Uliana of Tver

Life

After her father and eldest brother were murdered by Öz Beg Khan in 1339, Uliana was placed in care of Simeon of Moscow, who married Uliana's elder sister Maria in 1347.

In 1349, Algirdas, the grand duke of Lithuania, sent an embassy to the Golden Horde, proposing to the khan, Jani Beg, to form an alliance against Simeon of Moscow; this proposal was not accepted and the envoys, including Algirdas' brother Karijotas, were imprisoned and held for ransom. Simeon first asked for the opinion of Metropolitan Theognostus whether a Christian lady could be married off to a pagan ruler. The same year, Algirdas' brother Liubartas married Olga, daughter of Konstantin Vasilyevich of Rostov and niece of Simeon.

Death and burial

There are conflicting claims about Uliana's last years and her burial place. One account claims that Uliana became a nun under the name Marina in the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vitebsk and was buried there.

Issue

According to the research of Polish historian Jan Tęgowski, Uliana was frequently pregnant during her union with Algirdas, giving birth to eight sons and eight daughters in about 24 years, though other sources provide different data:

• Kenna (baptized Joan; c. 1351 – 27 April 1367), wife of Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania
• Euphrosyne (c. 1352-1405/1406), wife of the Grand Duke of Ryazan Oleg Ivanovich
• Skirgaila (baptized Ivan; c. 1354 – 11 January 1397 in Kiev), Duke of Trakai (1382–1395), Kiev (1395–1397), regent of Lithuania
• Kaributas (baptized Dmitry; c. 1355 – after 1404), Prince of Novhorod-Siverskyi (1386–1392/93)
• Fedora (c. 1355- 1377), wife of Svyatoslav Karachevsky
• Lengvenis (baptised Simon; c. 1356 – after 19 June 1431), Prince of Mstislavl, regent of the Novgorod Republic
• Helen (c. 1357 – 15 September 1437/1438), wife of Vladimir the Bold
• Jogaila (baptized Władysław; c. 1362 – 1 June 1434), Grand Duke of Lithuania (1377–1381, 1382–1392), King of Poland (1386–1434)
• Maria (c. 1363- after 1382), wife of Vaidila and David of Gorodets
• Karigaila (baptized Casimir; c. 1364/1367 – 1390), Prince of Mstislavl
• Minigailo (c. 1365/1368 – by 1382)
• Alexandra (c. 1368/1370 – 19 June 1434), wife of Siemowit IV, Duke of Masovia
• Wilheida (baptized Catherine; c. 1369/1374 – after 4 April 1422), wife of John II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Stargard
• Vygantas (baptized Alexander; c. 1372 – 28 June 1392), Prince of Kernavė
• Švitrigaila (baptized Bolesław; c. 1373 – 10 February 1452 in Lutsk), Grand Duke of Lithuania (1430–1432), ruler of Volynia (1437–1452)
• Jadwiga (c. 1375 – after 1407), wife of Jan III of Oświęcim

It seems that the children, unlike children from Algirdas' first marriage with Maria of Vitebsk, were brought up in pagan culture. Uliana's son Jogaila, and not Algirdas' eldest son Andrei of Polotsk, inherited the throne and became the grand duke of Lithuania in 1377. Uliana, as dowager grand duchess, appeared in national politics and was involved in the Lithuanian Civil War, as well as an unsuccessful attempt to wed Jogaila with Sophia, daughter of Dmitry Donskoy, and convert him to Eastern Orthodoxy. The plans failed when Jogaila converted to Roman Catholicism, married Jadwiga of Poland, and was crowned as the king of Poland (jure uxoris) in 1386.

Notes

References

References

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