2021-08-05 Thu

Alexander Jagiellon of the House of Jagiellon was the grand duke of Lithuania and later also king of Poland. He was the fourth son of Casimir IV Jagiellon. He was elected grand duke of Lithuania on the death of his father (1492) and king of Poland on the death of his brother John I Albert (1501).

The greatest challenge that Alexander faced upon assuming control of the grand duchy was an attack on Lithuania by Grand Duke Ivan III of Russia and his allies, the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate, which commenced shortly after his accession.

Alexander was the last known ruler of the Gediminid dynasty to have maintained the family's ancestral Lithuanian language. After his death, Polish became the sole language of the family, thus fully Polonising the Jagiellons.

Depicted here is a Lithuanian Denar of Grand Duke Alexander Jagiellon with Vytis (Waikymas) and the Polish Eagle, minted in Vilnius between 1495–1506.

Image Source: Wikipedia.org