The Children of Adam and Eve

He was called Lokietek ("the short"). He reunited the independent principalities into which Poland had been divided for nearly two centuries. He was of the Piast dynasty and the Polish nobles elected him their ruler in 1296. When they reversedtheir election four years later, Wladyslaw took up arms to bring the country together under his rule. By 1314 he had conquered most of present-day Poland, except for Pomerania, on the Baltic, which had been seized in 1308-9 by the TeutonicKnights. By 1320, however, Wladyslaw was powerful enough to be crowned king of Poland at Krakow, which he made his capital. Despite some victories over the Teutonic Knights, the war he fought against them (1327-33) was inconclusive.Nevertheless, he left his son and successor, Casimir III, a firm base for the subsequent growth of Poland.