General Notes

Casimir IV (1427-92), king of Poland (1447-92) and grand duke of Lithuania,
third ruler of the Jagiellon dynasty. A younger son of King Wladyslaw II,
Casimir succeeded his brother Wladyslaw III. Unpopular in Poland, where he was
thought to be too favorable to Lithuanians, he courted the support of the
lower nobility by giving them the right to refuse taxation. He fought a long
war against the Teutonic Knights, winning a great victory over them at
Zarnowiec (Puck) in 1462. Four years later, by the second treaty of Torun
(Thorn), he regained from the knights the extensive territory on the Baltic
coast that became known as West Prussia; the order also acknowledged him as
its overlord in East Prussia. From 1485 to 1489 Casimir aided his vassal,
Prince Stephen of Moldavia, in his struggle against the Ottoman Turks.
Casimir's son Wladyslaw was elected king of Bohemia in 1471 and of Hungary in
1490.