Helena of Moscow

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Helena of Moscow
Eastern Orthodox

Helena Ivanovna of Moscow (

Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Instead of guaranteeing peace, Helena's marriage gave her father Ivan III an excuse to interfere in Lithuanian affairs accusing Alexander of mistreating Helena and repressing Orthodox believers. This became the pretext to renew the Muscovite–Lithuanian Wars in 1500.[1]
The war ended with a six-year truce in 1503; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost about a third of its territory. Despite political tensions and religious differences, the marriage was a loving one and the royal couple was close. After her husband's death in 1506, Helena wanted to return to Moscow but was not allowed. When she planned to run away, she was arrested and reportedly poisoned.

Biography

Early life and marriage plans

Birth of Helena from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible

Helena, possibly named after her great-grandmother Empress

Vasili III of Moscow. Little is known about Helena's childhood in Moscow, but it is known that she was literate[4] and very attractive.[5]

When Helena was eight,

Elizabeth of Austria. The Emperor proposed to have Helena and her younger sister Theodosia marry into his family, but Ivan III refused and instead suggested the Emperor's widowed son Maximilian I.[7] The Emperor entertained the proposal, but did not take it too seriously. At the same time Sophia's brother Andreas Palaiologos in consultation with Filippo Buonaccorsi advised her to seek an alliance with Poland.[8] Nevertheless, an alliance between the Emperor and Moscow without a marriage agreement was concluded in August 1490. The alliance lost its relevance after the Peace of Pressburg (1491) and further proposals to marry Helena off to Maximilian or his son Philip did not gain much support.[7]

In August 1492, shortly after the death of Polish King

Oka River[9] – the lost area was estimated to be approximately 87,000 square kilometres (34,000 sq mi).[10] A day after the official confirmation of the treaty, Alexander Jagiellon was betrothed to Helena (the role of the groom was performed by Stanislovas Kęsgaila).[11]

Uncrowned Grand Duchess of Lithuania

Alexander Jagiellon meets Helena in Vilnius (painting by Nikolai Dmitriev-Orenburgsky)

Helena's Orthodox faith created a number of complications. Alexander had to receive a special permission from Pope Alexander VI to marry a non-Catholic and sign a formal agreement with Ivan III in October 1494 that Helena would not be forced to convert. Alexander wanted to add that if she wished so herself, Helena could convert, but Ivan III adamantly rejected the amendment.[12] Ivan III left Helena with detailed instructions on how to behave, whom to invite for lunch, where to pray (she was prohibited from visiting Catholic churches).[13] Ivan III also requested that Alexander would build an Orthodox church in Vilnius Castle Complex. In January 1495, Helena, accompanied by eighty nobles and servants, departed Moscow towards Vilnius.[13] She reached Vilnius on 15 February 1495 and the same day the couple was married. The marriage ceremony was a complex combination of Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Helena prayed and prepared in the Cathedral of the Theotokos before moving to Vilnius Cathedral.[13] She was dressed in a traditional Russian wedding dress. The wedding ceremony was officiated by Catholic Wojciech Tabor, Bishop of Vilnius, and Orthodox Foma, priest who accompanied Helena from Moscow.[14] Reportedly Helena did not bring much dowry (jewelry, three icons, silver and gilded dishes, expensive fabrics, furs, a carriage with horses) and Alexander did not gift her with lands after the wedding (he did so only in August 1501).[15]

In Vilnius, Helena faced a delicate political situation. For example, it seems that Queen

Supraśl Lavra, but did not make any grand gestures in support of Orthodoxy.[19] She did not protest when in May 1495 her Muscovite servants were sent back to Moscow on suspicion that they might be Muscovite agents and spies.[17] Even in daily life the couple faced struggles. For example, when they traveled, Alexander would enter a city alone as it was customary to go to a church after the official reception; Helena would enter the city few hours later.[20] Despite political and religious tensions, the marriage was a loving one and the royal couple remained close.[3] It seems that Helena was pregnant twice (in 1497 and 1499), but both pregnancies ended in miscarriages.[21] Some historians see Helena's influence in Alexander's 1497 donation to the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev, 1499 economic and judiciary privilege to Orthodox clergy, and 1504 religious freedom guarantee to Orthodox peasants, however that is doubtful as Helena was passive in politics and tried to avoid conflicts.[22]

