Page "Royal elections in Poland" Paragraph 9

The next election of a Polish king had occurred in 1386, with the selection of Władysław Jagiełło ( Jogaila ), Grand Duke of Lithuania, to be the first king of Poland's second dynasty.

Władysław Jagiełło was elected as king, marrying Louis I daughter, Jadwiga of Poland, but without any promise that his dynasty would be retained ; he would need to issue more privileges to the nobility to secure the guarantee that upon his death, one of his sons would inherit the throne.

The candidates were chosen by the royal council, confirmed by the delegates of nobility and towns during the sejm.

The principle of election continued in effect throughout the nearly two centuries of the Jagiellon Dynasty, although just like in the Piast times, it actually amounted to mere confirmation of the incoming heir.

The type of monarchy of Poland at that time could be described as " the hereditary monarchy with a elective legislature.

" A major reason for that was the desire on the part of Polish nobility to retain the Polish-Lithuanian union, and the Jagiellon dynasty were the hereditary rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

Nonetheless, the pretense of having a choice through elections was important for the nobility, and when in 1530 Sigismund I the Old attempted to secure the hereditary throne for his 10-year old son, this provoked a political crisis, and the Polish parliament, the sejm, ruled that a new king cannot be chosen during the life of his predecessor ( this issue became known in the Polish politics as the vivente rege ).