John I Albert
John I Albert was King of Poland from 1492 to his death and Duke of Głogów from 1491 to 1498. He was the fourth Polish sovereign from the Jagiellonian dynasty and the son of Casimir IV and Elizabeth of Austria.
Related to the House of Habsburg, John Albert was groomed to become emperor in the Holy Roman Empire, a plan that ultimately failed. He was well-educated and tutored by scholars such as Johannes Longinus and Callimachus, whom he had subsequently befriended. Heavily influenced by the Italian Renaissance, John sought to strengthen royal authority at the expense of the Catholic Church and the clergy. In 1487, he led a force against the Ottoman Empire and defeated the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate during the early phase of the Polish–Ottoman War. In the aftermath of the Bohemian–Hungarian War, John Albert attempted to usurp Hungary from his elder brother Vladislaus, but on 20 February 1491, he renounced his claim to Hungary in exchange for the Duchy of Głogów and the suzerainty over half of Silesia.
John ascended to the Polish throne in 1492, and his younger brother Alexander was elected Grand Duke of Lithuania by an independent Lithuanian assembly, thus temporarily breaking the personal union between the two nations. He was proclaimed the king by an oral ballot orchestrated by his brother Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon. To secure his succession against the Piast princes from the Duchy of Masovia, he dispatched an army to the electoral proceedings, which alienated the higher nobles and magnates. He later invaded Masovia to deprive Konrad III of his ancestral holdings and curtail internal opposition to his rule. In 1497, John Albert launched a personal crusade into Moldavia to uphold Polish suzerainty, establish control over Black Sea ports and dethrone Stephen III in favour of John Albert's brother Sigismund. The campaign's failure greatly hindered Polish expansion into Southern Europe, preventing any significant further expansion.
John Albert remains a largely forgotten and overlooked figure in the history of Poland, his relatively short reign ended in a major military setback, and he was criticised during his lifetime for embracing absolutism as well as attempting to centralise the government. He is credited for creating a bicameral parliament, comprising the Senate and the Sejm, which granted lower-class gentry the right of expression in the matters of state. Conversely, he limited the movement of peasants by confining them to nobles' estates for life.
Early life, 1459–1492
Birth and family background
John was born on 27 December 1459 at Wawel Castle in Kraków, which served as the seat of Polish monarchs. He was one of thirteen children and the third son born to Casimir IV Jagiellon and Elizabeth Habsburg. His mother was the second child of Albert II, Duke of Austria and King of the Romans, and the granddaughter of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor. It was the ambition of John's parents to install one of their sons as Emperor in the Holy Roman Empire. Thus, he received the second name Albert at christening to honour his maternal grandfather and in the hope of securing his candidacy to the Imperial throne.Paternally, John was the grandson of Jogaila, the pagan ruler of Lithuania who, upon the marriage to Jadwiga of Poland, adopted Catholicism, converted his native people to Christianity and was crowned King of Poland as Władysław II Jagiełło in 1386. Subsequently, his descendants held a strong claim to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Lithuanian lords were at first apprehensive about forming a union with Poland. The Lithuanian nobility and minorities feared that merging the two countries would threaten their sovereignty. The Poles were also dissatisfied as the Jagiellonians possessed no blood relations with their predecessors, the Piasts, who de facto ruled since the creation of statehood in AD 966. In the wake of Władysław II's death, his eldest son Władysław III succeeded him in Poland, and Casimir, his younger son, in Lithuania. Władysław III was killed in the Battle of Varna in 1444, which made Casimir and his sons potential successors to both titles. Casimir was reluctant to accept the Polish crown and only did so when his opponents, Bolesław IV of Warsaw and Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg, strengthened their efforts. Raised abroad, he was initially branded as illegitimate by the Poles and was influenced by the Lithuanian gentry, whom he supported in their calls for a separate state.
John's successiont to the throne came entirely by accident. His eldest brother, Vladislaus was to inherit Poland and Lithuania by primogeniture. This changed when George of Poděbrady pledged to make Vladislaus his heir in neighbouring Bohemia on the condition that Casimir IV negotiated a peace treaty with Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. Although that negotiation failed, the Bohemian Diet elected Vladislaus the King of Bohemia following George's death in 1471. Casimir IV's second son and his namesake, Casimir, then became the new heir apparent in Poland, however, he fell ill with tuberculosis and died in 1484. Six years later, Vladislaus was proclaimed King of Hungary, which was met with hostility from a faction of Hungarian nobles advocating for John Albert. Motivated by the Hungarians, John briefly invaded Hungary to usurp the title but was defeated by his brother at Košice in 1491 and again at Prešov in 1492. In spite of the conflict, the bond between the two siblings remained unhindered, and Vladislaus made John the Duke of Głogów for life to satisfy his ambition.
