Kinga of Poland or Kinga of Hungary, also Saint Kinga (also known as Cunegunda; , , ) (5 March 1224– 24 July 1292) is a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and

patroness Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Biography

She was born in

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

, the daughter of King

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of Andrew II of Hungary, King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group ...

and

Maria Laskarina Maria Laskarina (, , 1206 – 24 June or 16 July 1270) was a Greek Queen consort of Hungary by marriage to King Béla IV of Hungary. She was the daughter of Theodore I Laskaris and Anna Komnena Angelina. Life She was a younger sister of Irene ...

. She was a niece of

Elizabeth of Hungary Elizabeth of Hungary (, , ; 7 July 120717 November 1231), also known as Elisabeth of Thuringia, was a princess of the Kingdom of Hungary and the landgravine of Thuringia. Elizabeth was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. After her hus ...

and great-niece of

Hedwig of Andechs Hedwig of Silesia (also Hedwig of Andechs (, , ; 1174 – 15 October 1243), a member of the Bavarian comital House of Andechs, was Duchess of Silesia from 1201 and of Greater Poland from 1231 as well as High Duchess consort of Poland from ...

. Kinga's sisters were

Margaret of Hungary Margaret of Hungary (''Margit'' in Hungarian; b. 1175 – d. after 1229) was a Hungarian princess from the House of Árpád. She was a Byzantine Empress by marriage to Isaac II Angelos (d. 1204), and Queen of Thessalonica by marriage to Boni ...

and

Jolenta of Poland Yolanda of Poland or Yolanda of Hungary, also Blessed Yolanda (''Jolanta'' in Polish; ''Jolán'' in Hungarian; also known as Helen; 1235 – 11 June 1298) was the daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. She was the sister o ...

. She reluctantly married

Bolesław V Bolesław or Boleslav may refer to: People * Bolesław (given name) (also ''Boleslav'' or ''Boleslaus''), including a list of people with this name Geography * Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland * Bolesław, Olkusz Coun ...

("the Chaste") and became princess when her husband ascended the throne as

High Duke of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Royal elections in Poland, free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electab ...

. Despite the marriage, the devout couple took up a vow of

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

. The marriage was largely arranged by, and the vow of chastity patterned after that of Bolesław's sister,

Salomea of Poland Salome of Poland (1211/1212 – 1268), also known as Salome of Cracow or Blessed Salome (), (1211–1268) was a Polish princess and from 1215 to 1219 the Queen of Halych by virtue of being the wife of Kálmán or Coloman of Galicia. Life Salom ...

. During her reign Kinga got involved in charitable works such as visiting the poor and helping the lepers. When her husband died in 1279, she sold all her material possessions and gave the money to the poor. She soon did not want any part in governing the kingdom which was left to her, and decided to become a

Poor Clare The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare (Latin: ''Ordo Sanctae Clarae''), originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and also known as the Clarisses or Clarissines, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Sec ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

in the monastery at Sandec (

Stary Sącz Stary Sącz is a small historic town in Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the seat of the Gmina Stary Sącz (commune), and one of the oldest towns in the country, receiving Magdeburg rights in the 13th century. Geography Star ...

). She would spend the rest of her life in contemplative prayer and did not allow anyone to refer to her past role as Grand Duchess of Poland. She died on 24 July 1292, aged 68.

Alexander VIII Pope Alexander VIII (; 22 April 1610 – 1 February 1691), born Pietro Vito Ottoboni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 October 1689 to his death in February 1691. He is the most recent pope to take the ...

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

Kinga on 11 July 1690. In 1695, she was made chief

and

. The cause for her canonization was opened on 13 July 1741, and on 16 June 1999, she was

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

Legend

Legend has it that Kinga threw her engagement ring into the Aknaszlatina salt mine in what was then Hungary. The ring miraculously traveled along with salt deposits to

Wieliczka Wieliczka (German: ''Groß Salze'', Latin: ''Magnum Sal'') is a historic town in southern Poland, situated within the Kraków metropolitan area in Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999. The town was initially founded in 1290 by Premislaus II of P ...

, where it was rediscovered. On this spot the miners erected a statue of Saint Kinga, carved entirely from salt, which is 101 meters under the Earth's surface.

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinga of Poland 1224 births 1292 deaths 13th-century Hungarian people 13th-century German nuns Beatified and canonised Árpádians Piast dynasty Hungarian princesses Queens consort of Poland

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

13th-century Christian saints Medieval Hungarian saints Polish Roman Catholic saints Hungarian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Hungarian people of Greek descent Polish people of Hungarian descent Polish people of Greek descent People from Esztergom Poor Clare abbesses Franciscan saints Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 13th-century Hungarian women Canonizations by Pope John Paul II Beatifications by Pope Alexander VIII Daughters of kings