Ladislaus the Short

Ladislaus the Short (1260-1333), the younger brother of Leszek the Black, inherited the province of Kuyavia and had plans for unifying the Polish territory. In 1296-1300, following a number of minor conquests, he captured the senior province and the principality of Sandomierz. Prevented by Wenceslas II from taking Cracow, he appealed for assistance to the Hungarians who helped him conquer Little Poland. However he lost Gdansk Pomerania to the Order of the Teutonic Knights. In 1311, he suppressed a rebellion of the Cracow townspeople, and then captured Great Poland. He knew what he wanted and how to get it. In 1320, he crowned himself in Cracow. This date is regarded as the end of the feudal disintegration of Poland. [art]