Wladyslaw, on the other hand, continues the much more peaceful kind of expansion started by his mother by promising great privileges and support for merchants, artisans, artists and others who wish to operate in Polish cities. This does pose a potential problem for the future, though: while the Slavs have proven remarkably faithful to the borders defined in the Moscow Pact, it didn’t say anything about the borders outside their original region, and their claims already overlap in many places. In October 1474, Chernigov is the first to come away with a nice chunk of Khazar land beyond the Ural River, while Chernigov and Yugra’s similar wars later end in white peace. Without much attention on Poland’s part, the eastern kingdoms have invaded the Mongol Empire as part of its slow and steady collapse. While mostly focused on providing a legal backing for royal power, his book Duch Prawa can also be read as a discussion of some ways that it could be restrained, which probably wasn’t the actual intention. Von Neustreliz, one of Stanislaw’s better known appointments as the long-time Chancellor of Poland, has written a very influential treatise about the workings of the Polish government, mostly in defense of the recent reforms – about as well-received as can be in the current atmosphere. Meanwhile, Wladyslaw’s expert advisors on the Crown Council seem to be carrying a lot of the weight for him. In fact, when Wladyslaw shows interest, King Mszczuj II offers to send him various works and experts on the subject as a starting point. The latest generation of Poles might be more open to such ideas. It’s less than obvious what its whole cultural context actually means for countries that have little in common with Western philosophy, but what the Slavs get from it is foreign connections, some technical developments and a lot of very nice art. Around the same time, though, the so-called Renaissance seems to have finally made a landing in Slavic territory, namely at the Moldavian court in Belgorod. The army has to march through Bulgaria yet again to deal with a second rebellion in Macedonia. While he’s already proven himself as an eloquent speaker, a lot of it may be rather superficial, and even supposedly loyal people might have trouble respecting such a green boy with no official experience of any kind. However, while he has grown up in a very different court than any of his predecessors, his youth also means that he’s not quite as attuned to the intrigue of the realm as both his parents were. Wladyslaw II was Poland’s youngest High King ever elected, and now he’s the youngest to ever reign.
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