Duchess Uliana of Olshany

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Uliana Olshanska, Grand Duchess of Lithuania Reign 1418 – October 27, 1430 Spouse Vytautas House Olshanski (by birth) Gediminids (by marriage) Father Ivan Olshansky Mother Agripina

Princess Uliana Olshanska (Polish: Julianna Holszańska, Lithuanian: Julijona Alšėniškė or Julijona Vytautienė) was a noblewoman from the Olshanski family, the second wife of Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania. They had no issue. Very little is known about Uliana's life.

Her first husband was Ivan of Karachev. German chronicle of Johann von Posilge[1] and Polish historian Jan Długosz asserted that Ivan was murdered so that widowed Uliana could marry Vytautas.[2] Most likely she was an Eastern Orthodox who converted to Catholicism in order to marry Vytautas.[1]

After the death of his wife Anna on July 31, 1418, Vytautas wished to marry Uliana, daughter of one of his closest allies Ivan Olshansky. However, Anna was sister with Agripina, wife of Ivan and mother of Uliana.[3] That made Vytautas uncle-in-law of Uliana. Piotr Krakowczyk, Bishop of Vilnius, refused to perform the wedding ceremony due to this relationship and demanded they seek approval from the pope. Jan Kropidło, Bishop of Włocławek, performed the ceremony before Christmas 1418[1] and, eventually, Vytautas obtained a matrimonial dispensation from Pope Martin V.[4] It appears that the marriage was a loving one, but they had no children. Vytautas died in October 1430 and Uliana's further life is unknown.[1]

References

• Jonynas, Ignas (1984) [1932]. "Vytauto šeimyna". Istorijos baruose (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Mokslas. pp. 71–76. OCLC 247322673.
• Rowell, S. C. (Spring 1994). "Pious Princesses or Daughters of Belial: Pagan Lithuanian Dynastic Diplomacy, 1279–1423". Medieval Prosopography. 15 (1): 33. ISSN 0198-9405.
• Spečiūnas, Vytautas, ed. (2005). Gediminaičiai: enciklopedinis žinynas (in Lithuanian). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. p. 114. ISBN 9785420015582.
• Petrauskas, Rimvydas; Kiaupienė, Jūratė (2009). Lietuvos istorija. Nauji horizontai: dinastija, visoumenė, valstybė (in Lithuanian). IV. Baltos lankos. p. 248. ISBN 978-9955-23-239-1.