). And here Polish and British families meet. Prince Philip is the grandson of Ludwik and Victoria of Hesse. Hence also Prince Charles and his sons and grandchildren.

I would like to suggest that the father of King Michał Wiśniowiecki deserves to be shown in the chart at least as much as the one of Jan Sobieski, as he is much more recognisable due to his role in major historic events and presence in national culture. It's not a criticism, just an idea.

As a Pole, I enjoyed this video a lot! Although the names are sometimes in Polish, and sometimes in English versions - maybe it would be a good idea to choose only one for consistency? If we were to restore the monarchy, I'm pretty sure we'd choose someone from the houses Czartoryski, Radziwiłł, Zamoyski, Lubomirski or other noble families. I'd love to see a video tracking down a theoretical heir from the Jagiellonian dynasty, though! Their reign is seen as the golden age in Poland.

Love these videos sitting in my hotel in Thailand relaxing and not having any TV channels worth watching...thanks for yet another cool video

King Boleslav II (called 'Courageous' or 'Generous') had a rightful, juvenile son - Mieszko. He was probably poisoned by his uncle - Vladislav Herman. Funny fact - there was mentioned in chronicles that there was a battalion of Polish spearmen that probably took a part in the Battle of Hastings.

We could also choose one of the polish dynasites which were important noble families, or house of Habsburg. After WW I There was a line of Habsburgs which controlled Żywiec (now city in Poland) and knew Polish language, also some of them were fighting for polish army as volunteers in WW2

Your videos truly is my high point of the week. Thx Matt😊

Yeah, there's a better candidate for the polish throne. His name is Janusz Korwin-Mikke.

I don't think that, anyone in Poland would accept German king.

Finally I've been waiting for this since I found this channel

*Imagine dividing your empire among your daughters and there husbands children from other marriages inherit your kingdoms*

In 1916-1918 Germans tried to reinstate Polish Kingdom, fully dependent on Germany. They considered candidates from houses of Saxony, but also Habsburg, Wurttemberg and Bavaria. You can find that for example in Wikipedia Kingdom of Poland 1917-1918. Going back a thousand years, king Bolesław the Ist had a sister - daughter of Mieszko and Doubravka which you have on your chart - she became queen of Sweden, Denmark and Norway - Sigrid the Hauthy.

15:10 THEN THE WINGED HUSSARS ARRIVED!

I came here to hear him saying old polish names.... It was worth it😂😂😂

Thank you for sharing a history about my country. Polish history is very rich.

Good to see some of my mother's historical family names mentioned in this video... Kazimer (Casimir), Stanislawski (Stanislaw), and Sobieski. My mom always said she had Polish ancestry but also Lithuanian and Latvian.

Canute the Great (a grandson of Mieszko) came from the Piast family.

What about the descendants of the House of Poniatowski ? Isn’t it more likely that they would become kings since their dynasty was native Polish rather than German ?

A Polish nobleman called John Zilinski ran for London Mayor in 2016 and challenged Nigel Farage to a duel

so for those curious: 5:49 the guy mentioned Przemysł II is roughly translated to English as “Industry II” 6:20 Father of Casimir III The great was Władysław I called "Łokietek" which was like calling someone “feet” (height) in old Poland the measurement was conducted in "Łokcie" and Władysław I was rumored to be a small guy 6:40 Casimir The Great "zastał drewnianą zostawił murowaną." it means "he found a wooden one and left the brick one." guy just loved to build castles

Fun fact: through junior Masovian line Mieszko I is a direct ancestor of HR Emperor Frideric III, and by thus ancestor of such famous people like Charles V, Maria Teresa or Franz Joseph.

It may be little weird, but Bolesław may be represented in English sounds as Boleswav with "w" like in walkie talkie an "v" as in "Victory".

The main line of the house of Piast were rather descendants of Władysław II the Exile, the eldest son of Bolesław III. They ruled in Silesia until the end of XVII century. Therefore, king Przemysł II also came from the cadet branch of the Piast dynasty.

Ever thought of combining the two Europe charts to form a mega one

The fragmentation period was all between Piast dynasty members: brothers, cousins, uncles and nephews.

3:07 - 18.04.1025, right before his death. edit: ok' it's just a rumor, but it's very probable that is was shorty before his death.

