History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 318, the Baltic, the Baltic Crusades, the Lithuanian Conflict Part 23, Coronation Crisis. Hello again. Now before we start on this week's episode I have a quick announcement to make. The announcement is, the final episode on the Baltic Crusades

will be our final episode for the year 2019. So how's that for timing?

So episode 321, the last episode in the current series,

and in fact the last episode on this current feed will air on the 20th of December

and I'll be back sometime in the new year with a new feed and a new series on the rise of Andalusia and the Spanish Reconcista.

So in case you were wondering what the schedule was for the rest of this year, now you know. Okay back to the narrative. Last week

we saw Kenya Gyla of Poland become the happy father to two young boys. However, while solving

Yagyla's succession issues, the birth of Yagyla's sons upset Imperial plans to get a German prince on the Polish throne,

a prince who was being groomed to marry Yagila's daughter and previous heir Yadviga.

Yadviga's claim to the throne was nullified by the birth of her new baby half-brothers, and for good measure, Yadweger herself later conveniently died suddenly

and unexpectedly, leaving the succession path clear for the baby boys.

The rising power of the Kingdom of Poland was causing alarm bells to ring, even amongst Poland's allies.

Emperor Sigismund, whose plan to influence the Kingdom of Poland via Yadviga's future husband had now come to nothing, came up with a new plan designed to clip Poland's wings.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been slowly distancing itself from its former close ally Poland,

by forging new ties with the Teutonic Order and by emphasizing its eastern leanings.

Leenings towards Orthodoxy, rather than Polish-Latin Christianity, and leanings towards the Russian principalities rather than its

neighbors to the West.

At the great conference of 1427, Emperor Sigismund decided to give Lithuania a boost, aimed

at assisting it to come out of Poland's shadow and stand on its own two feet. He did this by recommending that the now

elderly Grand Duke Vittortis be crowned a king, elevating him to the same status as that enjoyed

by King Agilah of Poland and raising the profile and power of Lithuania.

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