History of Poland (1385–1569)

Under the Jagiellon dynasty Poland forged a union with its neighbour, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1410, a Polish-Lithuanian army inflicted a decisive defeat on the Teutonic Knights, both countries' main adversary, in the battle of Grunwald. After the Thirteen Years' War, the Knight's state became a Polish vassal. The Jagiellons at one point also established dynastic control over the kingdoms of Bohemia (1471 onwards) and Hungary (from 1490 onwards).[11]

Polish culture and economy flourished under the Jagiellons, and the country produced such figures as astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and poet Jan Kochanowski. Compared to other European nations, Poland was exceptional in its tolerance of religious dissent, allowing the country to avoid the religious turmoil that spread over Western Europe at that time. Seventy-five Tatar raids were recorded into Poland and Lithuania between 1474–1569.[12] Some historians estimate that Crimean Tatar slave-raiding cost Poland one million of its population from 1494 to 1694