Hedwig spent her childhood as a pawn on the dynastic chessboard of eastern Europe and her short adulthood making the the sort of mark on Polish nationhood that Joan of Arc did on that of France.

The cause for her canonisation was opened in 1426 and she was popularly called ‘blessed’. Many miracles were attributed to her. The official Church did not confirm the cause until the first polish pope was elected in 1978. Pope John Paul II then beatified her in 1986 and canonised her on a visit to Cracow in 1997.