Kinga of Poland

Saint Kinga of Poland (also known as Cunegunda, Kunigunda, Kunegunda, Cunegundes, Kioga, Zinga; , ) (March 5, 1224 – July 24, 1292) is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and patroness of Poland and Lithuania. 
She was the daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. She was a niece of St. Elizabeth of Hungary and great-niece of Saint Hedwig. Kinga's sisters were Saint Margaret of Hungary and Jolenta of Poland (Yolanda, Helen). 
She reluctantly married Bolesław V the Chaste. Kinga later became princess when her husband ascended the throne as Prince of Cracov. Despite the marriage, the devout couple took up a vow of chastity. The marriage was largely arranged by and the vow of chastity pattered after that of Boleslaw's sister Salome of Cracow.http://books.google.com/books?id=tz12J0Eb9eUC&pg=RA2-PA242&lpg=RA2-PA242&dq=Salome+of+Cracow&source=web&ots=dneYqh7Wbs&sig=PbDOoRbDD4t2WVzUu9nkVdq1ESk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result 
During her reign Kinga got involved in charitable works such as visiting the poor and helping the lepers. When her husband died in 1279, she sold all her material possessions and gave the money to the poor. She soon did not want any part in governing the kingdom which was left to her and decided to join the Poor Clares monastery at Sandeck. She would spend the rest of her life in contemplative prayer and did not allow anyone to refer to her past role as Grand Duchess of Poland. She died on July 24, 1292.
==Veneration==
Pope Alexander VIII beatified Kinga in 1690. In 1695 she was made chief patroness of Poland and Lithuania. On June 16, 1999 she was canonized by Pope John Paul II. 
Image:StSacz kinga.jpg|Monument to St. Kinga at the monastery of Stary Sącz 
Image:Saint Kinga.jpg|Statue of Saint Kinga near Trzy Korony
Image:Nowy Korczyn Kinga 20060513 1156.jpg|Statue of St. Kinga (1820) in Nowy Korczyn 
==Ancestry==
==Sources==
==External links==
*Catholic Forum
*New Advent
Category:1224 births
Category:1292 deaths
Category:House of Árpád
Category:House of Piast
Category:Polish queens consort
Category:Polish saints
Category:Polish Roman Catholic saints
Category:Hungarian saints
Category:Hungarian Roman Catholic saints
Category:Medieval women
Category:Poor Clares
Category:Polish Roman Catholics
Category:Polish Roman Catholic nuns
Category:Hungarian princesses
Category:Female saints
Category:13th-century Christian saints
ca:Cunegunda de Polònia
de:Kinga von Polen
es:Cunegunda de Polonia
eo:Sankta Kinga
fr:Kinga de Pologne
it:Kinga di Polonia
hu:Szent Kinga
nl:Cunegonda van Polen
ja:キンガ (ポーランド王妃)
pl:Święta Kinga
pt:Cunegunda da Polônia
ru:Кунигунда Венгерская
fi:Pyhä Kinga
sv:Den heliga Kunigunda (II)