Education
Casimir IV was determined to educate all his sons equally and prepare them to assume the role of a monarch. In September 1467, chronicler and historian Johannes Longinus was entrusted by Casimir with tutoring the royal children, including young John. Longinus, a deeply spiritual man, made sure that the princes were raised with great care and in accordance with Church laws. During their childhood, John and his brother Alexander were instructed to regularly visit the tombs of past sovereigns in an attempt to strengthen their allegiance to Poland. Latin and German, law, history, rhetoric, and classical literature were part of the rigid curriculum. According to the 16th-century political writer Stanisław Orzechowski, John was subjected to corporal punishment which was encouraged by his father.The Italian humanist and diplomat Filippo Buonaccorsi, known as Callimachus or Kallimach, exercised immense authority and influence over John in his early years and during his reign. He was initially appointed royal advisor and mentor at the behest of Queen Elizabeth. Buonaccorsi was described as more lenient and moderate than Longinus; he amended the syllabus with chess, sports and ancient studies concerning the works of Cicero and Virgil. Radical for the time, many of his ideas and theories were later endorsed by John, such as limiting the power of the clergy and centralising the government. Buonaccorsi further argued for the strengthening of the king's authority, and asserting an absolute monarchy, at the expense of the nobility and inconspicuously advocated for the split with Rome. His appeal extended beyond politics and diplomacy; he befriended John and remained his most trusted courtier until he died in 1496.
Reign, 1492–1501
Accession, 1492
In accordance with the Union of Horodło, Lithuania was to elect the Grand Duke by its own independent assembly of nobles in Vilnius. In turn, the Polish Crown Diet was obliged to nominate the King of Poland. These titles could be shared by one individual whose election was confirmed by both assemblies. On his deathbed, Casimir IV requested that John succeed him in the Crown and Alexander Jagiellon in the Grand Duchy. Lithuanian dignitaries were satisfied with the proposition; a cluster of Polish nobility wished to continue the personal union between the two countries and initially opted for Alexander.An electoral tribunal convened on 15 August 1492 in the city of Piotrków. The assembled nobles were to decide which candidate should ascend the throne. John's successful 1487 engagement during the Polish–Ottoman War against the Crimean Khanate and its Tatar units in the far east was a considerable determinant. Others pointed out his failed intervention in Hungary against his brother. Personal characteristics made the nobles agitated; although intelligent, John Albert was often described as supercilious and intolerably arrogant. In consequence, the Tęczyński and Leszczyński magnates voiced their support for John's younger brother Sigismund, distinguished by his intellect and presumed chastity.
Quarrels between highly-elevated members of state marked the tribunal; it was their course of action that determined the outcome. A considerable threat to the assembly were Janusz II of Płock and his brother Konrad, escorted a company of 1,000 hardline soldiers sent from the Duchy of Masovia. Janusz's candidacy was endorsed by a strictly covert contingent of conservatives, whose intention was to restore the ancient House of Piast on the Polish throne. Zbigniew Oleśnicki, Primate of Poland, was part of that faction but was unable to attend due to poor health. Thereby, the Queen Dowager Elizabeth nominated her acquiescent son, Frederick Jagiellon, to lead the proceedings in his stead.
File:01503 Gravierte Platte vom Grabmal des Kardinals Friedrich in der Kathedrale zu Krakau.png|thumb|right|upright=.6|Epitaph of Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon, who contributed to John's election in 1492.
An army of 1,600 men was dispatched to counter Janusz and Konrad if their troops resorted to violence. Meanwhile, John preoccupied himself with negotiations and aimed to procure the Prussian vote by recognising Lucas Watzenrode as the new Prince-Bishop of Warmia. In the end, it was Frederick's personal intervention that secured the crown for John, who was unanimously proclaimed king by an oral ballot amongst the shrieks of nobles on 27 August 1492. A courier carried the news to the burghers of Kraków, which brought great joy to the townsfolk and prompted a bonfire celebration. The entourage then hurried to the capital, where he was crowned at Wawel Cathedral just less than a month later, on 23 September, by his ailing adversary Oleśnicki.
John Albert's first months as king were unsettling and marred by insecurities. The Masovian Dukes still posed a considerable threat and placed his reign in jeopardy, with Masovia being independent of Poland at the time. In December 1492, John turned to Vladislaus and formed a much needed military alliance with Hungary against common foes. The brothers pledged mutual assistance and vowed to quell any opposition that undermined their rule.