Reliquary of St. Kasimir
second half of the 18th century, Museum of Church art in Vilnius
St. Kasimir (1458−1484) was the son of the Polish king and Lithuanian Grand duke Kasimir IV and the brother of the Bohemian king Vladislav II. In 1471 he was elected Hungarian king by the adversaries of Mathias Corvine who however was able to stay on the throne. He took part in the administration of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy and in negotiations concerning the creation of the anti-Turkish coalition. In 1481 he refused the marriage with the daughter of emperor Friedrich III because he had made the promise of chastity. He died in 1484, probably of consumption. The canonisation process started short after his death was complicated because of the loss of the canonisation bulla from 1521; therefore the canonisation took place only in 1604. In 1613 he was declared the patron of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy.