Maria of Vitebsk

Maria of Vitebsk
Maria of Vitebsk
Born	c. 1300
Died	c. 1348
Spouse	Algirdas
Issue	Agrypina; Fyodor Olgerdovich; Andrei of Polotsk; Dmitry of Bryansk; Vladimir Olgerdovich;
Father	Yaroslav Vasilievich (Jaroslavas Vasiljevičius)
Religion	Eastern Orthodoxy

Maria of Vitebsk (Russian: Мария Ярославна Витебская, romanized: Marija Jaroslavna; Lithuanian: Marija Vitebskietė; c. 1300 – c. 1346) was the first wife of Algirdas, future Grand Duke of Lithuania (marriage took place c. 1318).

Life

Very little is known about her life. The only child of a Russian prince Yaroslav,^[1] Maria was the only heir to the Principality of Vitebsk.^[2] After her father's death in c. 1345, Vitebsk fell permanently under control of Algirdas and other Gediminids.^[3]

Maria gave birth to five sons, all of whom grew up while Algirdas was still only a regional duke in Christianized lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.^[4] All five sons were baptized in Orthodox rite and ruled Russian lands giving rise to prominent clans of Russian dukes (Trubetskoy family from Demetrius I Starshy, Czartoryski family from Constantine, Sanguszko family from Fiodor, Belsky and Olelkovich families from Vladimir).^[4]

After Maria's death, Algirdas married another Russian princess, Uliana of Tver.^[5] After Algirdas' death, the eldest sons of Maria and Uliana battled over succession rights.

References

^ Shatskikh, Aleksandra Semenovna; Katherine Foshko Tsan (2007). Vitebsk: the Life of Art. Yale University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-300-10108-9.
^ (in Lithuanian) Ivinskis, Zenonas (1978). Lietuvos istorija iki Vytauto Didžiojo mirties. Rome: Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademija. p. 239. LCCN 79346776.
^ Rowell, S. C. (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-521-45011-9.
^ ^a ^b (in Lithuanian) Ivinskis, Zenonas (1978). Lietuvos istorija iki Vytauto Didžiojo mirties. Rome: Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademija. p. 259. LCCN 79346776.
^ 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.

[1] Shatskikh, Aleksandra Semenovna; Katherine Foshko Tsan (2007). Vitebsk: the Life of Art. Yale University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-300-10108-9.

[2] (in Lithuanian) Ivinskis, Zenonas (1978). Lietuvos istorija iki Vytauto Didžiojo mirties. Rome: Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademija. p. 239. LCCN 79346776.

[3] Rowell, S. C. (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series. Cambridge University Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-521-45011-9.

[iv259-4] (in Lithuanian) Ivinskis, Zenonas (1978). Lietuvos istorija iki Vytauto Didžiojo mirties. Rome: Lietuvių katalikų mokslo akademija. p. 259. LCCN 79346776.

[5] 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.

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