Casimir III the Great

King of Poland from 1333 to 1370

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Lived 1310–1370, aged 60

Wikipedia
59 languages
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Era
1310–1370
Aged 60

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

The only Polish king called "the Great," he closed out the Piast dynasty by choosing treaties over conquest and building a state that outlasted his bloodline. He codified law, founded Poland's first university, and left the crown to Hungary—having spent three decades making sure there was something worth inheriting.

Biography

About

Casimir III took the throne in 1333 and immediately bent toward the pragmatic: he signed away Silesia to Bohemia, made peace with the Teutonic Order, and turned his attention east, annexing Red Ruthenia in 1340 and holding it through years of war. At home he codified Polish law in the Statutes of Wiślica and Piotrków, earning the nickname "the Polish Justinian" for reforms that centralized royal authority and standardized the judiciary. He expanded protections for Jewish communities, encouraged migration and trade, built stone castles across the kingdom, and in 1364 founded the University of K…

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