Catherine Jagiellon was a Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth princess and Queen of Sweden from 1569 as the wife of King John III. Catherine had significant influence over state affairs during the reign of her spouse. She negotiated with the pope to introduce Counter-Reformation in Sweden. She was the mother of Sigismund, King of Poland (1587-1632) and Sweden (1592-1599).
Portrait by Lucas Cranach the Younger (c. 1556)
Catherine the Jagiellonian in prison, by Józef Simmler.
Portrait of Catherine and John's daughter Isabella Vasa (1564–1566), attributed to Domenicus Verwilt. The portrait is today at Wawel Castle. It is thought to have been a gift to Catherine's sister Anna Jagiellon.
Catherine's grave monument over John's family crypt in Uppsala Cathedral
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, or simply Poland–Lithuania, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch in real union, who was both King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. It was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th- to 17th-century Europe. At its largest territorial extent, in the early 17th century, the Commonwealth covered almost 1,000,000 km2 (400,000 sq mi) and as of 1618 sustained a multi-ethnic population of almost 12 million. Polish and Latin were the two co-official languages, and Roman Catholicism served as the state religion.
The Union of Lublin joined the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1569.
Sigismund III Vasa, who reigned between 1587 and 1632, presided over an era of prosperity and territorial expansion of the Commonwealth.
Sejm (parliament) of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the early 17th century
John III Sobieski, victor over the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683.
