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Duchess Ona, who today is given the surname Vytautienė, lived through difficult and changing times in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Although the first written history of Lithuania is the history of men, Ona’s contribution to political life was so important and vivid that places for her also appeared. The surviving testimonies praise the education of the Duchess, uncharacteristic of the women of the time, the courage, the sharp mind and the insight equal to the abilities of the sorcerers.
It is probably these qualities that helped her rise from provincial duchess to influential politician. Even when Vytautas did not have the throne of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and great political influence, Ona’s opinion was read.
Their love and association impressed those around them, they surprised that Lithuanian women had so many rights in the family and in the state. In addition to participating in political events and even having her own label, Ona was also actively involved in national and international communication, writing letters to European rulers, attending receptions, accompanying her husband abroad and saving her husband’s life at least one time.
Ona’s name was known to the rulers of neighboring countries, gave gifts and tried to win the favor of members of the Teutonic Order. And although Vytautas was celebrating Christmas for the second time before dying, she finally expressed her wish to be buried next to Ona.
Neither the pagan name nor the date of birth is known.
The small role of women at that time is confirmed by the analysis of historical sources. There are no surviving stories about what exactly the beginning of Ona’s life was, where she was born, what she was like exactly. Her true pagan name, given by her parents, and the documents that have only been received after her baptism are unknown: Ona.
Ona’s father was probably the Duke of Eišiškės Sudimantas, a descendant of the Gediminai family. It is believed that he married Vytautas around 1370. At that time Vytautas was only 20 years old, Ona was probably not older than him. After a year of living in marriage, they gave birth to their first and only daughter, Sofia.
“It was said of Vytautas that he was not tall, but strong, spoke little but with precision, could joke, did not drink alcoholic beverages, only water. Like all men of his class, he loved to hunt, play chess, and had already gone to Moscow and Prussia before his wedding to Ona. He spoke several languages, learned about the culture of other nations in his father’s mansion and on military expeditions, and his own mansion was heavily influenced by Western European values.
Young Ona was a “girl of the forest”, born and raised in the family of the Duke of Eišiškės (or perhaps Smolensk). When she arrived at Old Trakai, at the mansion of Vytautas’s father, Duke Kęstutis, she had to learn many things, first of all, to survive and support her husband everywhere and in all circumstances. She studied mainly in the Grand Duke’s mansion and later in Prussia, she was highly literate and well versed in politics. At that time, a rare woman could boast of such education “, – the guide book Liuda Matonienė” Vilnius: Stops of Love “. Map of the romantic city”.
First mentioned when describing life saved
Ona Vytautienė was first mentioned as a princess in 1382 in Bychovc’s chronicle. The event in question is tragic: Vytautas is captive. It is important to note that at that time there were fights for the leader’s throne, they were arrested and transported to Krėva together with Kęstutis, but on the fifth day of his arrest, Kęstutis was killed. Ona’s ingenuity and courage probably prevented the possible assassination of Vytautas, which had a great impact on the entire development of the Lithuanian state.
“After the death of Grand Duke Kęstutis, Grand Duke Jogaila sends Vytautas and his wife to Krėva and orders that he be kept strictly in the room. <...> The Grand Duke was imprisoned in Krėva, and two women accompanied him to make a bed for him and the Duchess. When they went to bed, they left. There was a guard on duty. And his Grand Duchess heard people say to themselves: “If Grand Duke Vytautas sits longer, it will be like his father’s.” And she counseled him, saying: When a maid comes to make a bed for him, let her dress as a maid, and go out with the other maid, and the first stay with her. And, on her advice, he dressed as a servant, went out with the other, came down from the castle and fled to Prussia with the Germans, ”says the yearbook.
It is unknown how Ona herself managed to escape captivity, but she eventually returned to her husband and they surrendered together in the care of the German Order. The Order agreed to support Vytautas, but the refugee couple had to be baptized.
Ona Vytautienė. Source: wikipedia photo
Life was not peaceful: rescued by a man, taken hostage
Already in her name, Anne, the Duchess is mentioned in another story, describing the 1389. She organized the failed conspiracy of Vytautas against Skirgailas, who tried to take back Vilnius. It is believed that, under the pretext of his sister’s wedding, he sent carts of cattle meat, game and hay to Vilnius, accompanied by armed men who would occupy the castle in his name, but the plan of the uprising was revealed.
In some places it is mentioned that it was at that time in Grodno that Ona saved the life of Vytautas again, but no further details of this event are given. Hoping to contain Vytautas, the men of the Order had taken Ona with her daughter and Vytautas’s sister, Ringaile Elizabeth, hostage, but they were all eventually freed.
