Casimir IV Jagiellon

(1427 –1492) was the second son of Wladyslaw Jagiello, the Grand Duke of Lithuania who took Christian baptism and married the Polish Queen Jadwiga so uniting the two nations in an alliance that would deal the first of a series of ultimately fatal blows to the Teutonic Order at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410.
Casimir IV became Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1440 and King of Poland in 1447, until his death. He was one of the most active Polish rulers, under whom Poland, by defeating the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years’ War recovered Pomerania. The Jagiellonian dynasty became one of the leading royal houses in Europe.
The great triumph of his reign was bringing Prussia under Polish rule. The rule of Casimir corresponded to the age of “new monarchies” in western Europe. By the 15th century Poland had narrowed the distance separating it from western Europe and become a significant factor in international relations. Casimir IV was a recipient of the English Order of the Garter (KG), the highest order of chivalry and the most prestigious honour in England.
Following Casimir’s death in 1492, the kingdom was divided between his two sons – John I Albert succeeded him as King of Poland, and Alexander Jagiellon was proclaimed Grand Duke of Lithuania.