Yevna of Polotsk

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Jewna von Polotsk ( Belarusian Еўна , Lithuanian Jaunė ) († around 1344 ) was a daughter of Prince Ivan of Polotsk and a wife of Gediminas , Grand Duke of Lithuania .

Life

She was the mother of Jaunutis , the next Grand Duke of Lithuania. It is not clear which of Gediminas' other sons and daughters were also their children. Jaunutis was a younger son of Gediminas, so his election as the new Grand Duke suggests that his mother Evna must have been a future wife.

The Bychowiec Chronicle mentions three women from Gediminas: Vida from Courland , Olga from Smolensk and Evna. This news is from the 16th century and is uncertain. Only Yevna is mentioned elsewhere

Some modern historians believe that Gediminas had two wives: a local pagan noblewoman, and Evna, an Orthodox Christian.

Historian Stephen Christopher Rowell even claims that Gediminas only had one wife, an unknown pagan princess. He justifies this with the fact that such an important marriage with a Ruthenian princess like Jewna should actually have been noted in contemporary sources.

The Chronicle of Bychowiec reports that the brothers Algirdas and Kęstutis were dissatisfied with the successor Grand Duke Jaunutis appointed by Gediminas and overthrew him after Yevna's death. Allegedly, only Yevna's influence as a grand duchess widow should have prevented the two brothers from taking action against the grand duke even earlier. Their resistance was obviously due to the fact that Algirdas, as the elder, claimed the right to the Grand Duchy for himself.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kiaupa, Zigmantas, u. a .: The History of Lithuania Before 1795 , Lithuanian Institute of History, Vilnius 2000, ISBN 9986-810-13-2 , p. 118
  2. ↑ The Raudanski Chronicle
  3. ↑ "Jewna or Ewa, Ruthenian princess, daughter of Ivan Vsevoloditsch, prince of Polotsk, brother of Olga, the deceased wife of Gediminas", in: Narbutt, Teodor: Dzieje staroźytne narodu Litewskiego , vol. 1 ,. Wilno. 1835, p. 161
  4. ↑ Zenonas Ivinskis (1953-1966). "Jaunė". Lietuvių enciklopedija IX. Boston, Massachusetts: Lietuvių enciklopedijos Leidykla. Page 335. LCC 55020366 . (Lithuanian)
  5. ↑ Jaunutis , in: Lietuvos valdovai (XIII-XVIII a.): Enciklopedinis žinynas Mokslo ir enciklopedijų Leidybos institutas Vilnius 2004, ISBN 5-420-01535-8 , pp. 38, 46
  6. ↑ Teodor Narbutt, Dzieje, p. 161
  7. ↑ a b S.C. Rowell (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press . Pages 88, 282. ISBN 978-0-521-45011-9 .
personal data
SURNAME Yevna of Polotsk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Еўна; Jaunė
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Daughter of Prince Ivan of Polotsk and wife of Gediminas, Grand Prince of Lithuania
DATE OF BIRTH 14th Century
DATE OF DEATH around 1344