Alexander_Jagiellon

{{Infobox Monarch|
| name=Alexander Jagiellon
| image=[[Image:Aleksa.jpg|250px|Aleksander Jagiellończyk]] [[Image:Autograph-AleksanderJagiellonczyk.png|200px]]
| caption=
| date of birth={{birth date|1461|8|5|mf=y}}
| place of birth=[[Kraków]], [[Poland]]
| date of death={{death date and age|1506|8|19|1461|8|5|mf=y}}
| place of death=[[Vilnius]], [[Lithuania]]
| place of burial=[[Vilnius Cathedral]], [[Vilnius]], [[Lithuania]] ([[1506]])
| reign=[[July 30]], [[1492]]-[[August 19]], [[1506]] (Grand Duke of Lithuania) [[December 12]], [[1501]]-[[August 19]], [[1506]] (King of Poland)
| coronation=[[July 30]] [[1492]] in [[Vilnius Cathedral]] as Grand Duke of Lithuania [[December 12]], [[1501]] in [[Wawel Cathedral]] as King of Poland
| royal house=[[Gediminids]], [[Jagiellon]]
| father=[[Kazimierz IV Jagiellon]]
| mother=[[Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)|Elisabeth of Austria]]
| consort=[[Helena of Moscow]]
| issue=Male (Name Unknown) by Helena (Disputed)
}}
'''Alexander Jagiellon''' ([[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]]: '''''Aleksandras Jogailaitis'''''; [[Polish language|Polish]]: '''''Aleksander Jagiellończyk'''''; [[5 August]] [[1461]] – [[19 August]] [[1506]]), Grand Duke of [[Lithuania]] and later King of [[Poland]] and , 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 [[Jan I Olbracht]] ([[1501]]).

==Biography==
[[Image:Aleksander Jagiellonczyk.jpg|thumb|left|Drawing by [[Jan Matejko]]]]

Alexander's shortage of funds immediately made him subservient to the Polish Senate and nobility ([[szlachta]]), who deprived him of control of the mint (then one of the most lucrative sources of revenue for the Polish kings), curtailed his prerogatives, and generally endeavored to reduce him to a subordinate position. For want of funds, Alexander was unable to resist the Grand Master of the [[Teutonic Knights]] or prevent Grand Duke of Muscovy [[Ivan III of Russia|Ivan III]] from ravaging [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] with the [[Tatars]]. The most the Grand Duke of Lithuani could do was to garrison [[Smolensk]] and other strongholds and employ his wife Helena, the Tsar's daughter, to mediate a truce between his father-in-law and himself after the disastrous [[Battle of Vedrosha]] (1500). In the terms of the truce, Lithuania had to surrender about a third of its territory to the nascent expansionist Russian state.

During his reign, Poland suffered much humiliation at the hands of her subject principality, [[Moldavia]]. Only the death of [[Stephen III of Moldavia|Stephen]], the great ''[[hospodar]]'' of Moldavia, enabled Poland still to hold her own on the [[Danube River]]; while the liberality of [[Pope Julius II]], who issued no fewer than 29 bulls in favor of Poland and granted Alexander [[Peter's Pence]] and other financial help, enabled him to restrain somewhat the arrogance of the Teutonic Order.

Alexander Jagellon never felt at home in Poland, and bestowed his favor principally upon his fellow Lithuanians, the most notable of whom was the wealthy Lithuanian magnate [[Michael Glinski]], who justified his master's confidence by his great victory over the Tatars at [[Kleck]] ([[August 5]], [[1506]]), news of which was brought to Aleksander on his deathbed in [[Vilnius]]. There is some evidence that he had at least one son, leading to a surviving Jagiellon branch, although this is not conclusive.

It is important to note that Alexander Jagellon was the last known ruler of the [[Gediminids]] dynasty to have maintained the family's ancestral [[Lithuanian language]]. From his death, Polish became the sole language of the family, thus fully [[Polonization|Polonizing]] the [[Jagiellon]] family.

==Ancestors==
<center>{{ahnentafel-compact4
|style=font-size: 90%; line-height: 110%;
|border=1
|boxstyle=padding-top: 0; padding-bottom: 0;
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #999;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #bbb;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ddd;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #eee;
|1= '''Alexander Jagiellon'''
|2= [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]]
|3= [[Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)|Elisabeth of Austria]]
|4= [[Jogaila]]
|5= [[Sophia of Halshany]]
|6= [[Albert II of Germany]]
|7= [[Elisabeth II of Bohemia]]
|8= [[Algirdas]]
|9= [[Uliana Alexandrovna of Tver]]
|10=Andrew of Halshany
|11=Alexandra Drucka
|12=[[Albert IV, Duke of Austria]]
|13=[[Johanna of Bavaria, Queen of Bohemia]]
|14=[[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor]]
|15=[[Barbara of Celje]]
}}</center>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Senatus.JPG|King Alexander in [[Senate of the Republic of Poland|Polish Senate]], 1506.
Image:Kanclerz.jpg|Alexander and his ''[[kanclerz]]'' [[Jan Łaski]].
Image:Vilnius.Sv.Onos baznycia.Saint Ann's church2.jpg|[[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] [[St. Anne's Church, Vilnius|St. Anne's Church]] in [[Vilnius]] was constructed on his initiative in 1495-1500.
Image:Krakow Wawel 20070804 0930.jpg|In 1504 he ordered to rebuild the [[Wawel Castle|Wawel]] in a [[Renaissance architecture|Renaissance]] style.<ref>[http://www.wawel.krakow.pl/en/index.php?op=4 Wawel Castle]. History of the Royal Residence.</ref>
</gallery>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==See also==
{{commonscat|Alexander of Poland}}
* [[History of Poland (1385-1569)]]
* [[Sejm walny]]
* [[St. Anne's Church, Vilnius]]

==External links==
* [http://www.istorija.net/ Pages and Forums on the Lithuanian History]
*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3990 Aleksander Jagiellon on Find-A-Grave]

{{start box}}
{{succession box two to one|before1=[[Kazimierz IV Jagiellon]]|before2=[[Jan I Olbracht]]|title1=[[Grand Duke of Lithuania]]|title2=[[King of Poland]]|years1=1492–1506|years2=1501–1506|after=[[Zygmunt I the Old]]}}
{{end box}}
{{Monarchs of Lithuania}}
{{Monarchs of Poland}}

[[Category:1461 births]]
[[Category:1506 deaths]]
[[Category:Polish monarchs]]
[[Category:House of Jagiellon]]
[[Category:Grand Dukes of Lithuania]]
[[Category:Gediminids]]

[[be:Аляксандр Ягелончык]]
[[be-x-old:Аляксандар Ягелончык]]
[[de:Alexander (Polen)]]
[[et:Aleksander (Poola)]]
[[es:Alejandro I Jagellón]]
[[eo:Aleksandro (Pollando-Litovio)]]
[[fr:Alexandre Ier Jagellon]]
[[it:Alessandro Jagellone]]
[[lt:Aleksandras]]
[[hu:Sándor lengyel király]]
[[nl:Alexander van Polen]]
[[ja:アレクサンデル (ポーランド王)]]
[[pl:Aleksander Jagiellończyk]]
[[ru:Александр Ягеллон]]
[[sv:Aleksander Jagiellon]]
[[uk:Александр Яґеллончик]]
[[zh:亚历山大 (波兰)]]