4:33 you have Vladimir the Wise as the son of Vladimir the Great but it's actually Yaroslav the Wise.

I've seen all of these, and this one has to be the most complicated and convoluted

These days monarchists reject an option to choose foreign monarch. Polish monarchists mostly support an idea to create a new dynasty as because of communism a lot of nobles were robbed and there is almost no noble families here. During world war one in 1917 the German Empire created Kingdom of Poland as a free state, but not independent one. There was a regency council that took power, but wasn't really popular within Polish society. On 7 Oct (today) 1918 regency council declared its independence from the German Empire. Unfortunately socialists took power on Nov (as in Warsaw could start communist revolution like in Bavaria) and Piłsudski took control of the state. So technically Poland could restore monarchy, but it didn't because of strong socialist movement.

Sometimes I think it was a mistake to save the Austrians in the Battle of Vienna, see what they did 150 years later

Well, in fact there is a clear cut answer for the question who would be the rightful heir for the throne of Poland and that's an heir of Wettin's. Mainly due to 1791 May 3rd constitution and terms that stated that with the abolition of elective monarchy as decided in 1791 and the move to hereditary monarchy the line of Wettins would be the rightful rulers of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

I find it interesting to think about how history might have gone differently at any of these points. If the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been able to maintain power over Russia, the world wars would have been very different

Splendid! I enjoyed it very much. Great job💎👏🏻💕🙋🏼‍♀️

Hyped for your own family vid!

5:49 between: king Mieszko III "the Old" - Odon of Poznań - Władysław "the Spitter" - Przemysł I of Greater Poland - Przemysł II of Poland

Not a monarch but I descend from someone who was friends with a Polish president (2nd polish republic) in university. His brother also knew the founder of the second polish republic.

Stanislav the 1st became after his destitution in Poland the Duke of Lorraine, my home region. He is the most loved historical figure here, he builded a lot of things, and made really advanced social reforms for the poors and the education, and was an enlightement ideas enthusiast. He wasn't a king anymore, just a little Duke but we still call him «notre bon roi Stanislas» : "our good king Stanislav". He transformed Lorraine and take care of it like if he was born here until his death. To this day, the central place of Nancy (one of the biggest cities in Lorraine) was renamed after him.

In Poland we sometimes call Adam Jerzy Czartoryski the uncrowned king. So maybe someone from Czartoryski family would be elected.

I recently found out my mothers Maternal line goes all the way to Princess Doubravka of Bohemia!

Pls do Bohemian monarchs as well

My 30th Great Grandfather is Mieskzo I, and I'm related to the entire Piast Dynasty, despite being mostly British, Welsh, French, Scottish, German, and Swedish, with a bit of Irish and Dutch

I would also add that the wife of Mieszko II and the mother of Casimir I the Restorer came from Germany - her mother was from Ottonian dynasty, maybe one of the most prestigous dynasty in these times. Do after Mieszko II every Piast had a bit of imperial blood.

Nice cliffhanger!

The Czartoryski family is the closest to the Jagiellonian right now.

Wouldn't it be interesting to follow the line of the Jagiellonian House to find out who would be King of Poland today? Would love a video on that!

One thing you forgot is that Casimir the Restorer was son of Richenza of Lotharingia, thus he was descendant of Charlemange from her line. EDIT: Casimir the Great, didn't have LAWFULL sons, but he had MANY unlawfull children, which were not considered during the succesion. He was basicaly bastard breeder. Louis the "Great" is recorded in Polish history as Louis the "Hungarian" because in his reign Poland didn't grow in power, and he wasn't liked much, because he neglected Poland. But he was also descending from the Piasts to some degree (afaik), which is why he succeded Casimir the Great as King of Poland. EDIT: As to who would be new King of Poland, Polish monarchy was always somewhat elective, Piast was CHOOSEN to be the Prince by the people, after overthrowing the tyrant Popiel. The Popielid dynasty is seen as somewhat historical, but mythical at the same time. The first Ruler of that Dynasty was supposed to be Lech, which is why Poland is in some places known as Lechia, and Poles known as Lechici. Thus is stands to reason, that ANYONE could become King of Poland, as long as he is well liked, and people choose to elevate him as King. Thus I propose that I get elected as King of Poland.

