Casimir Jagiellon was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The second son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon, he was tutored by Johannes Longinus, a Polish chronicler and diplomat. After his elder brother Vladislaus was elected as King of Bohemia in 1471, Casimir became the heir apparent. At the age of 13, Casimir participated in the failed military campaign to install him as King of Hungary. He became known for his piety, devotion to God, and generosity towards the sick and poor. He became ill and died at the age of 25. He was buried in Vilnius Cathedral. His canonization was initiated by his brother King Sigismund I the Old in 1514 and the tradition holds that he was canonized in 1521.
The House of Vasa or Wasa was an early modern royal house founded in 1523 in Sweden. Its members ruled the Kingdom of Sweden from 1523 to 1654 and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1587 to 1668. Its agnatic line became extinct with the death of King John II Casimir of Poland in 1672.
Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn is the prominent Christian icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated by the faithful in the Chapel of the Gate of Dawn in Vilnius, Lithuania. The painting was historically displayed above the Vilnius city gate; city gates of the time often contained religious artifacts intended to ward off attacks and bless passing travelers.
Barbara Radziwiłł was Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania as consort of Sigismund II Augustus, the last male monarch of the Jagiellon dynasty. Barbara, a great beauty and already widowed, became a royal mistress most likely in 1543 and they married in secret in July or August 1547. The marriage caused a scandal; it was vehemently opposed by Polish nobles, including Queen mother Bona Sforza. Sigismund Augustus, assisted by Barbara's cousin Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł and brother Mikołaj "the Red" Radziwiłł, worked tirelessly to gain recognition of their marriage and to crown Barbara as Queen of Poland. They succeeded and Barbara's coronation was held on 7 December 1550 at Wawel Cathedral. However, her health was already failing and she died just five months later. Even though it was brief, her reign propelled the Radziwiłł family to new heights of political power and influence.
The Union of Grodno was a series of acts of the Polish–Lithuanian union between Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first acts were signed in 1432 during the Lithuanian Civil War of 1431–1435. The acts confirmed the Union of Vilnius and Radom (1401). The Union established Sigismund Kęstutaitis as the Grand Duke of Lithuania and re-established Władysław II Jagiełło's seniority and dynastic interest in Lithuania.
The Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established on the orders of King Casimir III the Great and enlarged over the centuries into a number of structures around an Italian-styled courtyard. It represents nearly all European architectural styles of the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.
The Cathedral Basilica of St Stanislaus and St Ladislaus of Vilnius is the main Catholic cathedral in Lithuania. It is situated in Vilnius Old Town, just off Cathedral Square. Dedicated to the Christian saints Stanislaus and Ladislaus, the church is the heart of Catholic spiritual life in Lithuania.
Three Crosses is a prominent monument in Vilnius, Lithuania, on the Hill of Three Crosses, originally known as the Bald Hill, in Kalnai Park. According to a legend, which finds its source in some historic events, seven Franciscan friars were beheaded on top of this hill. Wooden crosses have been sited in the location since the early 17th century, and they became a symbol of the city and an integral part of the city's skyline.
The Vilnius Castle Complex is a group of cultural, and historic structures on the left bank of the Neris River, near its confluence with the Vilnia River, in Vilnius, Lithuania. The buildings, which evolved between the 10th and 18th centuries, were one of Lithuania's major defensive structures.
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Lithuania. Established as the Diocese of Vilnius in the 14th century, it was elevated to the rank of a metropolitan archdiocese by Pope Pius XI on October 28, 1925. It has two suffragan sees of Kaišiadorys and Panevėžys.
The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a Roman Catholic church located in the Antakalnis neighbourhood of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is the centerpiece of a former monastery complex of the Canons Regular of the Lateran. Its interior has masterful compositions of some 2,000 stucco figures by Giovanni Pietro Perti and ornamentation by Giovanni Maria Galli and is unique in Europe. The church is considered a masterpiece of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Baroque. It was funded by Michał Kazimierz Pac, commemorating a victory over the Muscovites and their expulsion from Vilnius after six years of occupation.
The Church of St. Johns, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist is located at the Old Town of Vilnius, Lithuania and dominates the university ensemble. Since the times of the Jesuit Academy professors and students used to pray here, and Vilnius theologians gave sermons. It was a place for performances and disputes, where theses were defended and kings greeted.
The Church of St. Casimir is a Roman Catholic church in Vilnius' Old Town, close to the Vilnius' Town Hall. It is the first and the oldest baroque church in Vilnius, built in 1618.
Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit, Vilnius is a church in Vilnius, Lithuania, a monument of high and late Baroque. Crowned with a cupola, it stands out in the panorama of the old town and can be seen from surrounding streets.
Franciscan martyrs of Vilnius are 14 semi-legendary Franciscan friars murdered in Vilnius, capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, during the reign of Algirdas (1345–77). The story was first recorded in the Bychowiec Chronicle, a generally unreliable source from the early 16th century, and was further embellished, conflated, and confused by later chroniclers and historians. Nonetheless, the cult of the martyrs spread in the 16th century. A prominent monument in Vilnius, the Three Crosses, was originally erected in their memory sometime before 1648. Around the same time Bishop Jerzy Tyszkiewicz started canonization procedures, but they were abandoned. At the advent of critical historiography in the 20th century, the story was dismissed as fictional in its entirety. However, newer research attempts to restore some credibility to the legend.
John of the Lithuanian Dukes was Bishop of Vilnius (1519–36) and of Bishop of Poznań (1536–38). He was the bishop when Protestantism was making the first inroads into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and took the first steps in combating it. John was an illegitimate son of Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his mistress Katarzyna Telniczanka.
The Pontifical College of St. Casimir is a priestly seminary in Rome, Italy. Named after Saint Casimir, the patron saint of Lithuania, it was established on 19 October 1945 to educate priests who had fled Soviet-occupied Lithuania.
Eustachy Wołłowicz was Bishop of Vilnius in 1616–1630. He was one of the more accomplished bishops of Vilnius in the 17th century.
The Society of Saint Casimir for the Education and Care of Young People was a society of the Lithuanians living in Vilnius Region which was controlled by the Second Polish Republic but claimed by the interwar Lithuania. Established in 1925 to promote the Lithuanian national identity and Catholicism, the society organized chapters and reading rooms in various towns and villages and organized various cultural events, mostly amateur theater performances. It had chapters in 482 locations in total and about 20,000 members in 1935.
Gediminas' Cap was the most important regalia of the Lithuanian monarchs who ruled the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until the Union of Lublin in 1569. During the inaugurations of Lithuanian monarchs, Gediminas' Cap was placed on the monarch's heads by the Bishop of Vilnius in Vilnius Cathedral.
