The Casimir IV Family
of Lithuania and Germany
Researched and written by Margaret Odrowaz-Sypniewska

This page will explore the "madness" that occured in the German lines from the marriages of Sophia and Barbara, daughters of King Casimir IV of Poland (1427-1492). All lines who either married or had the "madness gene" are in green.

GENERATION ONE:

Kazimierz IV (1427-1492) Jagiellonczyk; King of Poland in 1446-1492, Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440-1492. Kazimierz married Elzbieta Habsburg (1438-1505) in 1452/4, daughter of King Albrecht II, Roman King of Bohemia and Hungary (1397-1439) and Elizabeth of Luxembourg (1409-1442). Elzbieta's Uncle was Ladislas V, King of Austria in 1404, Duke of Austria is 1440, and King of Bohemia and Hungary (1440-1457).

GENERATION TWO:

Children of Kazimierz IV
  1. Wladyslaw II (1456-1516), King of Bohemia from 1471-1516; and King of Hungary from 1490 through 1516. Wladyslaw II married (1)Barbara in 1476, daughter of Albrecht.(2) 1490 Beatrycza, daughter of King Ferdynanda. (3)1502 Anna, daughter of Gastona

  2. Jadwiga (1457-1502) married Jerzy Bogaty, Duke of Saxony OR George, Duke of Bavaria.

  3. Elzbieta (1472-1480)

  4. Anna (1476-1503) married Boleslaw X in 1491.

  5. St. Kazimierz (1458-1484) was canonized in 1602. For more on St. Casimir

  6. Jan I Olbracht (John I Albert) (1458-1484), King of Poland from 1492 through 1501.

  7. Zofia/Sophia(1464-1512) married Frederick/Frederich of Hohenzollern-Ansbach (1460-1536), in 1479. Margrave Friedrich the Elder of Brandenburg. Friedrich was labelled "mad" and was deposed on February 26, 1515. He was imprisoned in Plassenburg Castle overlooking the town of Kulmbach. After his imprisonment, he was not allowed to write or receive letters, he could not acccept presents or gifts, and was allowed no visitors without his son Casimir's permission. He was confined in Plassenburg from 1515-1528, and was never once visited by a doctor.

  8. Elzbieta (1465-1466)

  9. Aleksander (1461-1506), was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1492-1506; and the King of Poland 1501-1506. Aleksander married Helena in 1495, she was the daughter of Iwana III

  10. Sigismund I (1467-1548)/Zygmunt I Stary (1506-1548) married (1) Barbara Zapolya in 1512. (2) Bona Sforza, in 1518,

  11. Frederick/Frederyk (1468-1503), Bishop of Cracow; Archbishop of Gniezno, Cardinal

  12. Elzbieta (1483-1517) married Frederyk II in 1515.

  13. Barbara (1478-1534) married, in 1496, George, Duke of Saxony

GENERATION THREE

Children of Wladslaw, King of Hungary and Anna

  1. Anna (1503-1547) married Ferdynand I (had issue)

  2. Ludwik (1506-1528), King of Hungary in 1508. Ludwik married Maria, daughter of Filipa Pieknego Habsburg in 1522. They were childless

Children of Zygmunt I/Sigmund I and Barbara Zapolya

  1. Jadwiga (1513-1573) married Joachim II(1505-1571) Elector of Brandenburg in 1535 (had issue)

      Their children were:
    1. Elizabeth (1537-1595)
    2. Sigismund (1538-1566)
    3. Hedwig (1540-1602)
    4. Sophia (1541-1564)

    Joachim's wife (1) was Magdalen (1507-1534), daughter of George, Duke of Saxony. Joachim's parents were Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg(1484-1535) and Elizabeth (1485-1555), daughter of John I, King of Denmark.

  2. Anna (1515-1520)

Children of Sigismund I and Bona Sforza

  1. Isabella married Jan Zapolya in 1539 (had issue)

  2. Sigismund/Zygmunt II Augustus (1520-1572); King of Poland in 1529. Zygmunt married (1) Elzbieta, daughter of Ferdynanda Habsburg in 1543 (2) Barbara Cosztoldowa & Radziwillow in 1547 (3) Katarzyna, daughter of Ferdynanda Habsburg in 1553.

  3. Zofia (1522-75) married Henryk (they were childless).

  4. Anna(1523-1596) married Stefan Batory, Prince of Transylvania, King of Poland (1576-1586) in 1556 (childless marriage). In Hungary, Princess Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614) was also mentally unsound. Elizabeth was said to be a cousin to Stephen and Vlad Tepes of Romania.

  5. Catherine/Katarzyna (1526-1583) married John III (b. 1526), Vasa King of Sweden (1569-1592) in 1562, son of Gustav Vasa, King of Sweden (1523-1560) and his second wife, Margaret Lejonhvfvud (1514-1551), daughter of Eric Lejonhufvud.. John's brother was Charles IX, King of Sweden (1604-1611). John's half-brother was Eric XIV, King of Sweden (1560-1568)(son of Gustav's first wife, Catherine of Lauenburg. (This is the connection to the Swedish Dynasty, brought into Poland). Eric XIV (1569), King of Sweden (1533-1568) was mad and so was his brother Magnus, Duke of Ostergotland (1542-1595)
  6. Wojciech B: 1527.

