WI; Casimir the Great of Poland has a son,

[Otto Kretschmer]

What if king Casimir the Great of Poland had a son and the Piast dynasty continued?

For sure this would mean no Polish-Hungarian union as Louis of Hungary never gets the Polish throne.

More importantly this means no Polish-Lithuanian union.

And then comes the question - what happens to Poland and Lithuania in such a scenario? Do we see at least some kind of alliance between Poland and Lithuania against the Teutonic Order? Does Lithuania convert to Catholicism or Orthodoxy?

[stevep]

Jul 14, 2024 8:09:02 GMT Otto Kretschmer said:

What if king Casimir the Great of Poland had a son and the Piast dynasty continued?

For sure this would mean no Polish-Hungarian union as Louis of Hungary never gets the Polish throne.

More importantly this means no Polish-Lithuanian union.

And then comes the question - what happens to Poland and Lithuania in such a scenario? Do we see at least some kind of alliance between Poland and Lithuania against the Teutonic Order? Does Lithuania convert to Catholicism or Orthodoxy?

  From a quick look at his wiki entry a lot might depend on what the PoD is and when he has his son.  He was married four times but divorced the 2nd and 3rd wives so - having had no children from the 3rd some sources treated the daughters from his 4th wife as illegitimate.  His 2nd wife Adelaide of Hesse with whom he seems to have had a poor relationships and was long separated before he divorced her in 1356 - which wasn't recognised by the pope.

  As such assuming the 2nd marriage goes as OTL any son by his 3rd or 4th wives could have problems of being considered of dubious legality as an heir.  Also he didn't marry No. 3 until 1356 and No. 4 until 1365 so any son by the last wife would also be very young if he still dies in 1370 which could make their position weak.  The article mentions that shortly before his death he tried to find a heir other than Louis of Hungary, including the young son of one of the daughters by his 1st wife but Louis managed to get to Krakow 1st and bribe the nobles to invalidate that part of Casinir's last will.

  Therefore the best bet would be him having a son by his 1st wife, possibly if she hadn't died in 1339, four years after their marriage.  She was Aldona of Lithuania so if they had a surviving son he would be fully mature by the time Casimir died, although with probably prepared by his father and supported by Lithuania.  A lot would depend on his character and judgement of course but that would seem the best option.

  Alternatively if he had a different 2nd wife or whatever problem that alienated him from Adelaide of Hesse was avoided and either way they had a son its likely to secure the succession of another Piast . 

  What happens then is up to the character of the new king and other events but especially if Aldona was the queen mother I would expect relations with Lithuania to be decent at least.