Good job! And I'm particularly glad you did the research how to ponounce things.

I think that it would be quite interesting to look at the Piast descendants. The line of Kazimierz the Great was not the only one. There were a few other branches that lasted until the early XVIII century by a male line. Those would be adequate candidates to claim the Polish throne as well.

5:57 it's Masovia, not Mosovia (a misspelling). Otherwise, great work :)

If Poland would decide to elect king once more I would vote for another Pan Zagłoba, herbu Wczele.

I think the mexican citycen as princess ellene elizabeth louis amelie dolores poniatwosky and their familiars are the rightful royal family of poland.

Partition of Poland: *enraged Feuilly raises fist!*

I'm not good at english so i will write it in polish. I hope you will understand. Ostatni król z dynastii de Valois w Polsce, po namówieniu szalchty przekazał tron swojej córce. A więc w Polsce w razie braku męskiego potomka, tron dziedziczyła córka. W te wakacje bardzo się nudziłem i postanowiłem sprawdzić kto byłby królem Polski gdyby nie ustanowiono monarchii elekcyjnej (z uwzględnieniem prawa dziedziczenia wspomnianego wcześniej). Doprowadziło mnie do ciekawych wyników. Królem powinien być aktualny król Holandii. Życze miłego dnia Kacper

Would you mind doing a Kings of Ireland Family Tree and a Japanese Mythology Family Tree?

Elective monarchy in Poland started in 1386 but at the beginning it worked like in the other countries and rulers were chosen only from the ruling dynasty - that's one of the reasons that Vladislaus II didn't become king of Poland being the oldest son of the previous king. Sigismund I wanted his son to inherit Poland and Lithuania and made him co-ruler of Lithuania in 1529 and Poland in 1530. In 1569 when it was clear that Sisismung II won't have an heir the Commonwealth was formed and started free election when anyone could become king. In 1791 Poland abolished the elective monarchy and decided that after the death of Stanisław August Poniatowski the crown would go to Wettins as the hereditary title. That's one of the reasons why Frederick Augustus became duke of Warsaw and Napoleon didn't give this title to any of his brothers. When you mentioned early intermarriages of Piasts you could add that according to Thietmar of Merseburg and some other chroniclers daughter of Mieszko I and sister of Bolesław the Brave married Eric the Victorious and later Sweyn Forkbeard and was the mother of Cnut the Great.

Video is 4 years old now - but still I would like to point out that after the napoleonic wars Tsar Alexander I crowned himself King of Poland - the Russian part of Poland was formally named Kingdom of Poland (the Habsburg part named fictional Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria) Last king was Nikolai I deposed in 1831 (Romanovs still titled themselves kings of Poland until 1917). The Wettins are claimants to Polish throne by the Constitution of 1791 which ended the electoral monarchy in favour of the Wettin line.

If it were to restore monarchies in Poland, then no one would be elected from outside the border, or less likely someone from the remaining Polish nobility. The election monarchy was an expression of the greatest manifestation of freedom that we could have at that time, bringing together rich, influential, and more importantly those responsible for defending the country. Given the values that guided it, the restored monarchy would not be very different from current democracy. In this country, many things are slow and seemingly very handicapped compered to the West, but one thing that motivates all citizens is this "freedom" from the old days and the opportunity to self-determination. So a probable electoral ruler could improve much in Poland due to a much longer period of reign than the President / Prime Minister, bc everything would not change every next 8 years, and if he did wrong, like many others, it would be dethroned by other citizens / nobilites. With my most accurate shot, I assume that the succession of the elective monarchy would translate into someone we don't know, just as an electrician could become the first President in the III RP. Which best illustrates the freedom we want

Great video, as a monarchist I would like to restore the Wettins.

Brother if Poland would chose a king today I can tell u it definitely would not b anyone of germanic blood period. There's an old Polska saying- as the world turns the German shall never b a Slavs brother! This is not the Slavs fault but only the Germans just look at our history...

I noticed an inaccuracy in this tree - it concerns Anna Świdnicka (Anna of Swidnica) 6:28, who came from the Silesian Piast line. She was the daughter of the Duke of Ziębice, who was raised in Świdnica by Prince Bolko II the Little also called of Świdnica (grandson of King Władysław I the Elbow-high) and his wife Agnieszka Habsburg, who had no children. After their death, Anna received Świdnica and the areas of the Duchy of Świdnica and Jawor as a dowry, so after her marriage with Charles I they were incorporated into the Czech.

