List of Polish monarchs

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, kings were elected by the nobility (14th to 18th centuries).

Duke Mieszko IadoptedChristianity under the authority of Rome in the year 966. He was succeeded by his son, Bolesław I the Brave, who greatly expanded the boundaries of the Polish state and ruled as the first king in 1025. The following centuries gave rise to the mighty Piast dynasty, consisting of both kings such as Mieszko II Lambert, Przemysł II or Władysław I the Elbow-high and dukes like Bolesław III Wrymouth. The dynasty's rule over Poland ceased with the death of Casimir III the Great in 1370. In the same year, the Capetian House of Anjou became the ruling house with Louis I of Hungary as king of both Poland and Hungary. His daughter, Jadwiga, later married Jogaila, the pagan Grand Duke of Lithuania, who in 1386 was baptised and crowned as Władysław II Jagiełło. After Jadwiga had died in 1399 without surviving children, the Polish hereditary monarchy ended. Władysław remained on the throne as elected king. His descendants continued to be chosen as monarchs by noblemen, creating the Jagiellonian dynasty, and during this time, a personal union between Poland and Lithuania took place.

During the reign of Casimir IV Jagiellon and Sigismund I the Old, culture flourished and cities developed. This era of progress, also known as the Polish Renaissance, continued until the Union of Lublin under Sigismund II Augustus, which unofficially marked the end of the Polish Golden Age. After the death of the last Jagiellonian king, the united Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth continued the policy of elective monarchy, with mostly foreigners elected as monarchs, such as Henry III of France, who witnessed the introduction of the Golden Liberty system, and Stephen Báthory, a capable military commander who strengthened the nation. The Vasa dynasty, which descended from Jagiellons, initially expanded the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth as the arts and crafts developed, as well as trade and commerce. King Sigismund III Vasa, a talented but somewhat despotic ruler, involved the country in many wars, which subsequently resulted in the successful capture of Moscow and the loss ofLivonia to Sweden. His son, Władysław IV Vasa, fiercely defended the Commonwealth's borders and continued the policy of his father until his death, unlike John II Casimir, whose tragic rule resulted in his abdication.

The election of John III Sobieski to the Polish throne proved to be beneficial for the Commonwealth. A brilliant military tactician, John III led the coalition forces to victory at Vienna in 1683 and he partially recaptured land from the Ottoman Empire. However, in the following years, the contested rule of the Wettin dynasty (Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland) placed the Commonwealth under the influence of Saxony and the Russian Empire. Additional feuds with rebel nobility (szlachta) and most notably Stanislaus I Leszczyński and France diminished the influence of Poland–Lithuania in the region, which led to the partitions that occurred under King Stanisław August Poniatowski, yet another enlightened but ineffective monarch.

During the Napoleonic Wars, Frederick Augustus I of Saxony, ruled as Duke of Warsaw and attempted to rehabilitate the Polish state. After the Congress of Vienna, the territory of Poland was again divided by the Prussia (with the Prussian King as Grand Duke of Posen), Russia (Congress Poland was founded in 1815 with the Emperor of Russia as King of Poland) and Austria (with the Austrian Emperors as Kings of Galicia and Lodomeria). A new Kingdom of Poland was proclaimed as an independent state in 1916 with a Regency Council but the monarchy was abolished and a parliamentary republican authority was established when Poland was re-constituted as a sovereign state in 1918.