Topic: Jadwiga and Jagiełło – union of Poland and Lithuania

Author of the script: Marcin Dyś

Target group

5th grade student of elementary school

Core curriculum

5th grade of elementary school

VII. Poland in the 14th and 15th centuries. Student:

1) describes the territorial development of the Polish state in the 14th and 15th centuries;

3) describes the relationship between Poland and Hungary in the 14th and 15th centuries;

4) explains the reasons for and evaluates the implications of the union of Poland with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania;

6) organizes and places in time the most important events related to Polish‑Teutonic relations in the 14th and 15th centuries.

The general aim of education

Students will learn about the reasons for the union between Poland and Lithuania and the ruler who initiated the new dynasty sitting on the Polish throne.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• explains why the Polish‑Lithuanian Union was concluded;

• characterizes Lithuania in the 14th century;

• tells who was Władysław Jagiełło and why he became the king of Poland;

• analyses the problems Poland had with the Teutonic Order.

Methods / techniques

• exposing methods: talk, explanations and comments from the teacher;

• programmed methods: using e‑textbook; using multimedia;

• problematic methods: activating methods: discussion;

• practical methods: exercises concerned, working with text, working with illustration.

Forms of work

• collective activity;

• individual activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard or traditional blackboard;

• tablets/computers;

• notebook and crayons/ felt‑tip pens.

Before classes

The teacher asks the students to recall the 14th century Polish‑Teutonic conflict and the attempts of subsequent rulers to resolve it.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the students the subject, explains the students the lesson objective and the criteria for success.

2. Referring to the topic: Jadwiga – the king of Poland, asks students how it happened that a woman became the ruler of the state, which was exceptional at that time. Continuing the thread, the teacher asks what dynasty Jadwiga came from.

Realization

1. Then the teacher asks the students to recall the figure of Jadwiga: where did she come from, who was she, and why was it decided to marry her off to Władysław Jagiełło – a pagan ruler? Students do Exercise 1 and Exercise 2 with the associated exercises. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

2. The teacher reminds the students of the reasons for the Polish‑Lithuanian alliance and the commitment that Jagiełło promised to make in exchange for Jadwiga's hand and the Polish crown. Students do  Exercise 3. Then, while characterizing the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the teacher asks the students to fulfil Task 1. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

3. The findings of the Polish aristocrats and Jagiełło were sealed with the Union of Krewo in 1385. The teacher emphasizes that it was not the first personal union in the history of Poland. The last one had taken place only 15 years earlier in 1370 with Hungary. Students fulfil Task 2 and Task 3. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

4. The teacher asks the students who in their opinion was dissatisfied with the Polish‑Lithuanian union and why. The students should themselves come to an answer: the Teutonic Order. If they have a problem with it, the teacher can guide them by telling them that it is the common enemy, someone who lost the pretext for invasions, etc.

5. Students, with the help of a teacher, remind the Polish‑Teutonic conflict on the basis of information from the homework task. The teacher tells about Lithuania’s problems with the Teutonic Knights by pointing to them as a common denominator, being also an impulse for the cooperation of both countries. Students fulfil Task 4 and do Exercise 4. The teacher provides feedback and checks the correctness of completed tasks.

Summary

1. The teacher summarizes the information gained during the lesson by opening a debate on the importance of union with Lithuania. The teacher asks the students whether such an alliance was needed by the Poles and whether it made sense.

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare an evaluation questionnaire for self‑assessment and assessment of the teacher's work and other students.

3. The teacher gives homework for volunteer students (it is not an obligatory part of the script): “Are there any personal unions today? Find out what their nature is, between what countries they exist and what was the reason for their conclusion?”

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Jadwiga and Jagiełło – union of Poland and Lithuania

Selection of a woman as king was an unprecedented situation in Europe at that time. In 1385, in Krewo, Polish nobles concluded an agreement with Jagiełło, Grand Duke of Lithuania (lit. Jogaila). Jagiełło was baptized (called Władysław), married Jadwiga and became the Polish king in 1386. Poland and Lithuania were merged with personal union. Both countries felt threatened by an aggressive neighbor – the state of the Teutonic Order. After the death of Jadwiga (in 1399), Władysław Jagiełło was accepted by Polish nobles as an independent king. He initiated the reign of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Poland.