About Władysław II sharing title with Witold: the didn't share it officialy Władysław was the highest Duke of lithuania (that's how i'd translate it) and Witold was the high Duke

Can you do a Bohemian Dukes and Kings video?

I see Poland I click I do my part for my country.

The first polish King Bolesław I was crowned in 1025 some months before his death ;)

Also one of the Bosnian princesses,Elizabeth, married to Hungarian king and had two daughters Jadwiga and Maria if I remember right,but she also briefly ruled over the Poland too

I discoverd that i am a descendant of Mieszko III of Poland and Elisabeth of Hungary!

"King" Jadwiga. No. She was THE King. No need for quotemarks.

My Grandmother was Polish (I'm English)

Good job. Greetings from Poland

Some fun facts Władysław Jagiełło sired his first son (also Władyslaw) at the age of 62/72 (conflicting data) House of Piast actually existed to the XVII century due to the multitude of different silesian branches Augustus II is one of the guys who had the most offspring ever. Some suggest it might have been more than 300 kids. The bastard sure did have a busy life. On the other note, the lusty king was known for his physical strenght and it was told he could break a horseshoe with his bare hands, but y'know how it is, probably they were meant to crack

12:45 Henryk de Valois did not abdicate, he was detonated after escape from Poland. He did not give up "his" title until the end of his life

U wrong at "start" ..."hardly anyone knows that the descendant of Mieszko I. Knut the Great (also known as Canute) sat on the English throne, he was the king of England and - a bit shorter - Denmark and Norway. Her mother Sygrydda Storrada (also known as Świętosława) was the daughter of Mieszko and Dobrawa. Her brother was Bolesław the Brave."..." Knut Wielki (also known as Kanut) was born around 997 and lived to be 38 years old. His father was Swen Widłobrody, king of Denmark, Norway and England, and mother of Sygryd Storråd. In historiography, they also appear under the names of Gunhilda and Świętosław. Take care that she was the daughter of Mieszko I and Dobrawa. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The first husband of Piastówna was the king of Sweden, Eric the Victorious. The marriage was arranged by Mieszko, who wanted to strengthen his position in Western Pomerania. This movement was also aimed at the Kingdom of Denmark. After the birth of two children, Sygdynda was widowed, and her first-born Olaf became the king of Sweden. The queen alone made an alliance with Denmark, which harmed Norway's interests. To seal the deal, she offered the ruler Swen Widłobroda a marriage. Since she had no daughters, she married a king herself. "

In 1918 we decided to be a Republic and all aristocrats in new polish parliament decided to declare all aristocratic and monarch's laws and privileges as a illegal . Monarchy in Poland is dead subject. Fun fact paying for King life in Poland will be cheaper than Church and Miners....

Sophia of Halshany is actually Queen Jadwiga's relative thus has connection to the Piast Dynasty. When Queen Jadwiga died he command her husband on her deathbed in order to continue his reign as King of Poland he must married someone from her relatives thus 2 of his wifes are related to Jadwiga

Just a note about the possible modern king of Poland: nobody in Poland today would accept a German national as a king, no matter how legitimate their claim.

Nice! Still waiting for a video about 'Who'd be the Grand Duke of Lithuania' ;)

In the Polish constitution the succession to the throne was introduced during the reign of Stanisław Poniatowski, so his descendants have the greatest rights to the throne.

Before the partitions poland became a republic in fact

Great pronunciation, great job. I'am expert of polish royal genealogy, I have all of that just in my head. You didn't make any mistake in this video.

this is weird... i'm Polish and i am watching about my country history in English :P

I love how english people pronounces polish names

Poland is an elective monarchy, so i think that it will be complicated Edit : *it is*

Poland was a monarchy before 1918, it was a regency however the Habsburgs, mainly Karl Stephan of Austria-Este were favoured. Also, the Habsburgs are direct descendents from the House of Jagiellonian and for that have a claim for the Polish Throne, a better one honestly than any elected king

Bulgarian tree on this chart is like half cut out. Literally you start from the middle with Simeon I.