Anna’s name is also mentioned when signing the Astrava contract, when she had to guarantee her husband that he would keep his promises to Jogaila and his wife Jadwiga.
“Ona, by the grace of God, the Duchess of Lithuania, Trakai, Lutsk, etc., the husband Vytautas will not abandon the crown of the Kingdom of Poland and he will always faithfully defend the king and queen from their enemies,” he quoted in writing. . sources in the work of the historian Ignas Jonynas “Familia Vytautas”.
The rulers praised the mind, insight, even called the sorcerer
After the conclusion of the Treaty of Astravas, Vytautas and Ona became full-fledged rulers of Lithuania. 1392 Vytautas became Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, according to witnesses, Ona Vytautienė was a great first lady, intelligent, hospitable, self-aware, but also one of the most beautiful women in Eastern Europe.
“She was his adviser and assistant, whose penetrating mind, insight, and resourcefulness were appreciated by the rulers of neighboring countries. Ona understood the role and influence well, so she claimed that Vytautas would achieve nothing after her death. Ona Vytautienė was even credited with the power of a magician, ”writes historian Anelė Butkuvienė in her book Famous Lithuanian Women.
It is true that the historian doc. Dr. Jolanta Karpavičienė has explained this phenomenon somewhat differently.
“In a figurative sense, Vytautas was guilty of involving a woman in the public space of the state, in public political discourse. Vytautas was the ruler who began to systematically form a European-type ruler’s mansion in Lithuania with a certain structure, political diplomatic ceremony and lifestyle characteristics. One of the distinguishing features of this was the mandatory participation of the ruler’s spouse in public discourse, “he said.
He pampered both herself and her servants with gifts: she had a fussy taste
According to A. Butkuvienė, realizing its importance, the Order tried to win Ona’s favor in various ways. For example, they sent him expensive gifts: musical instruments (including a keyboard made recently in Germany, a laptop), wines, grapes, books.
“It is believed that Ona Vytautienė, unlike her contemporaries, was a literate woman, because the books would hardly have made the illiterate princess happy,” explains the historian.
There are legends about how Ona visited the cities of the Order, then was accompanied by an escort of 400 horsemen, and a mass was held in her honor.
“Ona Vytautienė and the twelve ponies accompanying her received head ornaments, rings, jewelry, goblets and horses. Even the lowest servants in the escort received the gift, no servants returned home empty-handed. Lists of these gifts are kept in the Order’s ledgers. The gifts not only testify to the political importance of Vytautienė, but also show the taste of the picky princess whom he wanted to please, ”the book analyzes.
Grand Duke Vytautas and his wife Ona (National Museum, photo of the Palace of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania).
Personal relationships faded, remaining alone in old age
1410 Ona and Vytautas also went to the city of Kežmarok near the Polish-Hungarian border, where they had to meet Zigmantas Luxemburg, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. According to L. Matonienė, the meetings of rulers in medieval Europe were not frequent, so it can be said that this trip was the first visit abroad by a couple of Lithuanian rulers, which affected not only the history of our country , but also to the entire Central and Eastern European Region.
As early as 1413. Ona Vytautienė testified in a case with the German Order about the dependency of Samogitia, but her personal relationship with Vytautas declined.
Prince Ona respected her, left all the badges of honor, donated lands that he could rule for life if he sometimes died before her, but in old age he was left alone.
“From the beginning of Vytautas’s life, full of stormy distractions, she was a shining star to him. <...> In old age, he was left alone. Vytautas, respecting and leaving him all the realities of honor, was willing to make new contacts from the beginning, because the woman he later married was probably publicly considered his lover before marriage, ”wrote the Polish writer and historian Ignotas Kraševskis .
He lived together for more than 40 years, and was also buried
Ona Vytautienė died in Trakai in 1418. July 31 and was solemnly buried in Vilnius Cathedral. Pray for his soul not only in the churches of Lithuania, but also in Poland and the Order.
Just four months after Ona’s death, Vytautas married Julijonas, the daughter of Jonas Alšėnai, as well as a widow, at the age of 68. Interestingly, Ona was a real Aunt Julian.
It seems that Ona’s intuitions or curse were destined to come true. The newly formed family had no children, Vytautas did not achieve any significant victories during the 12 years of his life.
Finally, before his death, he expressed the desire to be buried with his first wife, a request that was granted on October 27, 1430, after his death. Vytautas and Ona have lived together for more than 40 years.
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