Uliana of Tver

Uliana of Tver
Wedding of Uliana and Algirdas, miniature from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible (16th century)
Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania
Tenure1349 – May 1377
Princess regnant of Vitebsk
Reign1377–1391
PredecessorAlgirdas
SuccessorFedor Vesna
Bornc. 1325
Died17 March 1391 (aged 65–66)
SpouseAlgirdas
Issue
HouseRurik
FatherAlexander of Tver
MotherAnastasia of Galicia
ReligionRussian Orthodox

Uliana or Iulianiya Aleksandrovna[a] (c. 1325 – 17 March 1391) was the grand duchess of Lithuania as the second wife of Algirdas from 1349 to 1377. She was the daughter of Alexander of Tver and Anastasia of Galicia, daughter of Yuri I of Galicia.

Life

She was born around 1325.[4] 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.[4]

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.[4] Algirdas then concluded peace with Simeon and married Simeon's sister-in-law Uliana.[3][5] She was the second Russian princess to marry Algirdas.[2] 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.[4]

Uliana rarely left home, devoting herself entirely to her children and to needlework.[6] She also wielded considerable influence over her husband.[6] In 1370, her brother Mikhail asked Algirdas to help him gain the Grand Principality of Vladimir from Dmitry of Moscow, and after he refused, Mikhail appealed to Uliana directly, prompting Algirdas to change his position and provide military assistance.[6] Uliana is also said to have persuaded Algirdas to be baptized and take the Great Schema before his death.[6][7] However, other Russian chronicles indicate that Algirdas remained pagan until his death.[7]

After Algirdas's death in 1377, in accordance with his will, Uliana inherited the Principality of Vitebsk.[8]

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.[9] Another claim, based on a silver plaque discovered during an 1810 construction, has it that she was buried in the Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius.[10] The Nikon Chronicle recorded that she was a nun at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and was buried there.[11] The latest discovery was made during a restoration of the Transfiguration Church in Polotsk in March 2012. An inscription was found that recorded Uliana's death on the feast of Saint Alexius, which is March 17 in Eastern Orthodoxy.[12][13] On 5 December 2018, Uliania of Tver was canonized by the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.[1]

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 seven daughters in about 24 years,[4] though some details, like birth order, are disputed:[14]

It seems that the children, unlike children from Algirdas' first marriage with Maria (Anna) of Vitebsk, were brought up in pagan culture.[4] 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,[15] as well as an unsuccessful attempt to wed Jogaila with Sophia, daughter of Dmitry Donskoy, and convert him to Eastern Orthodoxy.[16][17] 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.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Lithuanian: Julijona iš Tverės; Russian: Иулиания Александровна;[1] also spelled as Ulyana,[2] or Yuliania,[3] or Yulianiya.

References

  1. 1 2 Nikolsky, Evgeny (6 December 2018). "О канонизации святой благоверной великой княгини Иулиании Александровны Тверской и Литовской — МузееМания" (in Russian). Muzeemania. Retrieved 2021-07-27.
  2. 1 2 Meyendorff, John (24 June 2010). Byzantium and the Rise of Russia: A Study of Byzantino-Russian Relations in the Fourteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. p. 145. ISBN 978-0-521-13533-7.
  3. 1 2 Fennell, John L. I. (15 November 2023) [1968]. The Emergence of Moscow, 1304–1359. University of California Press. pp. 201, 233. ISBN 978-0-520-34759-5.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Baronas, Darius (2013-04-07). "LDK istorija: Algirdo antroji žmona Julijona – savo valandos sulaukusi našlė" (in Lithuanian). Savaitraštis „15min“. ISSN 1822-5330. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  5. ↑ Shaikhutdinov, Marat (2021). Between East and West: The Formation of the Moscow State. Academic Studies Press. p. 68. doi:10.2307/j.ctv249sgn2. ISBN 978-1-64469-713-9.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Тверские (великие и удельные князья)". Русский биографический словарь. Т. 20: Суворова — Ткачев (in Russian). Русский биографический словарь. 1912. pp. 386–433.
  7. 1 2 Mažeika, Rasa (1987). "Was Grand Prince Algirdas a Greek Orthodox Christian?". Lituanus. 33 (4). ISSN 0024-5089. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
  8. ↑ "ИУЛИАНИЯ АЛЕКСАНДРОВНА". Angloman (in Russian). 2023-08-07. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  9. ↑ "Свято-Духов женский монастырь" (in Russian). Vitebsk Diocese. Archived from the original on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  10. ↑ Narbutt, Teodor (2001). Lietuvių tautos istorija (in Lithuanian). Vol. 5. Mintis. p. 427. ISBN 9785417008269.
  11. ↑ Platonov, Sergey, ed. (1897). VIII. Летописный сборник, именуемый Патриаршею или Никоновскою летописью. Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles (in Russian). Vol. 11. p. 127.
  12. ↑ Kalechits, Inna L. (2013-03-21). Исторические личности в граффити Полоцкой Спасо-Преображенской церкви (PDF). Музеефикация комплекса настенной живописи ХІІ-ХІХ вв. Спасо-Преображенского храма Евфросиньева монастыря в Полоцке (in Russian). Balarusian Republic Foundation for Fundamental Research. pp. 6–7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-19. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  13. ↑ "Расшифровка надписей в Спасо-Преображенском храме" (in Russian). Novopolock.ru. Archived from the original on 2023-06-13. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
  14. ↑ Wasilewski (1991). "Daty urodzin Jagiełły i Witolda". Przegląd Wschodni”. 1 (1).
  15. ↑ Koncius, Joseph B. (1964). Vytautas the Great, Grand Duke of Lithuania. Miami: Franklin Press. pp. 21–23. LCCN 66089704.
  16. ↑ Gieysztor, Aleksander (1998). "The Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, 1370–1506". The New Cambridge Medieval History, c.1415–c.1500. Vol. 7. Cambridge University Press. p. 731. ISBN 0-521-38296-3.
  17. ↑ Kiaupa, Zigmantas; Kiaupienė, Jūratė; Kuncevičius, Albinas (2000). The History of Lithuania Before 1795. Vilnius: Lithuanian Institute of History. pp. 127–128. ISBN 9986-810-13-2.
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