Kinga of Poland
Polish royal; later Poor Clare abbess
Feast: 24 July (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Kinga was born in 1224, daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary; her sisters were Blesseds Yolanda and Margaret. Married to Bolesław of Poland, she gave up natural motherhood and became a true mother to many.
Widowed in 1279 and childless, she laid down her duties of state and withdrew to the Poor Clares' monastery at Stary Sącz, which she had founded with her dowry, making Christ her inheritance. Her veneration was confirmed by Alexander VIII in 1690, and in 1715 Clement XI named her patron of Poland and Lithuania.
The miracles
A miracle obtained through her intercession was recognised on 3 July 1998, opening the way to her canonisation; the biography does not describe it.
Why that counted as sanctity
A princess and queen who gave her dowry to God and ended her days as a Poor Clare.
Connected on this site
- Margaret of Hungary Saint Brother or sister“She was the younger sister of Kinga of Poland (Kunegunda) and Yolanda of Poland and, through her father, the niece of the famed Elizabeth of Hungary.” — Wikipedia
- Yolanda of Poland Blessed Brother or sister“She was the sister of Margaret of Hungary and Kinga of Poland (Cunegunda).” — Wikipedia
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Cunegonda (Kinga)
- Wikidata Q233012 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Kinga of Poland (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.