Uliana Olshanska

Uliana Olshanska
Grand Duchess of Lithuania
Tenure	1418 – 27 October 1430
Died	1448
Spouses	Vytautas
House	Olshanski
Father	Ivan Olshansky
Mother	Agripina[1]

Princess Uliana Olshanska (Lithuanian: Julijona Alšėniškė or Julijona Vytautienė, Polish: Julianna Holszańska; d. 1448) was a noblewoman from the Alšėniškiai family and the Grand Duchess of Lithuania as 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 first wife Anna on 31 July 1418, Vytautas wished to marry Uliana, daughter of one of his closest allies Ivan Olshansky. However, Anna was sister of Agripina, who was 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. Uliana died in 1448.^[5][6][7][8]

According to historian Ignas Jonynas Uliana's further life is unknown.^[1]

References

1. Jonynas, Ignas (1984) [1932]. "Vytauto šeimyna". Istorijos baruose (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Mokslas. pp. 54, 71–76. OCLC 247322673.
2. 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.
3. Spečiūnas, Vytautas, ed. (2005). Gediminaičiai: enciklopedinis žinynas (in Lithuanian). Mokslo ir enciklopedijų leidybos institutas. p. 114. ISBN 9785420015582.
4. Petrauskas, Rimvydas; Kiaupienė, Jūratė (2009). Lietuvos istorija. Nauji horizontai: dinastija, visoumenė, valstybė (in Lithuanian). Vol. IV. Baltos lankos. p. 248. ISBN 978-9955-23-239-1.
5. Adam Honory Kirkor: Groby wielkoksiążęce i królewskie w Wilnie. 1882, p. 24.
6. Marceli Kosman: Wielki książę Witold. Warszawa 1967, p. 272.
7. Tęgowski, Jan (1995). "Małżeństwa księcia Witolda Kiejstutowicza". Rocznik Polskiego Towarzystwa Heraldycznego Heraldycznego (in Polish). 2 (13): 182. ISSN 1230-803X.
8. Handbuch der Geschichte Weißrußlands / Hrsg. von Dietrich Beyrau und Rainer Lindner, Göttingen : Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2001, p. 521.

Uliana Olshanska Olshanski  Died: After 1430
Royal titles
Preceded by Anna	Grand Duchess of Lithuania 1418–1430	Succeeded by Elisabeth of Austria