Hedwig of Sagan

Hedwig of Sagan
Queen consort of Poland
Tenure	1365–1370
Born	before 1350
Died	27 March 1390 (aged 39-40) Silesia
Burial	Silesia
Spouse	Casimir III of Poland Rupert I of Legnica
Issue	Anna, Countess of Celje Kunigunde of Poland Jadwiga of Poland Barbara, Duchess of Saxe-Wittenberg Agnes of Legnica
House	House of Piast
Father	Henry V of Iron
Mother	Anna of Mazovia

Hedwig of Sagan (Polish: Jadwiga żagańska; before 1350 – 27 March 1390) was Queen of Poland as the fourth wife of Casimir III. Casimir's lack of male heir spelled the end of the Piast Dynasty in the Kingdom of Poland. After Casimir's death in 1370, she remarried Rupert I of Legnica.

Hedwig was the third of five children born to Henry V of Iron and his wife Anna, daughter of Duke Wenceslaus of Płock. Her brothers were Henry VI the Older, Henry VII Rumpold, Henry VIII the Sparrow, and her only sister was Anna, wife of Jan I of Racibórz.

Casimir III of Poland had two daughters Elizabeth and Cunigunde by his first wife Aldona of Lithuania. Casimir's second marriage to Adelaide of Hesse was loveless and childless; they spent most their marriage apart from each other. His third wife Christina Rokiczana, his mistress and a widow of a wealthy merchant, also bore no children. Casimir needed a son and he chose Hedwig as it would to strengthen his ties with Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor.

Hedwig married Casimir III of Poland around 1365. However, Casimir was committing bigamy as was still legally married to his second wife (it is unknown whether Christina was still alive at the time). Casimir forged a papal dispensation because he was related to Hedwig by a fourth degree. In 1368 Pope Urban V allowed Casimir to stay with Hedwig since his marriage to Christina was invalid. Adelaide died in 1371.

...
Wikipedia