Around 1498,

Polish–Ottoman War (1484–1504) and could not offer assistance.[9] The Muscovite army scored victories in the Battles of Vedrosha and Mstislavl and captured several Lithuanian fortresses.[23]

Uncrowned Queen of Poland

Wedding of Alexander and Helena from the Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible

Helena's situation became further complicated when

Polish nobility did not want an Orthodox queen and pressured her to convert. Polish nobles, including Bishop Erazm Ciołek and Cardinal Frederick Jagiellon, discussed the issue of royal divorce.[1] From Pope Alexander VI they obtained Alexander's absolution from his marital oath and duties to Helena as well as from the promise to Ivan III not to force Helena to convert. The pope went further and ordered Alexander to put effort in convincing Helena to convert.[24][25][26] Despite their efforts, Helena did not convert and the royal couple remained close. When Kraków priests insulted Helena when she had an Orthodox service in one of the chapels of the Wawel Cathedral, Alexander wrote to his brother Frederick asking to discipline the priests.[24] Alexander even gifted land near Minsk and Mogilev to Helena to assure her financial independence.[27] Alexander was crowned as King of Poland in December 1501; as an adherent to the Eastern Orthodox beliefs, Helena was ineligible to become Queen of Poland and was never crowned.[3] Officially she was only the "wife of Grand Duke of Lithuania" but she referred to herself as queen.[24] Alexander obtained a rescission of Pope Alexander's orders to convert her to Catholicism from Pope Julius II in August 1505.[28]

Peace negotiations between Lithuania and Moscow began in mid-1502. Helena was not directly involved in the negotiations.[28] In March 1503, Lithuanian envoys brought her letters to various family members to Moscow. Her passionate plea to Ivan III to end the war and bring peace is often cited as proof of her intelligence and devotion to her Lithuanian subjects, but the letter could be a product of Lithuanian diplomats.[28] Ivan III replied scolding his daughter. Nevertheless, a six-year truce was concluded; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania lost about 210,000 square kilometres (81,000 sq mi) or a third of its territory.[10]

In June 1505, Alexander suffered a stroke which paralyzed his left side.

Seimas in Lida so that he could transfer the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to his brother Sigismund I the Old. In Lida, Alexander wrote his last will asking Sigismund to take good care of Helena.[29] The Seimas was interrupted by the news of an invasion by the Crimean Khanate. The King was hastily evacuated to Vilnius, further weakening his health, while Michael Glinski organized defense and won the Battle of Kletsk.[29]

Widow

Alexander died on 19 August 1506. Helena was thirty and without children. She wanted to return to Moscow, but marshal

Muscovite–Lithuanian War resumed in April 1507. Helena and her treatment once again was at the center of political intrigues. Vasili III, just like his father, claimed that Helena was being forced to convert and even claimed that Sigismund attempted to poison Helena.[29] Rumors circulated that Helena aided rebellious Michael Glinski who defected to Moscow, but the charge lacks proof.[29]
However, the war ended in October 1508.

In 1511, Helena expressed her wishes to return to Moscow, but Sigismund would not allow it.

Franciscan monastery in Vilnius.[30] The plan was for her to meet Vasili's men in Braslaw, which belonged to her and was located on the Lithuania–Russia border. The plan was divulged by a servant and the Franciscans refused to ship the boxes. Helena was arrested and held in Trakai and later Birštonas.[30]

Such treatment of the widow angered her brother Vasili III. Sigismund replied that Helena was not arrested, but simply warned that living near the unstable border was unsafe.[30] The situation became a pretext for another war between Lithuania and Moscow. In 1513, Helena reached Braslaw and died there suddenly. According to a rumor, she was poisoned by Mikołaj Radziwiłł.[31] It is unknown what happened to Helena's money she left with the Franciscans as there is no record that Sigismund, who was relieved to hear about her death,[5] inherited it. Historians proposed a theory that Helena was murdered by Radziwiłł to steal the money, but it cannot be proven.[31] Vasili III demanded Helena's assets, both money and land, from Sigismund and investigated her death.[31]

She was buried in the Cathedral of the Theotokos in Vilnius.[5]

