Notes from Poland recently had a report about research undertaken in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow at the tomb of King Władislaw I the Short, the “Elbow high” or “Little Ell”. As his nickname implies the King was noted for his lack of physical stature. That was in sharp contrast to his very considerable stature as the re-unifier of the various Piast principalities which made up Poland at the beginning of the fourteenth century and the re-creation of the Polish monarchy. He reigned as King of Poland from 1320 until his death in 1333. Wikipedia has an account of his life and reign at Władysław I Łokietek
The effigy of King Władislaw I in the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow
Image: posztukiwania
Popular report had it that the King was only 3’11” tall, which would more or less make him handicapped by dwarfism. However the latest investigation with an endoscopic camera of his remains in his tomb suggests that he was 5’ to 5’1” tall, which does seem much more credible. As the article suggests if the average height at the time was around 5’5”” or 5’6” then he was still short but not extremely so. I would add that there is quite considerable disparity in evidence from medieval burials as to height by region, by social status, occupation and by age. The article also stated that some historians have thought the reference to his small stature was a political satire on the pretensions of an initially ambitious prince with few resources. That seems a not unreasonable suggestion of how contemporaries might have viewed a short man with big ideas …. As it turned out King Władislaw and his son King Casimir III were to prove good examples of the later medieval ‘state builder’ like their contemporaries King Charles Robert and King Louis I in Hungary or King Edward I and King Edward III in England, the later Capetians in France and, as Angevins, in Naples and several Iberian monarchs.
The article about the investigation of the tomb can be seen at Poland's "Elbow-High" king was taller than believed, finds camera probe of tomb
The Great Seal of King Władislaw I of Poland
Image: Wikimedia
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