Wladyslaw III of Poland (31 October 1424-10 November 1444) was King of Poland from 1434 to 1444, succeeding Wladyslaw II of Poland and preceding Casimir IV of Poland, and King of Hungary and Croatia from 1440 to 1444, succeeding Albert II of Germany and preceding Ladislaus the Posthumous.
Biography[]
Ladislav was born in Krakow, Poland, and his name was Ladislav Jagiello. He was born into a Russian and Polish royal family, the House of Jagiello. He inherited the title of King of Poland, Hungary, Dalmatia, and Croatia, Lord of Krakow, Sandomierz, Sieradz, Leczyca, and Kuyavia, Prince of Lithuania, and heir of Ruthenia and Pomerania. Wladyslaw was thus powerful, as he was born to the Jagiellonian line. He was called the "bulwark of Christianity" against the expanding Islamic Ottoman Empire to the south, although true credit went to his brilliant general Janos Hunyadi. The two of them were placed in charge of the so-called "The Long Campaign" in 1444, and the two created a large army that was supposed to liberate large portions of Bulgaria and the lands south of there.
Death at Varna[]
King Ladislav and his forces (including forces from Poland, Hungary, Papal States, Bohemia, Wallachia, Moldavia, Lithuania, Croatia, the Teutonic Knights, and the Bulgarians), totaling some 30,000 troops, embarked on a chivalric quest to defend Christian Europe. The Christians were divided by differences in command and they were left with an inadequate amount of troops when Ottoman king Murad II met them in the Battle of Varna, November 1444. Ladislav and Hunyadi achieved great success and the Crusader army nearly pushed the Ottoman forces back. Ladislav ill-advisedly waded into the fighting on his horse with his bodyguards behind him, and he was beheaded. Wladyslaw's death turned the tide of battle and his forces collapsed. Hunyadi became the regent of Hungary after his death.