Ancestry

References

In-line
  1. ^ a b Nowakowska 2007, pp. 134–135.
  2. ^ Duczmal 2012, p. 125.
  3. ^ a b c Stone 2001, p. 33.
  4. ^ Duczmal 2012, p. 126.
  5. ^ a b c Duczmal 2012, p. 141.
  6. ^ Duczmal 2012, pp. 126–127.
  7. ^ a b c Duczmal 2012, p. 127.
  8. ^ a b Duczmal 2012, p. 128.
  9. ^ a b Kiaupa, Kiaupienė & Kuncevičius 2000, p. 221.
  10. ^ a b Norkus 2009, pp. 60–62.
  11. ^ Petrauskas & Kiaupienė 2009, p. 463.
  12. ^ Duczmal 2012, p. 129.
  13. ^ a b c Duczmal 2012, p. 130.
  14. ^ Banionis 1998, p. 279.
  15. ^ Duczmal 2012, pp. 130–131.
  16. ^ Duczmal 2012, pp. 131–132.
  17. ^ a b c Duczmal 2012, p. 133.
  18. ^ Duczmal 2012, p. 131.
  19. ^ Duczmal 2012, p. 132.
  20. ^ a b c Duczmal 2012, p. 137.
  21. ^ Duczmal 2012, p. 134.
  22. ^ Duczmal 2012, pp. 132–133.
  23. ^ Stevens 2007, p. 58.
  24. ^ a b c Duczmal 2012, p. 135.
  25. ^ Msgr. Peter de Roo, Material for a History of Pope Alexander VI, Vol. III (New York, The Universal Knowledge Foundation, 1924), p. 309. Quote: "Alexander, the Catholic duke of Lithuania and afterwards also king of Poland, had unlawfully married Helena, the schismatic daughter of the duke of Moscow. This union was most detrimental to religion, for Helena did all in her power to pervert her Catholic subjects. King Alexander himself asked the Pontiff what he could do to prevent further evil. Pope Alexander was dismayed, when learning how his hard labor for the conversion of the schismatics was thus hampered by the Queen's proselytism; yet, his first word of answer was to declare the impossibility of a divorce, since both husband and wife were baptized Christians at the time of their marriage. All he did was to urge upon the King his duty of laboring for the conversion of his spouse, and, finally, to threaten the obstinate Helena with a judicial separation."
  26. ^ Robert Frost, The Oxford History of Poland-Lithuania, Vol. I (Oxford University Press), p. 309. Quote: "Although her mother had been a ward of the pope, and had been raised a Catholic in Rome, Helena's refusal to comply with Alexander VI's demand that she recognize the church union provoked a rift with the papacy that was not resolved by the adept diplomat Erazm Ciołek and the pro-union Orthodox magnate Ivan Sapieha, sent to Rome in 1501."
  27. ^ Duczmal 2012, pp. 134–135.
  28. ^ a b c Duczmal 2012, p. 136.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h Duczmal 2012, p. 138.
  30. ^ a b c d e Duczmal 2012, p. 139.
  31. ^ a b c d Duczmal 2012, p. 140.
  32. ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Basil (Muscovy)" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  33. ^ a b Pushkareva, Natalia. "МАРИЯ ЯРОСЛАВНА" [Maria Yaroslavna]. Universal Scientific Popular Encyclopedia (in Russian). Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  34. ISBN 978-0-19-925246-6
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  35. ^ a b c Hazard, Harry W.; Setton, Kenneth, eds. (1975). A History of the Crusades. Vol. III. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 160, 165.
  36. ^ Vasily I, Grand Prince of Moscow at the Encyclopædia Britannica
  37. ^
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  38. ^ a b Polovtsov, Alexander (ed.). "Кошка, Федор Андреевич" . Russian Biographical Dictionary  (in Russian). Vol. 9. p. 392 – via Wikisource.
  39. ^
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  40. ^
    ISBN 9780521859165
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  41. ^ a b  "Владимир Андреевич Храбрый" . Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
  42. ISBN 9780882293684
    . Retrieved 17 May 2018.
Bibliography
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helena of Moscow, Queen of Poland.
Helena of Moscow
Daniilovichi
Born: 19 May 1476 Died: 20 January 1513
Royal titles
Preceded by
Elisabeth of Austria
Grand Duchess consort of Lithuania

1495–1506 		Succeeded by
Queen consort of Poland

1501–1506
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