Children of Duke George of Saxony and Barbara:

  1. Friedrich of Saxony (1504-1539) was labelled "mad."

Children of Margrave Friedrich and Sophia:

  1. Duke Albrecht of Prussia (1490-March 1568) was a former Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. He married Dutchess Anna Marie of Braunschweig (1532-March 1568). Anna Marie was the daughter of Duke Erich I of Braunschweig Gottingen and Calenburg (1495-1540). Her mother was Erich's second wife. She was Elizabeth of Brandenburg, Dutchess of Braunschweig-Luneberg, and Countess of Henneburg (1510-1558). Her mother Elizabeth had suffered hysteria from shortly after her daughter's birth, in 1535, until 1539, as did her own mother Electress Elizabeth of Brandenburg (1485-1550). There was suspected foul play in the death of Anna Marie. It was believed that Dutchess Anna Marie was poisoned, since she died at age 35 years, and had been healthy to that point. Duke Albrecht, on the other hand, had been ill for some time. This couple escaped madness themselves (they carried it), but were victims of treachery.

  2. Margrave Casimir (1481-1527) declared his father "mad."

  3. Johann

  4. Margrave George, the Pious (1484-1543)

  5. Elizabeth(1494-1510) married Ernst of Baden (1482-1553), son of Margrave Christoph I of Baden (1453-1527) who was labelled "mad" and was deposed by his sons.

GENERATION FOUR:

Children of Catherine and John III Vasa

  1. Sigismund III was born in 1566. He reigned from 1587 as Sigismund Vasa II, King of Poland. He was King of Sweden from 1592-1599. Sigismund married (1) Anna (1573-1598), daughter of Charles AD of Austria, in 1592. (2) Constantia Habsburg of Austria, in 1605, daughter of Charels AD of Austria. Both Anna and Constanza(Constantia) were the daughters of Charles of Styria (1540-1590), and his wife, Maria Anna of Bavaria.

  2. Anna

  3. John, Duke of Ostergotland (D: 1618)

Children of Margrave George the Pious:

  1. Anna Maria married Duke Christoph of Wurttemburg.

  2. Margrave Georg Friedrich of Brandenburg-Anabach (1539-1603) was not insane himself, but was appointed guardian of his cousin, Albrecht Friedrich of Prussia who was thought "mad." His father-in-law, Wilhelm, the younger of Braunschweig-Luneberg was also metally ill. Barbara fell into depression in 1567.

Children of Duke Albrecht of Prussia and Dutchess Anna Marie of Braunschweig:

  1. Duke Albrecht Friedrich of Prussia (1553-1618) was labelled "mad" and a Catholic "witch" from Polish Pomerania was called in to expel his demons. His doctors said that he suffered from a lack of exercise, bad food, a notched marriage, melancholia, and hemorroids. He married Marie Eleanor (d. 1603) of Julich-Cleves, sister of John Wilhelm, the last duke of Julich Cleves (mentally ill). Their father Duke Wilhelm V had a stroke in the 1560's and was not mentally competent from then until his death in 1592. Their mother, Maria of Hapsburg, inherited this gene of dementia from Juana "la loca" the mad mother of Emperor Charles V. Luckily they died without heirs. Duke Albrecht has epilepsy from childhood. On October 14, 1575, his second wedding anniversary, he was said to already be suffering melancholia.

GENERATION FIVE:

Children of Sigismund III and (1)Anna Hapsburg

Wladyslaw IV(1648); married (1) Cecilia Renata Habsburg. Their son was Sigmund Casimir (1640-1647) (2) Louise Maria Gonzaga (1611-1667)

The Children of Sigismund III and (2) Constantia Habsburg

  1. John Casimir (reigned 1648-1668) D: 1672***For more about John Casimir CLICK HERE

  2. John Albert, Bishop of Warmia, Bishop of Cracow, Cardinal D: 1634

  3. Charles Ferdinand, Bishop of Breslau, Bishop of Plock D: 1655)

  4. Alexander Charles D: 1634

  5. Anne Catherine D: 1661. Anne Catherine married Philip William, Duke of Neuburg

SOURCES:

Davies, Norman, God's Playground: A History of Poland, Volume 1. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.

Dziegelewska, Jan, et al, Encyklopedia Historii Polski. Warsaw: Morex s.c.-Egross, 1993.

Frost, Robert. After the Deluge: Poland-Lithuania and the Second Northern War 1655-1660. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1993, charts.

Louda, Jir and Michael MacLagan. Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2002.

Midelfort, H. C. Erik. Mad Princes of Renaisance Germany. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1996.

Viarowkin-Sheliuta Wladzislaw of the Association of the Belarusian Nobility

Wheatcroft, Andrew. The Habsburgs Embodying Empire. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.

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