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particular the autonomy of the provinces, Louis limited all forms of noble service
and obligation to just three heads. Firstly, the nobility were to pay the poradlne
or land-tax, at a fixed rate of 2 groszy for every lan of private land worked by
peasants. Secondly, they were to furnish unpaid military service for defensive
operations within the frontiers of the Crown. Thirdly, they were to keep their cas-
tles and fortifications in repair. The clergy were to be assessed at 6 groszy and two
bushels of rye or oats per lan, but this was later reduced. The towns were to have
their liberties extended. Cracow was to enjoy the right of storage enabling local
merchants to control all goods brought into the city. In addition, Louis embarked
on an extensive programme of 'Restitution', systematically redistributing a vast
pool of Crown lands illegally acquired by the nobility and recently seized by
Casimir the Great. In the face of such generosity, no baron could afford to resist.
Louis's one lengthy sojourn in Poland, in 1376-7, was occasioned by the dis-
turbances in Red Ruthenia — a province which he regarded as a separate realm,
where Hungarian interests were not inferior to those of Poland. At the start of
his reign, he had confided the government there to Wladyslaw of Opole, and the
experiment prospered. German colonists were established. The liberties of the
cities - Lwow, Rzeszow, Jaroslaw, Krosno, Sanok - were secured; trade with
the Black Sea was encouraged. In 1375, a Roman archbishopric was introduced
at Halicz, to challenge the Orthodox supremacy. Then, suddenly, in 1376, a
Lithuanian army under Kiejstut and Lubart, the sons of Gedymin, appeared
from the eastern woods and laid the province waste. Thousands of captives
were carried off into slavery. Kiejstut reached the gates of Cracow, before mak-
ing for home. Louis delivered the retribution in person. In 1377, a
Polish-Hungarian force crossed into Lithuania. The territories of Chelm and
Belz were occupied and attached to Red Ruthenia. Wladyslaw of Opole was
removed, and transferred to Cracow to govern over all the Polish lands. Red
Ruthenia was handed over to the rule of Hungarian governors.
In all his policies, Louis was guided by his main concern for the Angevin suc-
cession. He had two surviving daughters, but no son. In 1374, at Kosice he had
obtained an assurance from the Polish barons that one of his daughters would
succeed him in Poland; but in 1382, his unilateral nomination of Maria as regent
seemed to pre-empt the issue in no unsubtle manner. It dismayed the majority
of Polish lords as much as it angered the Magyars. Even before the King's unex-
pected death brought the conflict into the open, civil war was brewing. In
Wielkopolska, one party urged Maria's husband, the Luxemburger, to take the
throne without further ado. A second party, at a gathering of nobles at Sieradz,
elected the Piast, Ziemowit of Mazovia. A third party, connected with the
barons of Malopolska, sought compromise. After much wrangling, they settled
on Maria's younger sister, Hedwig, who was betrothed to Wilhelm von
Habsburg, Prince of Austria. At a second gathering at Sieradz at the end of 1383,
the spokesman of compromise, Jasko of Teczyn, Castellan of Wojnik, per-
suaded his opponents to relent. Hedwig was to be elected Queen of Poland on
condition that the Union with Hungary was abandoned. The pact was sealed;